The talented stable of fighters from Norfolk’s Heros Gym were the unquestioned stars of the first-ever Contenders Kickboxing spectacular, held at the Epic Studios in Norwich last night.
Five boxers from the King’s Lynn stable entered the squared circle and all five emerged with their hands raised on a night which celebrated stand-up fighting, with a mixture of boxing and K1 kickboxing clashes.
Irvidas Juskys set the tone for his team-mates as he waged war in the boxing fight of the night, the confident ‘Punisher’ showing some slick skills and composure on route to a majority decision win over the aggressive Armani Liberachi, from Tsunami Cambridge.
And fellow Hero Torban Parham took home knockout of the night honours with a peach of a body shot, folding foe Matthew Arrowsmith in half in the very first round.
Cheered on by a very vocal support, Michael Scales, Brandon Wilmore and Johnny Marlow ensured that their gym finished the night with a perfect record – Wilmore knocking opponent Frank Collin out of the ring in a fourth round TKO, while Scales and Marlow displayed pugilistic skills as bright and sparkling as their shorts in unanimous points wins.
The two WKO title fights on the card both finished early, with hotly-touted prospect Dean Pattinson, from the Gorilla Fight Team, lifting his first professional belt in the main event.
The southpaw ‘Smiler’ swarmed late replacement Milen Hristov in a fast first round, using swift combos to open a fight-ending cut on the eyebrow of his powerful, muscular foe.
Referee Sam Amidi had no choice but to wave the battle off at the end of that first stanza, leaving Pattinson to lift the WKO 79kg English Pro K1 title.
In the other title clash, Samir Bouamrane, from the Knowlesey Academy, bounced back from a testing first round against bigger opponent Sam Cottam to pepper his man with flashy techniques including axe kicks and spinning back fists, leaving Cottam unable to answer the bell for the third round.
The entertaining Bouamrane picked up the WKO 74kg Southern Area Pro K1 belt with the victory.
It was a good night too for Gary Staff’s Ipswich-based East Coast Muay Thai gym, with Abel Florea and Jessy Pickerill both picking up wins, while Ali Shenz showed heart and skill in defeat to Norfolk’s Contenders veteran Dom Barnard.
Meanwhile, K1 fight of the night honours went to Adrian Wu and Will Paddison, who put on a compelling display of tactical and technical violent chess in their 60kg dust up.
Phoenix MMA’s Wu, who landed a number of vicious kicks to the body and legs, finished with his hand raised via a majority decision.
Contenders Kickboxing – full results
Abel Florea beat Jordan Gavin by second round TKO (K1).
Irvidas Juskys beat Armani Liberachi by majority decision (boxing).
Danny Bryan beat Tomas Syska by TKO (injury) in the first round (K1).
Adrian Wu beat Will Paddison by MD (K1).
Jessy Pickerill beat Paul Kelly by unanimous decision (boxing).
Michael Scales beat Chris Rai by UD (boxing).
Torban Parham beat Matthew Arrowsmith by KO in the first round (boxing).
Dom Barnard beat Ali Shenz by UD (K1)
Brandon Wilmore beat Frank Collin by TKO in the fourth round (boxing).
Samir Bouamrane beat Sam Cottam by TKO after the second round (K1 WKO Southern Area 74kg title).
Jonny Marlow beat John Spencer by UD (boxing).
Dean Pattinson beat Milen Hristov by TKO after the first round (K1 WKO English 79kg title).
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