Fightforce Show August 22nd Melbourne

[paul c]

Hi guys,
I just got the poster for Michael Vukovic (Fightforce) next show.

There are some very talented amateurs fighting on this card.
For those of you that like watching full Muay Thai rules fights, Wallace is a very decent knee fighter that's getting better and better every time I see him fight. He's only had 8 fights so far, and is undefeated. He's a pretty tall and thin middleweight that seems well suited for knee fights. I don't think I've personally seen him in an elbow fight yet, so am looking forward to this. I also reckon that Wallace's trainer and manager should be sending this bloke to Queensland as often as possible, because I reckon he has good potential as a Muay Thai champion. Also, I'm not sure if he's fought Purcell before, but this should be a great fight, as Purcell is a tough guy. Some of you would have seen him fight Parry Nikalau recently on John Scida's last show. Purcell put on an excellent performance against a more experienced Parry.

Byron Gallagher Vs Nik Wynberg.
We saw Nik against Zambidis on 'No Respect' this last February. I reckon it's pretty hard to judge a fighters performance against someone like Zam or Parr. Nik is or was an Amateur world champ with one of the bigger Sanctioning bodies, so I'm looking forward to seeing how good a fighter he is in a fight with a regular human, unlike his last fight against a machine.

Also, keep an eye out for Noakes guys. I just saw him last weekend in an all out war. I was amazed with how deep he had to dig in that fight. He's going to mature into someone similiar in heart to Behic I reckon.

Anyway, you should try and make this show. It looks like it's going to be a ripper.
Then in October we have John Scida's show where he's hoping to match Jenk Behic. It's going to be great seeing Jenk fight in Ultimate territory amongst his many fans. He sends the house mental.

http://message.axkickboxing.com/images/user_uploaded/Paul/fightforce%20August03.JPG

[Rav]

Looks to be a good show with a good line up. The Main event should be interesting!

[JANER]

Oh my!!! Looks like Nik Winberg is bag after that brutal KO by Zam. Nick Stone trains Winberg and we hope they have learnt to keep that chin well hidden! I know Gallagher is fit and looks fit... Hard to pick.

Purcell V Wallis would surely be a crowd favourite!

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"Seriously, What the HELL did you expect?"

[JANER]

BTW, that guy Pele looks like he is 19 but he has 2 kids and is aged about 30 or somthing. He was telling me how he does 30min warm ups of skipping... I wish his comeback to the sport all the best.

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"Seriously, What the HELL did you expect?"

[paul c]

Janer,

Do you know much about Gallagher?

I've never seen him fight before, but Michavel V says he's pretty impressive.

Does anyone know his fight record?

[Mr. T]

Paul, I don't know Gallaghers fight record but I have seen him fight frequently on Vuckovicks shows and he is one tough sob and definitely looks the goods for me.

[paul c]

Thanks Mr T, sounds like it's goint to be a great fight. I think I've seen Gallagher's name on a Syndey show not too long ago, I think it might have been J.N.I or Bulldogs.

[Axekick157]

Pauk, Likewise not to sure of his fight record but the first time I seen Byron fight he was on Pat Christofi's show and extremely impresive that night and a few other times that i have seen him. A very hard fighter, but watch out for his chin.

Will be a great fight to watch

[Rochelle]

Hey

What weight is Byron Gallagher?

[paul c]

To be fighting Nick Wynberg I'm guessing he's around 70kg Rochelle.

I've never seen him fight, but have met him the one time, he seemed around 5'10 or so.

[The Almighty]

Any female fighters on this night ?<img src=icon_smile_question.gif border=0 align=middle>

[paul c]

Good question Almighty,

Michael Vukovic usually has a female fight on.
I think Mirelle Wallford has been on quite a few of his recent shows, and Carly Lear on at least 2 or 3 as well.

I'll find out and post the details.

[Rochelle]

Hey Paul

Nik actually fights heavier then 70kg. Normally in the high 70ies

Hopefully this fight is closer to his fighting weight

[tylerdurden]

Rochelle & Paul C i remember on J.N.I's last show on the poster he had Gallagher on there matched for Shane meads before he was rematched with Tai. So he must be heavier than 70kg.

