''The Quest
For New Stars''.
Belfast's Park Avenue Hotel
17th
June 2000
East
Belfast's Park Avenue Hotel was the venue on Saturday, June 17th for an
unbelievable dispay of nonstop action, dubbed 'The Quest for New Star's'
the event was just that. The capacity crowd witnessed 14 bouts featuring
fighters that will surely feature on the world stage in the not too distant
future. It would be difficult to single out individuals as all the boys
gave everything in a display of sportmanship and tenacity.
To name but a few, Fighter of the Night, Niall McGarrigle elctrified the audience with a left roundhouse kick to the head bringing weary opponent Mark Ross plummeting to the floor and there was no coming back.
Bout
of the night featured Glen Kilpatrick and Douglas Morrison, in a full
contact display of guts, determination and skill. From inside fighting
to long range kicking these fighters were inseperable, the fight was drawn
on the judges card - the final decision going to a kick count. The most
exciting bout of the night this fight deserved its special reconition
as bout of the night.
Robert Reid, ProKick's Dublin connection, featured in his debut bout against Scot Derek Burns. A precision bout, Reid took some heavy front kicks on the left side, but came back in the second with all guns firing and a left upper cut out of nowhere, which rocked the Scot. All credit to the Scot but the referee administered a standing count which gave Reid the lead he needed going into the last round. Round Three was an epic battle, two (lightwelterweight) Gladiators, neither man wanting to give quarter but Reid lived up to his reputation and mauled, brawled and fought his way to the final bell, claiming victory in a close hard fought fight, well done both boys or should I say old men.
Alan
Kilpatrick entered the ring with supreme confidence, as befitted World
Champions before him. But Dave Hastie, the silent type, left his swagger
for the ring. Typical clash - the boxer against the kicker, Hastie with
eight fights under his belt had exceptional boxing skills where Kilpatrick
was fast on his feet and had the superior kicking techniques. Again this
bout was close, Kilpatrick busier in the first and second and Hastie solid
and determined throughout, seemed to push his authority in the last round.
Kilpatrick had done enough though, and came through to take victory.
Other results: The only Heavyweight bout was a freestyle low leg kick bout, with ProKick's Ralph Duff against Gavin Harper, was another close well matched affair, both men showing great skill for novice fighters. Duff's staying power secured him a majority decision. Neill Baxter had a first round stoppage (ref) - the man was too sharp, too focused and too powerful, for his opponent, Davd Kewly.
Kris Hanna beat Raymond Thompson on points, Paul Day won on stoppage in the third over Russell Simpson, and Stephen Fleming won a hard three round fight against tough Scot Fergus Gorman, whilst team mate Stephen Garvin showed lovely kicking ability but could only manage to score a draw, For some a controversial decision, but the judge's decision is very fair and very final. Keith McIntosh's opponent, Richard McCorran failed to show, so gutsy Scot Gary Brown stood in at short notice. The Doctor stopped the fight in the third, Brown having sustained an injury to his nose.
Joel McCausland and Dave Fraser for two debutants, however Fraser took the judges decision. Sam Hawkins, up against David Crushjuck came out with all guns firing in the first, and half way through the second ran out of ammo but managed to keep his opponent at bay until the final bell. Hawkins won on a close decision. Two gutsy boys.
Micheal
Rainey started like a bat out of hell, refusing to pace himself. Opponent
Brian Gray was patient, covering up well, and managing to stave of Rainey's
blistering attacks. In what was a see-saw battle Gray took the decision.
The only female bout on the card was to feature Fran Spence, however her opponent Heather Roberts didn't make the weigh-in and Fran got a walk over decision.
Thanks to all the officials, Prokick crew, sponsors, fans, fighters, the Park Avenue hotel and CV3.com for the live updates and video work, and Irwin from Visionworks. Finally a big thankyou to Gary Langford and Albert Ross for bringing their team across the Irish Sea - a return visit is imminent.
Click
here to see a list of fighters competing on June 17th.
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Kickboxing from the Park Avenue Hotel, Belfast |
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For
further information contact ProKick direct: Email
: prokick@group.tm or Phone +44 (0) 28 90651074
Fax +44(0) 28 90656415
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