Lollo Heimulu - Profile of The Quiet Man

He is renowned and respected worldwide for his calm, quiet and dignified style of coaching and no nonsense promotion - in stark contrast to the explosive nature of his top fighters.

Lollo Heimulu is a household name in his native New Zealand and is about move into the major league as one of his proteges - Ray Sefo, probably the most exciting figure to emerge onto the kickboxing world stage in 10 years - is on the verge of moving to the management of K1 promoter Mr. Ishi.

Lollo is nicknamed The Coach Of Champions and quick glance at his record makes it easy to see why. Lollo has coached and prepared an incredible 62 champions - at national, Commonwealth and World level - in the eleven years his gym has been open. A key to his success is the emphasis he places on endurance training and mental conditioning. He gently chides and corrects his fighters mistakes - always keen to be positive and highlight the good points. "If it works, use it. If it doesn't leave it," is his simple mantra. It has taken his charges far. And fired them up. The quiet man of kickboxing coaches fighters tagged variously as Supercharge, Psycho and The Terminator. Ironically the most fearsome athlete in his stable - the aforementioned Ray Sefo - is nicknamed simply, Sugar Foot, the sweetest kicker in The Antipodes. Billy Murray, caught up with Lollo during the recent Northern Hemisphere/Southern Hemisphere bouts in Auckland. Billy was full of praise for both his organisation and Lollo in particular. "With someone as accomplished as Lollo at the helm, the future of Kickboxing in New Zealand is very bright. "Whatever calm, charismatic force he has within himself, Lollo always seems able to transmit it to those around him. He is quite an inspirational fellow."

First there was rugby, then cricket and just lately football has been the latest sport. Now finally the match we've all been awaiting - The battle of the Northern and Southern Hemishperes in Kickboxing. The titanic struggle kicked off in Auckland during the final weeks of January and saw two English fighters, a Scot, an Irishman, a Frenchman and an honourary Welshman, combine in an effort to Grand Slam the All Black offensive into submission. Unfortuneately the travelling party - which read like a bad Paddy the xxxman joke - did not see the funny side of the Antipodean onslaught. All the fighters were beaten. To follow is a brief report on each of the bouts.

(1) Rony Sefo v Duncan Arlie James(The Scot)

Duncan's pre-match bluster and extra experience proved little match for the might of Sefo the younger. The heavyweight bout ended during the fourth when a tremendous roundhouse to the head laid the Scot on the canvas. James, slow to start during the fight, had ignited during the third round when he suddenly seemed to become aware of the job in hand. Until then, he had neglected his leg-kicking and continuous pressure gameplan, allowing the Samoan to use his superior reach to pick off the Scot with telling body blows. During the third, James caught Sefo on several occasions, and seemed about to turn the tide in his favour. It was much too little too late. The younger man had superior guile and - more tellingly - hitting power. Continued knee shots and low kicks had James reeling before the pounding roundhouse sent him crashing to defeat. Sefo marches on, and it seems certain James will refuse to move up a weight to fight again.

(2) Jayson 'Supercharge' Vemoa v Mark Waters (the honourary Welshman) Intercontinental FreeStyle

Waters time in Australia has been well spent. Unfortuneatly it has not been long enough. The British fighter, who until two months had never fought a leg-kick bout, was able to mix it well with the experienced Vemoa. During the first two rounds he blocked and parried all the Kiwi could throw at him - in fact he put together a few fine combinations of his own. It wasn't enough. Vemoa knew leg-kicks were his weakness and mercilessly pounded him to a three rounds defeat. Congratulations are due to Vemoa for becoming the new ISKA Intercontinental Freestyle Champion; Supercharge's battery has a longlife left yet.

Jean Claude v Hiriwa Te Rangi Some things take longer than others. Jean Claude and Hiriwa Te Rangi must have thought their proposed rematch was doomed never to be. As in the 1995 original bout, the worldclass K1 fighter Claude proved too strong for the South Sea Islander. The Heavyweight clash ended in the third. A rematch in 2001? We'll have to wait and see.

(4) Jason 'Pyscho' Suttie v Trevor Ambrose (The Englishman)

Easily the pick of the night's fights, the charismatic Ambrose suffered one the unluckiest defeats in the history of the sport. Suttie took it on a split decision, a verdict that even his trainer questioned. In an unforgetable battle the fighters traded sledgehammer blow with sledgehammer blow, each of them took standing counts and the outcome had to be handed to the judges when the bell intervened to save Pyscho's bacon. Ambrose had started slowly, more intent on giving the partisan crowd a taste of his flamboyance than concentrating on the fight at hand. It all changed in the second when the Bournemouth based fighter suddenly burst into life. Neither he, nor a hugely impressive Suttie, relented until Suttie found himself staring at the ceiling in the dying seconds of the twelth. Stuggling to his feet as the ref counted nine, Suttie collapsed into his corner as the bell rang. Ironically saved by the bell has never been so apt - it is of course the only round when the bell can intervene so luckily for one man and so cruelly for the other. Ambrose, with hands aloft, found that it was for him that the bell tolled. He, like many observers, genuinely believed he had done enough to stop the Kiwi. As soon as the decision was announced Suttie immediately confirmed a rematch would happen. Within 24 hours a date was set for New Zealand during August. If the quality of the rematch comes close to the first, these battles are sure to become a piece of Kickboxing legend. Ambrose, being the true sportsman that he is, later paid tribute to Suttie. He also fired a warning shot across Pshyco's boughs. "He's just looking after my belt until August. It fancied a break in the sun."

Top of the bill...... Ray Sefo v Stephane Reveillon (The Frenchman) A huge meeting of two huge men - one vastly experienced, one on the verge of superstardom above and beyond kickboxing. Sefo, understandably was greeted by a sumpious lazerlight extravaganza and cheers from a hugely partisan crowd. His superiority was evident from the first seconds until the moment he caught the Frenchman with crisp right hand to knock him out early in the second. Reveillon just didn't get started. A top of bill draw, but a brief encounter. Sefo is so good, it is scary.

Finally a word about the pre-fight press conference. With all the style and organisation of a K1 event mixed with the colourful rhetoric normally associated with professional boxing, this was just another ingredient added to the incredible mix Kickboxing is cooking at present; it was a feast to behold. In a room charged with atmosphere and tension, Ray Sefo (along with partner Voli -the show's promoters) provided the star turn, the assembled press corps the decent questions and Duncan Arlie James the comic bluff and bluster. It is little wonder promoters and trainers are keen to travel for fights in New Zealand. Apart from worldclass opposition, the visiters are treated with a warmth they just couldn't get at home. The fighters attitude outside the ring is one of calm, dignified - but driven - respect; a testament to the power of Lollo Heimuli, the calm, dignified - but driven - coach. Such events should, and could, become a feature of all decent shows.

Incidentally, if you were wondering just who was the Irishman mentioned at the top of this piece, it was none other than Billy Murray. He wasn't fighting but he was in the travelling party. Besides it helped develop a quirky angle.

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