Muay Thai Rocks Las Vegas
by Breanna Armstrong
World Championship Muay Thai rocked the Las Vegas Hilton on July 25, with over 2000 in attendance, as WBC and IKKC titles were not only earned but fought for, to create one of the most noted Muay Thai fights on the west coast.
For 20 years, the WCK has been a prestigious organization in the Muay Thai community across the world. Dennis Warner, the founder of the WCK, has created some of the most renowned shows in this rising sport.
Warner, has held World Championships all over the world under his promotion company, In Sync Productions Inc., and has brought the most international fighters to North America than any other American Muay Thai organization. Warner holds an event every month, holding a promising fight card to satisfy fans at each match.
Henan TV station, based out of China, teamed up with the WCK for this memorable event that brought the attendance of the industries most elite. Randy Couture and son, Ryan, as well as Ray Sefo were some of the names present to the event adding to the exciting atmosphere of the night.
The original fight card consisted of several Chinese fighters. However, due to a problem with their visas, last-minute match-ups had to be made. The show went on.
Jared Lara of Team Oyama in Irvine
WBC MuayThai National US Middleweight
Vaughn Lucas of the Yard Muay Thai in Los Angeles
This was no new match up for Jared Lara and Vaughn Lucas, who have grown quite use to each other representing the other opponent in the ring. Lara and Lucas battled it out before in the WCK’s World Championship Muay Thai in August 2008, which resulted in a draw.
This time the WBC MuayThai National US middleweight tile was on the line for Lara and Lucas. The bout lasted five, long three-minute rounds, both Lara and Lucas were slowing down towards the third round, Lara’s coach Collin Oyama described it as “I think both Jared and Vaughn were in the same situation they both had a problem with weight this time, which slowed them down. Jared usually doesn’t run out of steam like that. But I think that he had enough in the tank obviously to finish him.”
The fight was slow and one could question the qualification for this title’s match-up. Regardless, Lara ended up on top with his endurance clearly defeating Vaughn’s and won by a unanimous decision.
“I wanted to make sure I fought my fight this time, last time I think I let him use his size to control me and the pace of the fight. This time I worked a little more strength training in order to deal with Vaughn’s strength advantage. I unfortunately had a hard time making weight because of the strength training and as a result I got more tired, late in the fight, than I normally would have. It felt great to redeem myself after the draw I had last time. Any win over someone as tough as Vaughn is always great,” Lara said.
“To fight for anything in the WBC or the World Championship Muay Thai, is an accomplishment, and for Jared to be on that level is a great thing for him. He has a lot of heart and is inspiring for making it this far with his hobby and turning it into much more than that.” said Oyama.
Shane Oblonsky
IKKC Welterweight Muay Thai
Scotty Leffler of Las Vegas
For Scotty Leffler, there was not a better place to make his professional debut then on his home turf while he delivered a great fight against Shane Oblonsky as he had everyone in attendance at the Hilton on their feet with enthusiasm.
Leffler started out very aggressive, which overwhelmed Oblonsky, who was on the floor of the mat for the majority of the fight.
Leffler defeated Oblonsky 2 minutes and 23 seconds into the first round by a knee to the head.
Baxter Humby of Los Angeles
Wu Lin Feng Rules Welterweight
Chike Lindsay of Team Khunpon in Atlanta
The bout between Baxter Humby (35-5) and Chike Lindsay (10-0) was one of the most surprising fights of the night. Two crowd favorites came together in a close match. Both fighters were originally matched against two of the Chinese fighters, who had problems with their visas. This made for an unexpected fight.
According to Dennis Warner, The rules of Wu Lin Feng are as followed:
No elbows, effective scoring blows, punch, kick and knees to body and head. Limited clinch...one knee and then reposition clinch. If a fighter falls or thrown to the ground, it is scored as an effective strike. A standard fight is three rounds of fighting and each round is three minutes in duration.
Humby started off strong in the first round, and proved himself the champion that he is against Lindsay, who seemed to not put up much of a fight against him. Humby had a few kicks to back Lindsay up, causing Lindsay to come out stronger in the second round. Humby kept his distance and came out on top in the third round.
Humby took the win via split decision, qualifying him for a shot at a WBC title fight. Humby, know as the “One Armed Bandit,” who was born without his right hand, has been an inspiration to the Muay Thai community and beyond. He is the current IMTC World Super Welterweight Champion and has made his career in Muay Thai as a tough competitor.
After his win, Humby addressed the audience and said, “The only limits that you have are the ones that you put on yourself.”
Romie Adanza of Team Oyama in Irvine
WBC MuayThai International Super Bantam Weight
Paulo Da Silva of Lumpini Crawley in England
For fans that knew the history behind these two great Muay Thai fighters, this was the most anticipated bout of the night. The ongoing saga between the Romie Adanza and Paulo Da Silva continued as the two fighters took to the ring for the third time, making this fight one that was all too familiar.
Adanza and Da Silva’s first bout against each other resulted in Adanza’s favor, but the two had a rematch a year ago, where Da Silva defeated Adanza by KO, taking away his title. Their second fight was a humbling experience for Adanza. “I have never had a belt taken from me before, so after getting stopped by him, I needed my belt back.” Adanza said, “Going into this fight for the third time, I worked on a lot of basic things, like keeping my hands up. I feel like I went into this fight a lot smoother, I was aggressive but I did more thinking than anything because I had to avoid him [messing] me up again.”
A lot was on the line for this fight, the saga between California’s Adanaza and England’s Da Silva could not have been put to rest at a better place.
