Hi KickBoxing Fans - Sept 28th 2003

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Last week’s King Of The Welterweight’s event has been hailed a “triumph” by Belfast City Council.
Over 1,200 fight fans packed into the Ulster Hall last Friday (September 19) to see Larne’s Wilson Snoddy crowned Welterweight King after winning the eight man winner takes all event.
“'I really enjoyed tonight's show in the Ulster Hall. Every bout had us on the edge of our seats and the big enthusiastic crowd created an exciting atmosphere. The King of the Welterweights formula, where the
competitors were eliminated through to the final, helped spectators who didn't know the fighters history. I hope that the ProKick team will continue to organise more events like this in Belfast.” Said Mr Cormac McCann (Leisure Development Manager, Belfast City Council).
It was a spectacular evening. There were fireworks inside of the ring as well as outside as some of the pre-event fight favourites were left defeated and deflated by some brilliant blows.
Downpatrick’s Gary Noade, who had been tipped by many to take the Welterweight crown, was knocked out in the semi-final. Scot Douglas Morrison, who Noade had previously beaten to take a world crown several weeks before, caught him with a textbook kick to the jugular. He followed it with a bone-grinding right to the jaw. Noade was knocked out cold.
A little later, Belfast favourite Gary Hamilton was stopped in the first round of his non-title fight with Frenchman Ali Kanfouah. In a controversial decision, he was disqualified after an illegal blow opened up a bad cut under the Frenchman’s right eye.
However, the sport’s governing body, the WKN, have reviewed tapes of the incident and concluded that under the sport’s rules, Hamilton should NOT have been disqualified. The fight should have been stopped, they said, but because the blow was an unintentional foul, the fight should have been called a no-contest. This will remove the disqualification blemish on Hamilton’s record. A rematch is now in the offing.
“It was a great night for kickboxing,” said promoter Billy Murray. “In the Welterweight event, there were some amazing performances. Wilson Snoddy fought three brilliant fights. He picked his shots, wasted no energy and deserved the title.
“Gary Noade was unlucky to be caught cold with such a devastating kick, but that’s the fight game. Gary is a true warrior and I’ve no doubt he’ll bounce back.
“Gary Hamilton was very unlucky to have that decision go the way it did. I’m glad the WKN reviewed the footage and ruled the way the did.”
The next ProKick event is already being planned. You can bet that it will see return matches for the two Garys. See ForKicks over the next two weeks for more details.

ProKick’s growing reputation has seen them approached by the sport’s governing body, the WKN, to take a team to Barcelona for a blue riband Kickboxing event.
Spanish promoters contacted the WKN at their Franch headquarters and asked them to find a team of the cream of European fighters who could challenge the Catalonians in their own backyard. All roads led to the east Belfast outfit. ProKick will take a team of six fighters to Barcelona on November 16 for the clash.

Kickboxing is the fastest growing sport in Belfast.
In just two weeks, all the places on the ProKick class at Andersonstown Leisure Centre have been taken. To meet demand, we are starting another class in the Leisure Centre. We will have full details next week.
Also, a ProKick Class is starting at the Boat Club on Stranmillis (every Wednesday 8pm) and a class will also be running for the pupils of Loughshore Education and Resource Centre (Shore Road). Another class is about to start on Monday nights at Belvoir Recreation Centre in south Belfast.
Keep reading ForKicks for details of a class near you. Whether you want to become the next World Champion or simply to keep fit, we welcome everyone. Read Prokick.com for all the latest information.

Galway fighter Owen Flately will try and put his Ulster Hall disappointment behind him, when he challenges for a Pro/Am World title in his hometown on October 26.
Nicknamed ‘Feet Of Flames’, Flately was out in the first round of the ‘King Of The Welterweights’ knock-out contest – though ringsiders believed judges got it wrong when they awarded finalist Douglas Morrison the points.
Flately will be fighting Frenchman Eric Schmitt at the ‘Rumble In The Bay’ at the Leisureland Complex.
Wexford man Sean Collier will share top billing with Flately at the event as he attempted to take the Cruiserweight European title.
More on the card next week.

Meanwhile, one of the Republic of Ireland’s biggest Kickboxing coaches Billy O’Sullivan is promoting an event at the Waterford Forum on October 3. It’ll be an event for fight novices making their first foray into competitive eventing. More soon.

Excitement is building towards November 7 when the first major Kickboxing show in a decade takes place in Derry City. The event is promoted by former fighter turned property developer Paddy Toland. Many of Toland’s best fighters took part in the Ulster Hall show last week and will be competing in front of a keen home crowd.

Meanwhile, the world of Karate is about to clash with Kickboxing.
Terry Boyle – Northern Ireland’s Mr Karate – is keen for his stable of martial artists to train at the ProKick HQ in east Belfast. “Terry watched the event at the Ulster Hall,” said ProKick’s Billy Murray. “He felt there are some benefits to be had for his fighters to train with the Kickboxers. I’ve known Terry for 20 years and he has been consistently open to new ideas and training approaches. An open training seminar like this can only help the Kickboxers and Karate fighters learn from each other and become better at their sports.”

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