Toughest SOBs

Leading trainers lend their advice

This issue we asked some of Australia's leading trainers to tell us about some of the toughest, hardest-hitting fighters they've ever seen. Not necessarily the guys with the most belts or the best fight record, but the guys that always go to war and take as much punishment as they give.

NUGGET

Nugget's Gym, QLD

The first one that comes to mind the minute I think of toughness would have to be Cedric Kongaika. I have never met a human being that can cop punishment like him - and can then come back. He's the sort of guy that fights as hard as you fight him, so he has his best fights against better guys. The more you push him, the more he's going to raise the mark. The second guy that comes to mind from my own gym would have to be Craig Hogan. What he lacked in technique, he made up for with intestinal fortitude. To make it a round three, I'll go with a blast from the past and say Tony Hill. When Paul Briggs and I were all getting stopped by the Thais, nothing could hurt that guy. I don't know whether it was the saltwater or what, because he was from up the coast, but there was something that just kept Tony Hill on his feet. He could take so much punishment; it was ridiculous. From the very first Thai he ever fought to everything afterward, he was just a machine.

JOHN SCIDA

Ultimate Muay Thai, VIC

One of the toughest fights I can remember is Mark Hunt and Ray Sefo, they both stood toe-to-toe, and in turn, dropped their guard and let the other fighter hit them in a show of courage. Then they traded combinations, nodding their heads after each flurry, egging the other fighter on. One of the bloodiest and toughest fights I have ever seen was JWP and Chris Allen from England. John had three or four big cuts on the side of his head the size of 50 cent pieces and he was begging the doctor to let him continue - very gutsy fight. I have to throw in Jenk Behic and Mike Zambidis, that was a show of guts and determination right to the end. The blood was pouring out of Jenk's head so much so that you could not see his face. He got dropped and got up, and as the ref was waving it off he was pleading with him to let it go on because he was not finished. Also, Gurkan Ozkan and Ian Jacobs - that fight had the punters on the edges of their seats right to the end, with Ian getting dropped and then coming back and dropping Gurkan. It is one of those fights that sticks in your head. It was a war by two great warriors.

DARREN REECE

Riddlers Gym, WA

An old school Aussie Muay Thai guy that I remember well was Tony Hill. He was always tough as nails and I saw him have some wars against a Thai called Sittisak. They had an absolute war, not to mention every other fight he had. Also, Vince Parkes from Joe Hilton's old school days was as tough as hell too; I saw him have some wars. Locally, one of my best mates, Brett Dalton, had so many wars it's unimaginable. [Laughs] He didn't really fight his best until he got dropped and got an eight count, then he came back and absolutely flogged them. I reckon he had to get knocked down to get fired-up. I even remember one time he got dropped with a late shot after the bell and was out of it for the whole one-minute break, but somehow he came good and flogged the guy - he knocked him out at the start of the next round. He was tough as nails.

DANNY JONES

Khrop Khrua, NSW

One of the toughest guys have ever seen, I don't know if he ever got to be a world champion or anything, but his name was Andre Brilleman. He was tough as nails. He ended up being involved with the mafia in Holland and the drug scene. It came to a bad end and he ended up being chopped up and put in a barrel and dumped in the river in Amsterdam. He was a pretty tough guy. He was only small, but used to fight like a tenacious little pitbull. It was incredible to watch him fight. Then you'd have to say guys like Ramon Dekkers. He never said no to a fight, and plenty with injuries too. Like, he'd have ankle surgery and was told not to fight for two or three months, but six weeks later he'd be fighting. He used to fight southpaw to protect his ankle and things like that. He was tough as nails. He fought all the best Thais in the best era for Thai fighters. He was just a warrior and every fight was just to the limit. Dida Diafat is another guy; he was tough as nails and had a no-frills style that just wore people down. He was just constantly on the attack and has beaten guys like Ramon Dekkers and a lot of the French greats - super tough and very fit; you'd have to kill him to stop him. Gurkan Ozkan wasn't the most talented fighter, but was as tough as nails. He never took a backwards step and skipped around the weight divisions, just taking fights. He'd fight anyone, that's why Tarik Solak used him so much; he was just a great crowd pleaser. Modern day, I'd have to say Kurt Finlayson; he's got a good aggressive walk-up style and is very fit. Mark Sarracino is another one with a similar style. Also, Bruce Macfie will fight anyone. Wayne Parr has fought almost everyone; his fight against Chris Allen in Melbourne was awesome. He took so much; it was like he got a little shaving cut - most guys would have crumbled. But the one that sticks out to me after all the years and all the fights I've seen would have to be Andre Brilleman.

NICK STONE

Bulldog Gym, NSW

The first guy that always comes to mind is Dean Morrison from NSW. He always came to fight and at one stage he held three Australian titles - full-contact kung fu, kickboxing and Thai boxing - all at 63kg and all at the same time. Plus, he won all three by KO! He was hard-headed and big punching. I trained him like Ramon Dekkers used to fight; big punches and hard low-kicks,

He used to go to war with anyone and two times come to mind. In the early ‘90s he was top of the bill at a show against a Japanese fighter, but on the day he had the flu and couldn't do it, but dragged himself out of bed (after some convincing) and KO'd the guy in the second and just went back to bed.