Adanza, no doubt about it, had the crowd behind him as he stepped into the ring against Da Silva, who according to both Adanza and trainer, Colin Oyama, is the only opponent that has ever stopped Romie in the ring.
In the first round the two started out strong and Adanza clearly had a different and more controlled side to him compared to his last bout with Da Silva. Adanza gave some powerful kicks to Da Silva’s legs, causing Da Silva to lose his lower body power by the end of round two.
By taking away Da Silva’s legs, his punches started to fade early in round three. Adanza’s endurance lasted as he punched and kicked Da Silva into a corner and landed a knockdown by a leg kick in round three. “We knew we had him.” Oyama said.
After a tough battle, Adanza fired leg kicks at his opponent that resulted in a TKO with only 26 seconds into Round 4. Adanza proudly regained the IKKC International Championship title as well as the WBC MuayThai Bantamweight US Championship Title.
“For years I have wanted a leg kick KO, but I always do it with my hands, so this felt really good,” he adds.
A TKO like Romie Adanza’s to end the saga between Paulo Da Silva was the best thing about the night hands down.
Christine Toledo of Master Chan and Anthony Badua in Las Vegas
Wu Lin Feng Rules Woman’s Super Bantam Weight Title
Jeri Sitzes
Jeri Sitzes (11-0) went head to head with Christine Toledo (3-1) for the only woman’s fight of the evening.
Toledo, who was also scheduled to fight the Chinese fighter, Zheng Yenan, had to move up weight by ten pounds to fight Zheng’s last minute replacement, Sitzes, so that she could still put on a show for her fans.
Sitzes, who is a seasoned Muay Thai fighter, clearly dominated the Las Vegan, as she had Toledo in her fire all throughout the entire three, 2-minute, rounds. There is an obvious super star-like quality in Sites, who proves to be a tough competitor, which is why she maintains an undefeated record.
Toledo showed class and grace as she unselfishly went up against Sites, knowing fully what she was going up against, and all for the show to go on.
"When it comes down to it, I accepted the fight knowing exactly what I was getting myself into, so I have no regrets today for what happened on Saturday evening. Instead, I stand true to myself and will admit that I'm not the best, I'm not perfect, and there will always be plenty of room for improvement. I can sit here and make excuses about how much heavier and more skilled Jeri is than me, but the simple reality is that I stepped in the ring that night, I learned from the experience, and that is what counts and is more important to me than trying to reason with myself for the loss,” said Christine Toledo in the press release.
Kevin Ross of Master Toddy's in Las Vegas
WBC MuayThai National US Welterweight Title
Justin Greskiewicz of Cool Hearts Muay Thai/ Daddis Fight Camps in Philadelphia
Kevin Ross (9-4) was looking forward to this fight for 6 months. It was his rematch with Kang En, who defeated Ross on January 19, earlier this year in Beijing where, En swept the WBC Super Lightweight International Champion title by a unanimous decision.
Ross was ready to take En on his home territory, with his fans loyally behind him.
There was only one problem and it was En’s visa. En was another Chinese fighter who last minute could not make it to the Las Vegas showdown.
Luckily Justin Greskiewicz (9-6) from Philadelphia took the fight last minute and stepped into the waters that Ross had been anticipating for six months. “I had really almost no notice for the fight. I found out that they needed me on Wednesday.
I had fought the Friday before, so I was still a little banged up,” Greskiewicz said, “but, it was a great opportunity and I really wanted to take it.”
It was clear that the Las Vegas superstar, Ross, had the favor of the fight and it only became more clear as round one and two came to an end. “In the first round I felt really good, but he caught me at the end of the round and I lost my legs. In the Second round I felt like I was wading in a kiddie pool. I just had nothing under me, I couldn't recover,” Greskiewicz said. The Las Vegas Hilton Showroom was feeding off of Ross’ energy, who represented his hometown as the champion that he is.
The unprepared Greskiewicz had good technique. But given Ross’ determination, Ross laid on the body shots and finished his opponent with TKO by a right-footed front kick to Greskiewicz’s eye with one minute and 49 seconds into the third round.
Ross received the WBC MuayThai US Welterweight Championship title on the night of his 28th birthday. “It’s the best birthday present I’ve ever had,” Ross said.
Malaipet of the Muay Thai Academy in North Hollywood
WBC MuayThai Super Welterweight International Championship
Richard Fenwick of Keddles Gym in England
This was the fight that fight-fans from all around the world have been anticipating since their last fight in February, earlier this year. The rematch between the Malaipet (137-27-5) and Richard Fenwick (28-8-1) was the fight of the night and possibly the year.
Both contenders started off strong and Fenwick definitely stepped it up for his title, but in the fourth round a few hard body shots to Malaipet, heated Fenwick’s opposite up, resulting in a fierce comeback by Malaipet. The gloves were off.
Malaipet started putting it on his opponent full force to have a few takedowns, leaving Fenwick tired and defending himself with any fuel he had left. With each kick and punch Malaipet threw Fenwick’s way, even the last row of the audience could see the smile on his face.
In February, the two battled it out and Fenwick took the title. One could call July 25 a different game completely, as Malaipet became the main event by dominating Fenwick and taking the WBC MuayThai Super Welterweight International Championship title away from his opponent in a unanimous decision victory.
Because of the unfortunate visa issue with the Chinese fighters scheduled to fight at the July 25 event, Dennis Warner is putting together another show also at the Hilton on August 30th. Kevin Ross will fight Kang En, Baxter - Xu Yan, Christine Toledo- Zheng Yenan and Shawn Yarborough will be fighting Xu Hou, who is the current WBC China's national light heavyweight champion.
