Sunday 25th March at the Melbourne Town Hall featured an exciting card of national and international Muay Thai talent, presented by Brute Force, a George Kolovos promotion under the umbrella of the World Muaythai Council.
With $10,000 up for grabs in a WMC/S1 Super-8 middleweight eliminator contest, and featuring two super fights between local Joel “Fearless” Fisher and Cambodian Pich Sophan, and New Zealand’s Shane “Chopper” Chapman against Ukraine’s Dimitry Borilko, the night was set to be one of the best Melbourne showcases for Muaythai.
The first rounds of the eliminator contest gave conclusive wins to Jason Scerri (NSW) over Derek Harvey (NSW) and Vitaly Hurkov (Belarus) over Martin Olczac (SA). Greg Foley, the popular five time Australian Champion from NSW looked every bit the champ against Jamie Johnson (New Zealand), with Foley being awarded the KO in the second round.
Foley went into the semi-final against Ross I’anson (QLD), who had come off a win against Milan Milosevic (SA) in a solid three round clash. Foley was too strong and too good, finishing I’anson at the 1 min 5 sec mark of the first round with some powerful legwork and a quick takedown.
Meanwhile, Vitaly Hurkov held off Jason Scerri in a fierce contest of clinches and grappling. Hurkov wore the pressure and although both fighters ended strongly, the decision went Hurkov’s way.
The final proved to be the highlight of the night. With the crowd behind him, Foley quickly unleashed his uppercuts and elbows, but his combinations were thwarted by Hurkov’s skilful clinches. In Round 2 Foley tried to up the ante but Hurkov answered with a face of steely concentration and some well-placed knee kicks. Round three began with both fighters going to the ground, as Hurkov continued his strategy of clinching and grappling. Foley was now bleeding from the nose and looking less confident, missing the target of his flying elbow and walking straight into another Hurkov clinch. Hurkov then took him down with a sweep that seemed to seal Foley’s fate, although he got up again to take the punishment until the bell. Hurkov won by unanimous decision.
The Super Fights provided more entertainment of the highest standard, as Joel Fisher (VIC) took on Pich Sophan (Cambodia). If Joel, a newcomer with only nine fights to his name, was at all intimidated by Sophan’s record of 232 fights, 203 wins, he didn’t show it, maintaining his focus and technique over the five round clash and stepping up in the 4th and 5th rounds to gain ascendency over a tiring and frustrated Sophan. He kept Sophan on the ropes and ignited cheers from his home crowd, ultimately taking the victory by unanimous decision.
The second Super Fight brought together Shane ‘Chopper” Chapman (New Zealand), a favourite in Australia and two-time K1 Oceania Champion, and former IFMA World Champion Dimitry Borilko from Ukraine for the WMC World ranking fight. Both fighters had the experience, but Borilko seemed a bit too relaxed in the face of Chopper’s first round onslaught. Round two saw Borilko displaying more aggression and some crowd-pleasing back fists. Chopper used his knees in the third round and Borilko was as usual very dangerous. Matters were decided by a cut to Boriko’s head, with a Chopper elbow which stopped the fight after the bell and gave the victory to Chopper and earnt him his place in the WMC Top Ten
Congratulations to the promoter George Kolovos, and the Oceania Muaythai Federation, the official WMC and IFMA representative in Australia.
