Total Impact at the Casino

The Best female full contact fight ever!

Bold words indeed, but how many fights can you remember that received a standing ovation from a packed venue and still had people talking about it days later. As to the description given to it, well it was two respected trainers who were present on the night who strongly expressed their opinions that this really was the best female full contact fight they had seen. How true that is you will have to judge for yourself if you get a chance to see a tape of the fight, but even if it was not the best ever, it was still very very good.


Bonnie Webb from Medway & Maidstone Kickboxing has fought nearly all her fights at the Casino so is a big favourite there. Having won the WKU British lightweight title in September she returned just two months later to make her first defence against Natalie Bee (South Coast). There then followed five rounds of intense action with no let up from start to finish. However this was not just a hard battle, both showed fine technique throughout.


Bonnie hit home repeatedly with strong attacks from the outset and rocked the head back of Bee on numerous occasions. However the James Cowan trained fighter came back every time and importantly for the result, worked with combinations that targeted the body. Over the middle rounds this visibly hurt the home town girl, despite the fact that she still was hitting home with strong right hands, only they were outnumbered by the furious attacks of the Bournemouth girl. The result was put beyond question with two standing counts being inflicted on Bonnie and the decision of all three judges went to the new Champion. It was then that the crowd leapt to their feet and gave the two fighters a rousing ovation. Webb will no doubt return and in fact made her intention to do so known straight away, but for now Natalie Bee looks a very good Champion.


NEW CHAMP MAKES HIS MARK

In a contest fought strangely between two young fighters of the same surname a new star was revealed to the followers of the sport in the south in the shape of Sunderland’s Andy Burton (Spartans).

Shawn Burton from the renowned Chikara gym in Lincoln has carved for himself a reputation as one of the most exciting and talented fighters in the strong super-lightweight division. Having been matched with Phil Eton for the vacant WKU British title he was then rematched with namesake Andy once Eton had rather surprisingly retired. Little was known of the north-east fighter but that was all to change once the contest started.

Andy was just too quick off the mark for Shawn and it was an uphill struggle all the way for the Lincoln fighter. Showing a very fast front leg kick he scored repeatedly from distance and it took his opponent some time to close the gap which he did finally in the sixth round when he hit home with a cracking right hook, inflicting a count of eight. However this was too late to make any difference and after an even last round the judges awarded a unanimous decision and the title to Andy Burton.

Shawn will no doubt come again, he remains one of the division’s most exciting fighters but for now Andy Burton has made his mark and now his reputation should spread further than the north.

ENGLAND V PORTUGAL

Paul Wiffen stayed on course for a big contest in America with a straight forward victory over previous victim Mauricio Frias. Frias came with the same game plan as last time, staying on the outside and forcing his opponent to make the running. Wiffen pushed forward for the entire fight and tried to draw his Portuguese opponent on to his counters, but with no luck. Standing still just long enough to let off a flurry of punches before moving off around the ring, it was a strategy by the Portuguese fighter that did not make for an exciting spectacle. Wiffen kept to his task and started to close the gap in the fourth round and then again in the fifth, slowly punching all the resistance out of Frias. As the bell to end the 5th round sounded the Portuguese corner pulled their man out to save him from further punishment.

Paul now moves towards March 2006 where along with Nick Gill and Darren Forrest he will form part of a England team to fight in Florida.

SOUTHERN AREA SUPER-WELTERWEIGHT TITLE

Timing his challenge for this title to perfection Dave Winch (Medway & Maidstone) took the belt with a blistering performance over Champion Duncan Ford (South Coast). Many thought the Champion would be too strong but not only was Winch too fast and sharp for Ford, he also proved himself to be physically stronger when it came to close quarters. Weathering the early storm of each round as Duncan made a fast start this was always pulled back by Winch whose sharp combinations hit home time and time again.

With just twenty seconds of the last round remaining the Challenger got the perfect finish when he landed a strong right hook to the body of Ford putting him down for a count. Although he beat the count he was in no condition to continue making Dave Winch the new WKU Southern Area Champion, much to the delight of his large crowd of supporters.

NICK GILL V DARREN FORREST

As mentioned above along with Paul Wiffen, Nick and Darren are both fighting in Florida in March, but this trip was postponed from December so in desperate need of a ring outing to maintain sharpness they agreed to meet each other here. With the obvious disappointment of not being in Florida in December, both were not in top form but still put on a first class display of full contact. Darren in particular tried his usual full range of kicks, which Gill avoided but a lesser fighter may have had no such luck. At the end of five entertaining rounds a point’s decision was awarded to UK number one welterweight Nick Gill.

ENGLISH LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE

Another successful defence by Champion Luke Sines (Walton) with a second round win over the experienced Scott Jenkinson (Chikara). Making a good start Luke inflicted a count on Scott early in the first round. The Lincoln fighter made a much better start to the second only for Sines to weather the early onslaught and push him back onto the ropes where he inflicted another knockdown on Jenkinson bringing the contest to an end with thirty seconds remaining in the second round. Sines now needs a stronger challenge to take him to the next level.


FULL UNDERCARD

Aaron Evans (Watford) v George Hennon (Medway & Maidstone)
A win for Evans in a junior light contact match.

Daniel Morgan (Invicta) v Richard Oak (Chikara)
Nice 4 round fight won by Morgan, but be good to see this one again.

Martin Birnacijk (Medway & Maidstone) v Mark Anderson (Samurai)
A close fight but after a good start by Birnacijk Anderson rightly took the win for his better work in the second half of the fight. Make a good rematch.

Steve Thorne (Medway & Maidstone) v Andy Baker (Grantham)
Excellent start for Thorne in a battle of first timers, scoring a first round stoppage win.

Kieron Spice (Invicta) v William Reeve (Chikara)
Nice start for Spice, who then unfortunately had to pull out at the end of the first round having injured his arm. A win for Reeve

Neil Ayton (Medway & Maidstone) v Fahad Maniar (Leicester)
Good scrap, won on a splits decision by Ayton whose high workrate made the difference.

Ashley Hook (Medway & Maidstone) v Kai Gordon (Ninja Freestyle)
A hard fought draw, the kicks of Gordon causing Hook a lot of problems which offset the good work he did in the early part of the fight.

Steve Swinburn (Chikara) v Frank Miall (Medway & Maidstone)
A quality five round contest ending in a draw. Any draw always leaves a little sense of disappointment but this was a close fight, the early work of Swinburn being pulled back by the increased aggressiveness of Miall. Two good fighters from the super-lightweight division in an old fashioned match with no titles which will be well worth doing again.

SKB Promotions would like to thank all concerned and would like to give mention to the sponsors on the night DWL Home Improvements. The 2006 diary for the Casino is already set with events planned for 26th Feb, 14th May, 3rd Sept and 26th Nov. Any fighters wishing to appear on any of these events should e-mail skbkickbox@blueyonder.co.uk