[paul c]

I think Shane last fought as a cruiser weight, so It will be interesting to see what Gallagher actually weighs in at. Nik also, he looked a little too thin when he fought Zambidis.

[Michael Vukovic]

Hi Fight Fans
The fight card for August 22 is:
Byron Gallagher( Aust ) VS Nik Winberg (Finland)
Full Thai rules with elbows FIGHT Weight 82kgs. This fight will be a ripper. the last time Nik fought Zam there was no Knees and elbows.

Mark Wallis Vs John Percell Full Thai rules 72kgs

Anthony Zebisch (beat Gukan Ozcan) Vs Kareem Hemed

George Sofocleous (Aust) VS Dion Crouch (new Zealand) 95kgs

Faisal Fayad VS Pele Manivong (state Title)

Michael Noakes Vs Steve Azzapadi

Mark Baxendine Vs Richard pinkett

Danny Carroll Vs Shane Collins

Andrew harmer Vs Tim West

Sam Akkari Vs Brian Petroff 105 kgs

Theo Gorgoeinis Vs Mark Safrano

Liam Kennealy Vs Richard Alan

Warren Hancock VS Johnny (Laos)

[paul c]

TTT
Poster in the first page Janer.

[paul c]

Hi Melbourne guys,

I just double checked my start times and the state of the card for changes etc.

All fights are still on with no pullouts, a total of 15 for the show.
Gallagher Vs Vineberg should be great. I’ve been speaking to a couple of promoters who reckon that we should be surprised by the difference in Nik from his last Melbourne showing, where he was right out of his element fighting much lighter and in a non MT fight against one of the worlds best. So I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s got. All people I’ve spoken to reckon pretty much the same about Gallagher as what is written in the thread, Axkick seems to have written what most believe a good description.

As I’ve really never seen either of the two mentioned above except for the fight mentioned with Zam, the fight I’m most looking forward to is Purcell Vs Wallace. Purcell’s heart against Wallace’s knee skills should be interesting.

Sofocleous Vs Crouch. I was actually a little freaked out by George’s last fight. I thought it was his flattest performance I’ve ever seen. This guy usually has huge power. One of the most memorable KO’s I’ve ever seen where by George, so I’m hoping I’ll see him back to his usual self this next time. I’ve heard Crouch is a good MT rules and ground rules fighter, so am imagining him being a pretty tough opponent.

Hemed Vs Zebish. I’m picking Zebish here. I’ve never seen the bloke before, but if he’s defeated Ozkan, than what can I say. Looking forward to seeing just how good he is. He’s supposed to be a deadly kicker I hear.

Fayad Vs Pele. I’m picking Fayad.

I don’t know who Charles is fighting, but this guy is a tough mauler.

Also am not sure who Noakes is fighting, but this guy won me over as a fan on his last showing. I swear to you guys, his heart was awe inspiring. Actually, so was his opponent Halley.

Anyway. hope to see some of you who have never been to to Springvale before giving it a shot. I really enjoy it because I’ve seen so many amateurs develop over there over the last four years. I can remember when Tsakonas was sub 10 fights, but even then I knew he would develop into the type of fighter that would stand tall and challenge the likes of Ozkan. It’s just such a great shame we haven’t really seen him fight much as a pro, the guy has mega potential.



Edited by - paul c on 17 Aug 2003 20:49:12

[rdn]

Who won the fight Gallagher vs. Winberg? And which one was most exciting fight???

[paul c]

I spent a couple of hours with Nik Wynberg and trainer tonight before and after the show. Both really nice blokes, and I was hoping that Nik would do well, show us some of the stuff that he must have to have won an ISKA amateur title.

Gallagher won a pretty ugly fight. No disrespect meant to either guy, but it was just grappling all the way from beginning to end, with very few other shots being thrown.

