Lewiston, Maine (June 10, 2015) – New England Fights (NEF), America’s number-one regional fight promotion, will hold its eighteenth mixed-martial-arts (MMA) event, “NEF XVIII: MADE IN AMERICA,” this Saturday night, June 13, 2015 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, Maine. Recently, headliners Bruce “Pretty Boy” Boyington (10-8), the NEF MMA Professional Lightweight Champion, and John “First Class” Raio(2-7) joined NEF co-owner and matchmaker Matt Peterson on a special “Head-to-Head” edition of the NEF Podcast. Boyington and Raio discussed the upcoming rematch and the controversy surrounding their first meeting in February 2014, among other topics.
The interview quickly turned to the top of the first fight. Raio appeared to apply a rear-naked choke to Boyington on the mat late in the first round. Boyington began waving his hand in the air and referee Jimmy Bickford quickly stepped in to stop the fight. Much has been made of the infamous “hand wave.” While Bickford saw it as a sign of Boyington’s submission, Boyington has contended that he was merely signaling to his fans in the crowd that the hold was not doing any damage.
“I can tell you how that night ended,” recalled Raio of the first bout. “Basically, Bruce had given me his back. When I took his back, I had the hooks in and I had the rear-naked choke across his jaw line. I was trying to pressure it under his throat, and as I grabbed my left bicep and my left hand was going behind his head, the ref stopped the fight… I was amazed that he had tapped because, honestly, I knew that I had a lot of pressure on his jaw… If in fact he was waving, that sucks for him.”
“In that situation, I specifically remember Bickford looking at me, I’m face up, he’s going for my neck and I’m waving,” said Boyington. “Everybody starts roaring real loud and I remember Bickford saying, ‘No Bruce, you can’t say that’… If you think that I’m submitting or I’m in trouble or can’t breathe, you don’t tell the fighter, “You can’t say that,” you just jump in and you stop the fight. I feel like he made a mistake. I feel like he realizes that… I see a lot of different things that John has said online, and a lot of things other people have said, and that’s when I really started to get bothered by what had happened. I felt like he could’ve handled it better.”
Prior to Boyington giving up his back, many felt he had been winning that first round. Indeed, Boyington’s striking seemed to be on point that evening. Peterson asked both competitors to speculate on what would have happened had the referee not stopped the bout at that point.
“Inevitably, I think John would’ve been knocked out,” stated Boyington emphatically. “I don’t think I’m gonna submit him, because that would be his best chance with me. He’s strong enough to defend a submission.”
“I think if the ref didn’t stop at the time, when I was on his jaw with my forearm and I was reaching behind his neck,” Raio speculated, “I believe my arm would’ve slid under his throat and it would’ve ended sometime soon before the round. So, I don’t think it would’ve gone to a second round.”
In the days, weeks and months following the fight, both Boyington’s and Raio’s massive fan-followings have been very vocal on social media regarding the outcome of the bout. The heated debate has raged between both sides for well over a year now. With so much at stake for each side at “NEF XVIII,” both athletes touched on what the rematch means to them, and what they need to prove this coming weekend.
“I just can’t go in there and beat John,” said Boyington. “Even his own fans are expecting that… I can’t just go in there on June 13thand beat John Raio. I gotta go in there and destroy him. Or I still lose out on this fight. I know that, and I’m gonna go in there and make that statement. And I’m gonna do it with one arm, because the other arm isn’t even working right now… I haven’t worried about this date from day one. It’s nothing to do with John Raio. I don’t disrespect the guy. I don’t not like the guy. He’s a good man. I’m just at another level. I need to show up and prove that. That’s what it is to me. It’s not about me beating John. It’s about me showing everybody where I belong.”
“In regard to Bruce finishing me quickly, and making it easy, and not really worrying about the fight too much, I just find it disrespectful like a lot of things he’s said to me, my family and my friends,” replied Raio. “There were times after the last fight when people were congratulating me (on Facebook) and he’d go on like a one or two paragraph rant on every single comment everyone had put on my page for like three days straight. So, after that I said ‘Bruce and I aren’t really friends anymore,’ so I deleted him. I liked him before that fight… but when people disrespect me like he has it’s hard to like the guy.”
To listen to the NEF Podcast in its entirety, please visitwww.NewEnglandFights.com/Podcasts/.
To learn more about John Raio’s gym, please visit “First Class Fitness and MMA” on Facebook. Likewise, to learn more about Boyington’s Taekwondo Academy, please visit their websitewww.BoyingtonsTKDA.com.
Tickets for “NEF XVIII: MADE IN AMERICA” start at just $25 and are on sale now at www.TheColisee.com or by calling the Colisee box office at 207.783.2009 x 525. For more information on the event and fight card updates, please visit the promotion’s website at www.NewEnglandFights.com. In addition, you can watch NEF videos at www.youtube.com/NEFMMA, follow them on Twitter @nefights and join the official Facebook group “New England Fights.”
About New England Fights
New England Fights (“NEF”) is a fight events promotions company. NEF’s mission is to create the highest quality events for Maine’s fighters and fans alike. NEF’s executive team has extensive experience in combat sports management, events production, media relations, marketing, legal and advertising.