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Capital Punishment 1 |
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On a wet wild windy Wellington night hungry fight fans packed into the Wellington Town Hall for an evening of fast and furious fighting. First up on the card was Leanne Crouch (56.5 kg from Jackals Muay Thai) and Laura Pigou (59.5 kg Alpha Porirua). Leanne started by attacking with some strong all round combinations and Laura retorted with hard kicks of her own. Neither fighter was prepared to back down and both kept on coming forward with hard and heavy shots. It was a judges nightmare and they gave a very close split decision to Laura. In the Second fight of the night Ben Ruck (62.5 kg V.U.W. Wellington) and Gary Donaldson (64.5 kg S.M.A.C. Auckland) stepped into the ring to do battle. Through out the whole fight both went toe to toe neither giving an inch - from the start it was a hard fight with Ben landing some good knees. In the final round Gary seemed to have an advantage and began to press Ben backward, not to be out done Ben came back. With Ben winning a close fight by decision. Fight number three was Craig August (63kg V.U.W. Wellington) and Joesph Murray (64 kg Harley's Kickboxing). Craig went off like a rocket and was in Joesph's face right from the start with Hands that just came out of nowhere. Joesph didn't come all the way from Masterton to loose and replied with some good punches and kicks. In the third round the crowd were on their feet as each fighter continued to give it all - Craigs fitness started to let him down and a number of times he looked out on his feet yet continued to fight and avoided Joesph's killer right hand. At the end of the fight Joesph won the fight on points. Up next was Bridget McLaren (62 kg Lee Gar Auckland) and Shelley Phillips (58kg Alpha Porirua). Two fighters both stepping in the ring and hungry to fight. Bridget and Shelley proceeded to attack each other without regard for personal safety Bridget tried to use her with hard straight punches and kicks. Shelley wasn't phased and replied with hard knees and left kicks to the body that slowed Bridget down and eventually led to her taking an 8 count step but then she came back even harder. After the bell Shelley won the fight on points. The first title fight of the night was for the North Island Super Cruiserweight title between Daniel Paora (86.5kg Alpha Lower Hutt) and Charlie Smiler (86.5kg Kapiti Thai Boxing). These two had met recently in the SUPER EIGHT tournament with Daniel winning by KO. Daniel attacked in the first round like he wanted to finish early and go home. Charlie took his pace replied with accurate kicks. Through out the fight Daniel continued to fluster and frustrate Charlie who remained calm and implacable through out. At the end of the fight Daniel won by unanimous decision. Next up was Vince Betham (75 kg V.U.W.) and David Odering (75kg Charon - Palmerston North) this was a fight that has been brewing all year with each fighter looking forward to it. The fight was for the North Island Super Middlewieght Title, In the first round David pressed the action with heavy punch combinations, Vince weathered the storm and controlled the pace. The pace picked up a notch in the second with David taking it to Vince and landing some telling punches - Vince started to look shakey and had an eight count put on him. Vince tried to counter David's all powerful attack with knees - but David shook them off and continued to rock Vince. Vince fought on until the forth round when his corner threw in the towel after he began to take too much punishment. David earned the North Island Super Middleweight Title. Ngapera Parata (56 kg Alpha - Porirua) and Julie "the Jewel"Wood (56 kg S.M.A.C. Auckland) stepped into the ring to face each other for the second time this year, earlier in the year Julie had won. This time the fight was for the NZ Featherweight Title. Ngapera was out to avenge her loss and from the beginning bell it was all on with Julie attacking and Ngapera throwing counter punches and then both fighters replying with kicks and knees. Julie's experience began to tell on Ngapera as she was driven back with punches and kicks - all the time fighting back furiously. The third and forth rounds provided the best action of the fight with Julie going on the rampage but Ngapera finishing off with more shots. After five hard rounds Julie won the fight by a unanimous decision. The main event of the night was a full Thai Rules fight with Knees and Elbows for the NZ Welterweight Title between Rex Redden (67kg Alpha - Porirua) and Tony "little Dragon" Evans (65kg Wing Chun - Feilding). As the Ref gave his prefight instructions both fighters gave each other a stare down that caused the ref to separate them. From the start of the fight Tony came flying out at Rex and continually tried to land some devastating spinning elbows, Rex had his work cut out for him and needed to be wary of Tony's awesome power Round three was all on with Tony going straight for Rex and trying to take off his head with some heavy handed punches - Rex bided his time and then found an opening - he threw a looping left hand that hit right on the button and dropped Tony. Tony got back up and wanted to continue but the referee decided to stop the fight, giving Rex a win by TKO and enabling him to retain his title belt. |