I honestly couldn't tell you how close it was, I find it impossible to even try and evaluate something like that. A million knees thrown, but the sort of straight up ones that look like rubs. I know these things count, and probably hurt like hell, but totally horrible to watch.

Gallagher managed to land an elbow that cut Nik's forehead in the last round I believe. Nothing nasty. I actually didn't even see the elbow, so It must have come from really close range while grappling.

I'll post all the results up in the morning with some notes I scribbled on my fightcard. Hopefully someone that knows Muay Thai can write a little about this fight, as I honestly wouldn't know where to start, or who to praise etc.

I don't think this show is going to be covered in the next issue of Kickboxer, so I'll put some images up as well. Anyway, the fight left me disappointed because I was really looking forward to seeing Gallagher fight for the first time, and also Nik in the ring with someone that isn't as deadly to humans as Zam.

Apart from that, a totally massive crowd turnout (I reckon 1500-1800 odd) which is incredible, and a great sign that the sport is doing well with great support coming out of the outer suburbs. This sports supporters are truly great. At how many other sports would you get these sorts of numbers for an amateur show. Not many I reckon. I doubt boxing at this sort of level could do better. I don't know if I told you guys about the time I went to a Paul Briggs fight, with Jimmy Thunder, and Sam Soliman also on the card and Tosca Petridis at the Netball center in Melbourne, and I reckon there was less than 500 people in the audience. I'm sure it was just poorly advertised, as I've seen Soliman on his own draw 1000 plus. Still, very weird.

Anyways, the fight of the night for me was Faysal Fayad and Pele. Both guys fought incredibly well for the amount of fight experience. If I'm not mistaken, I think this was only Fayad's 3rd fight. I think both of these guys are genuinely going to do extremely well if they stick to it. Fayad no doubt gets excellent sparring partners training at the same gym as Mike Cope, Nick Kara, Dale Westernan.

Also, Anthony Zebisch done well against a tough Kareem Hemed, who wasn't there at all to make Anthony's return look good. Both threw some big shots and Zebisch won TKO. Ref stopped it in the second I believe. Hmm, they were calling Anthony 'The Belgrade Bi*tch' or another time 'The Bi*tch' as a ring name. I'd honestly find another one. This guy has heaps of potential by the looks of it, and deserves something more fightery. Michael S, perhaps you should offer your services to re-christen Anthony with a new fight name.

More tomorrow, hopefully Janer will have a better report for you guys. I always manage to unintentionally piss someone off with mine, so would prefer if someone else write one up, and I'll contribute the image upload.



Edited by - paul c on 23 Aug 2003 06:28:43

[paul c]

Fightforce Show Results

Andrew Harmer Vs Tim West
Pretty even 1st round with lots of pushing, West was pummeling Harmer in the second until the ref stopped the fight. I think I've only seen West fight once before where he lost his fight. He looked a stronger fighter this time round, fight was a little messy.


Kevin Magnies Vs Warren Hancock
Hancock got dropped both in the first and second rnds, but came back hard in the third and drops Magnies. Had their been a fourth, I reckon he might have won. I thought Magnies looked a little worse for wear than Hancock in the end, but he still did better in the first two rounds, so took the fight on points.

Mark Baxendine Vs Richard Pinkett
Pretty wild fight for the entire 3 rnds. Both fighters looked pretty exhausted after the first rnd from throwing a million and one punches each and just didn't seem to care about pacing themselves to last the 3, So the last too rounds almost looked like slow motion but both still continuosly throwing punches non stop, most times not even bothering to try and block Headshots. They were just going at it toe to toe. Still, well done to Baxendine whom won on points. Howard Leigh mentioned something about "life starting at 40" in regards to Bax. It that's correct, good on him for still fighting and showing the young bloke.


Casey O'Dell Vs Matt Frisswell

O'Dell wins by K.O. Sorry don't have any notes for this one.

David Ashmore Vs Stan Churilev
Stan landed some nice kicks in the first, but I thought Ashmore landed the cleaner shots in the second, and was looking a little better in the third. Fight ended as a draw.