Another time he had a war at the Ettamogah Pub with Tony Coburn and got shin-kicked fair across the jaw and just laid there on the canvas for about five seconds - he looked dead! Then his whole body kind of sprang up in the air (not slowly picking himself up) and he continued fighting on. Loads of people came up to me afterwards asking if he was on drugs. He wasn't. He just had a super tough head.

He has not fought now for many years, but Dean still hasn't put on a kilo since his fighting days and is as fit as ever.

JOHN WAYNE PARR

Boonchu Gym, QLD

Beniah Douma takes a fight on no notice against anyone. He is just one of those guys that never backs down, no matter how much of a pounding he's getting. No matter what his face looks, he'll just keep coming. Win, lose or draw he'll back it up again a month later against another credible opponent. I reckon he's a champion. In Queensland he's a promoter's dream. If you think your card is falling apart you give Mad X a call and Beniah will always take it. He doesn't care about weight or if the opponent has had 100 fights, he'll have a crack; plus he's got a hammer right hand that can put you to sleep. Not to mention he's a champion bloke outside of the ring too, a really nice guy. I fought a guy Ryuji Goto from Japan with pink hair.

I fought the guy twice and hit him with the kitchen sink both times, but he just kept coming. He was one of the hardest blokes I ever fought. The first time we fought at Southport Sharks and I hit him with crazy body shots all night and he just kept coming. I got the decision, but they were a bit dirty, so I rematched him in Osaka in Japan and they called it a draw after five rounds and called for an extension round. I gave it everything, but afterward they called it a draw again! They called for another extension and I just thought, ‘What the hell is going on?' As they told me, I almost gave up because I was just knackered. Then I looked over at him and he looked right back at me with the same facial expression, as if to say, ‘Here we go again...' It was shoot boxing rules, so he hip-threw me in the final, which counts as a knockdown on points, so I knew I had to take him or lose. So I was lucky enough to stop him in the end with only a few seconds left on the clock and it went crazy in there. He's definitely one guy that has my respect for pure toughness.

JAMES ROSELER

Ultimate Kickboxing, VIC

I have never met two tougher blokes than Mark French and Phillip Salesa. Not just because they are our guys either. They are just in there all the time, they never ask for anything. Some fighters, you have to tell them where their opponent went to the toilet last; with these guys, they just want to know where to turn up and fight - they'll be there. I remember Phillip Salesa took a fight against Cedric Kongaika for his third fight and on 24-hours notice. Cedric is an absolute gun too, he's a tough boy and Phillip fought him straight away. As for Mark French, he had 20-something fights under me and I never gave him an easy one. One of the most memorable bouts was when he fought Andre ‘The Haymaker' Baker from Perth for an Australian title. French dropped him, then Baker got back up and dropped French, then Frenchy dropped him back. They dropped each other a few times in the matter of about 30 seconds. It was phenomenal. Another fight that comes to mind is when Josh Scida fought the Cambodian guy from Adelaide, Charlie Chau. That was a sensational fight too, just tough and hard. A lot of the fighters these days, they don't seem to have the skills they did 10 or 15 years ago. Back then the kickboxers looked like kickboxers and had flash kicks and were in great shape; these days people just seem to punch on more [laughs].

PAUL MADIGAN

Mad X Gym, QLD

In my opinion, to get to the top you have to be a tough fighter. The likes of ‘John' Wayne Parr, Nathan ‘Carnage' Corbett, Preacher, Eli ‘Mad Dog', are names that are associated with being tough in the ring - and that's how they reached their high status in the world of Muay Thai. However, there are also other fighters that constantly put on wars in the ring, no matter if they win or lose.

Some of the earlier names that come to mind are ‘The Bullrider' Tony Cockburn and Tony ‘Hollywood' Hill. When these boys stepped in the ring the audience knew that win or lose these fighters would give them a war. Another fighter that comes to mind, that we all know now as a ref, is Brian Murphy. In his day he would fight anyone. That's the sign of a tough fighter. At the last Evolution in Brisbane, he performed a charity fight to raise money and I think it may have been the fight of the night. He's still got it.

In today's fighters, I think Tyson from NTG is as tough as they come. I've seen him in many wars - he fights to the last bell, win or lose; always a crowd pleaser.

Within my own gym, of course I think all my boys are pretty tough, but Beniah Douma stands out. He will fight anyone you match him with. He is a young Christian lad with no fear (and God on his side!). He has a 50-50 record and he's never had a belt put around his waist, but has beaten Dane ‘Daddy Cool' (Australian title holder) by KO, Mikey ‘Tomahawk' (Australian title holder) by KO and Mark Stadie (Australian title holder) by KO. He just fought Billy ‘The Kid' (world title holder) but most people don't know he took the fight on three days notice, and gave away about 10kg by the time he got in the ring with Billy. He still couldn't be knocked out let alone a count put on him!

I might be biased, but in my book pound-for-pound, he is the toughest fighter I know. 47 fights - 47 stiches! IK