Footwork

Well…I am formerly from Mike Miles Gym in Calgary and happened upon a great Winnipeg Kickboxing match. It was put on by CKMTC on 13 Feb 04. Since I am impartial I thought that I would write about that particular card:

Twinkle Reyes (CKMTC) vs Corey Stock (Wheat City Muay Thai) – Lots of skill was shown and it could have gone either way. Lots of grit shown by both ladies. Winner Twinkle.

Jason Hum (CKMTC) vs Danny Alerta (Volpatos) – A very exciting fight. Jason managed to neck wrestle Danny and throw numerous knee strikes. To Danny’s credit it looked like he blocked every single one of them and he also delivered body shots while blocking the knee strikes. Jason showed max aggressiveness and Danny did not back down one bit. Two warriors who are destined to meet again in the future. Lots of skill on both sides. Winner Jason.

Josh Dyck (CKMTC) vs Eric Johnen (Bisset Jiu Jitsu) – Josh clearly overpowered Eric. Eric showed a lot of determination and drive and could be a very good fighter if he switched clubs. I didn’t know Jiu Jitsu guys also kickboxed. In my opinion Eric lost because of his trainers. Maybe he was injured, I don’t know. Winner Josh.

Mike Koch (CKMTC) vs Hudson Sommerville (Dragon Kickboxing) – What a slugfest. In the end Hudson had the better cardio and was able to slug it out a little bit longer. Good skill was shown on both sides. Both looked lean and mean. Winner Hudson.

Serge Rochon (CKMTC) vs Tim Caper (Dynamo Boxing) – Well, Tim tried his best but Serge just had a little more in his arsenal. For a boxer Tim’s footwork was atrocious. Who trained this guy?

Daniel Mondor (CKMTC) vs Al Sung (Volpatos) – Definitely one of the most exciting fights. Daniel scored numerous knock downs but Alex kept on getting up like the old Terminator model. Two big dudes in the ring. Daniel showed a lot of skill and talent. Don’t mess with this dude. Alex, I later found out (one of the owners of Volpatos sat in the stands for the pro fights) only came to the club in the last week of Oct. Learned grappling for 2 weeks and then decided he really wanted to kickbox for the Feb card!!! With the amount of skill that he showed in the ring Alex was very scary. Going to be a real talent in the future. Winner Daniel.

Richard Garcia (CKMTC) vs Jared Silvertorn (WCMT) – Jared had the reach but unfortunately was not a good “in-fighter”. Richard was all over him delivering some pretty devastating body blows. The referee should have stopped the fight earlier. Jared couldn’t protect himself and was knocked out with extreme prejudice. He was walking around with his hands at his sides!

Mark Durant (CKMTC) vs Marc Borgouis (No club) – Professional Fighters – Best technical fight of the evening. 2 different fighting styles. Mark showed a lot of good footwork and some very sweet kicks. Marc had very good timing. At one point Marc B was slighty off balance and Mark D tried to finish the fight with a high flying knee that missed and sent himself over the ropes. It would have caused some serious damage if it connected. Marc B had excellent timing catching kicks and kicking out Mark D’s legs from underneath him. In the end Mark Durant was named the winner. He did fight a good fight. But, I thought that a decision was supposed to be based on agressiveness and who did the most damage. Everyone in the stands thought that Marc Borgouis won the fight.

Giuseppe DeNatale (CKMTC) vs John James (Panther Kickboxing) – Well, not much to say here. Giuseppe outclassed his opponent. It would have been nice to see a contender vying for the Championship title.

All in all I was very impressed with CKMTC. Good fighters and an excellent production. There were a lot of fans and the set up was first class. A club to watch out for in Winnipeg is Volpatos. Tough and very competitive. Especially considering that mixed martial arts are their specialty and that the fighters have been training in kickboxing for a relatively short time. Another good club in Wpg is Brian Kelly’s Dragon Kickboxing. They have proved themselves in the past. Bissett and Dynamo are sorely outclassed by the three clubs listed above. Wheat City is based in Brandon and it looks like they put out some pretty decent fighters.