Ryan Condon Vs Nick Vary
My notes say, not much in it in round 1, Vary recieves a cut. 2nd round I thought was all Condons, but Vary landing the hardest looking shot of the fight. 3rd looked pretty even to me. Sorry I don't have the winner result for this one, but am almost certain it was a win to Condon.

Liam Kennealy Vs Richard Alan
Liam won 2nd round K.O. I saw Kenealy fight in Seymour a month ago. If I remember correctly in that fight, he got stunned pretty early in the fight by a knee to the guts, so seemed to me pretty cautious after it. I thought he looked like a much tougher fighter this time, and just seemed to look a lot more confident of being able to take the punishment in the ring this time round.

Sam Akkari Vs Brian Petroff
Akkari won points dec. He rocked Petroff in the first, but was unable to finish him. 2nd round pretty uneventful, but Sam seemed to be controlling the fight with his better movement in the ring. 3rd pretty much the same as the 2nd.

Danny Carrol Vs Shane Collins
I thought there wasn't much between them in the first and the second rnds, and thought I would have given the 3rd to Carrol. Fight ended as a draw.

Faisal Fayad Vs Pele Manivong
I thought this was easily the fight of the night. Both guys extremelly active throwing pretty much everything which is legal at each other at a very fast pace. Both guys had their moments where they seemed to rock the other. I actually felt Faysal had the cleaner punches and seemed to me to land the more effective more often in the second and third. I have to give it to Pele, he has an awesome jaw that was tested severly. Fayad won Points dec.

George Sofocleous Vs Dion Crouch
I believe that this was Dion's absolute first kickboxing fight. He usually fight MT rules, but has had a couple of K-1 fights. Dion has been in the ring with some tough K-1 kiwi guys, Wijohn and Viney. He also competes in MMA.
I thought this was probably going to be the biggest test that I've seen George face, and was wondering how he would handle Dion after his last performance, where to be honest, I felt it was the worst I had ever seen George. But, I learned tonight that George had hurt his back when he fell in the first round. Anyway, I guess pretty typically Dion started slow in the first couple of rounds (I guess that's pretty standard practice from MT guys). He was just moving about and what seemed to me was trying to just feel George out. But, George wanted to bang from the opening bell. So the first two rounds we saw George stalking Dion and when he would get him up against the ropes, would just open up with his hardest rapid punches. He tagged Dion a few times pretty hard, but the kiwi had a tough chin and just covered up and absorbed his best. I had George pretty convincingly taking the first 3 rounds. Crouch worked a little harder in the last couple of rounds, but I felt he was far too tentative. I'm not exactly sure of the judges scorecards, but I think I had George winning in 3 quite convincingly. George ended up winning points decision.
A big hello to both Dion and Miriam whom I met last night, a very nice couple. Dion's wife or partner actually works Dion's corner, which I thought was really cool. At least both guys can go away together when they have a fight away. I reckon more couples should be doing the same.

Anthony Zebisch Vs Kareem Hemed
Anthony won 2nd round TKO with Bryce stopping the fight. As I mentioned further up, Zabisch looks to me like he has heaps of potential. He last fought 12 years ago apparently, and to come back after such a long time is great. I thought his hands seemed to look really powerful. He stunned Kareem pretty good with a massive punch. He really does like he's going well I reckon. You guys have probably read in the other threads that Anthony did beat Gurkan 12 years ago. I hope he'll continue fighting for long enough to develop to a level good enough to seriously be able to challenge Gurkan. But Michael Vukovic told Tarik last night that sure down the line that a rematch would be nice, but he's much more keen to get a rematch between Arthur and Gurkan. Arthur did pretty well, hopefully next time he'll be a lot more aggressive from very early on. Tsakonas is capable of the aggression. I'll have to digitze some of Tsakonas past fight highlights for you guys to download, I think you'd be surprised by how viscious a hitter and mid kicker Tsakonas can be.

Gallagher Vs Vynberg
Again, no disrespect to the fighters. The entire fight was one very very long grappling session. I honestly try and get into it and try and appreciate what grappling is all about, but I just can't get past how boring a spectacle it can be when it goes on for so long. Gallagher won points decision.
Actually guys, the most exciting thing that happened in this fight was when Byron was walking around the ring during his pre fight MT ritual - you know the thingo where they walk up to each corner of the ring. I was still in the ring as the promoter had asked me to absolutely try and get a clean poster shot of each fighter before they fight rather than after the fight when they might be bruised, swollen or bleeding. Anyway, as Byron approached Nik's corner, Nik just stood there and refused to move for the longest time, and Byron's just standing there waiting for Nik to get out of his way. I, your brave photographer started to panic and was just waiting for one of them to loose their patience and start swinging and we're off into a premature start. I was seriously having visions of smashing my second camera in four months by having it accidently punched into my face, or kicked out of my hands and onto the concrete. I was just about to get the fark out of there quick smart, when Byron does a massive foot stomp (arrow shooting thingo) and moves on. Phew, I was glad to get my shot and slither out of the ring into the safety of my outside neutral corner. Anyway, it was all building up in tension, and I was expecting them to totally go crazy after that, but it just didn't happen.





Edited by - paul c on 23 Aug 2003 12:26:36

[JANER]

Paul, geeees! What a quality post!

All I have to add is the ATMOSPHERE was EXCELLLENT! Great night and sexy women EVERYWHERE without there boyfriends!! haha

Gotta say Vukovic has it all down pat. Venue, facilities and the catering. Superb show and very well organised.

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"Seriously, What the HELL did you expect?"

[nak muay]

how many fights has that liam kennealy guy had? he seemed to have his right hook pretty sussed anyway... the other guy richard didn't really get much of a chance to get going. though i had him ahead until he copped the first right cross. he was turning well in the clinch and had liam pretty good with the knees. i'd like to see more of him. that was apparently his first fight. but it sure as hell didnt look like it was liam's first...

[JANER]

Wasnt that Friswell guy meant to have been the guy to take out Zambidis?? I remember a few guy who posted on here said something about him like "great hands, great kicks, ans watch out ZAM!".... I hope I am wrong but this guy is just an amatuer and would find it pretty hard to even last a few rounds with Foley.

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"Seriously, What the HELL did you expect?"

[paul c]

Not sure Nak, but I don't think he's had a great deal of fights.

[Glenn]

I'm pretty sure that was Liam's 2nd fight with the one in Shepperton being a demo.

[Glenn]

quote:Liam Kennealy Vs Richard Alan
Liam won 2nd round K.O. I saw Kenealy fight in Seymour a month ago. If I remember correctly in that fight, he got stunned pretty early in the fight by a knee to the guts, so seemed to me pretty cautious after it. I thought he looked like a much tougher fighter this time, and just seemed to look a lot more confident of being able to take the punishment in the ring this time round.

It was Liam who kneed the guy in Seymour and was told by the ref to slow down as it was only a "demostration" fight, whatever that is!



Edited by - Glenn on 25 Aug 2003 13:41:43

[everlast]

The bout your refering to in seymour was an exibhition. And as i recall it was a first round KO -can anyone confirm.

[harls]

I thought the show on friday night dragged on too long. Also two of the three fights I came to see didn't happen(Noakes v Azzapardi and Wallace v Purcell). Bummer!

The main event did nothing to enhance the image of some peoples view of Muay Thai, which was just continous kneeing for the last 4 rounds. The guys just seemed to knee for the sake of kneeing without any real desire to hurt or control each other. There were no takedown attempts, knee defences and very little footwork in the grapple. I don't mind watching grappling at all if it is done with skill and intent, but the lazy grappling made this a very lack lustre Muay Thai fight.

The fight of the night for mine was between Pele and Faysal, both fighters digging deep and giving 100%. Good fight.

As for "The *****", while he does possess nice kicks, I would hardly call him a "deadly kicker with the fastest kicks in Melbourne", as I think was quoted in another thread. However it was a good comeback.

[paul c]

fight images up now at

www.fightforce.net