King for a Day, Cool for a Lifetime: King of the Ring MAX

Elite Thai Kickboxing (ETK) has long been one of, if not the, premier kickboxing promotion in the New Zealand scene.  Headed by former K1 World Champion Jason “Psycho” Suttie, it’s fighters embody a pedigree not often seen on these shores.

Their latest instalment, King of the Ring MAX, would contain an 8 man middleweight tournament headlined by Anz ‘Notorious’ Nansen facing off against Erik ‘The Mustang’ Nosa for the vacant WKBF World Heavyweight championship.

City Lee Gar prospect Brad Riddell quickly established himself as a front runner with his second round decimation of Brendan Varty.  Varty’s early volume and combination punching couldn’t rattle the super cool Riddell, who picked his openings and landed dynamite lead hooks. Varty continues to press during the second round, as he is able to corner Riddell and rip hooks to his body.  This is a strategy that works well for him until Riddell uncorks a left hook that puts Varty on a street that he doesn’t know the name of.  Although he rises, he is instantly buckled and the referee is forced to step in as he is helpless to stop the pressure.

In the toughest draw of the preliminary bouts, Joe Hopkins won a hard fought decision over Dmitri Simoukov.  Simoukov appeared to have trouble with Hopkins southpaw style early and eats a knee to the head that deposits him half way across the ring.  Tough as all get out, Simoukov makes it to his feet and lasts the rest of the round.  The second stanza is far more successful for ‘Molotov’, who is able to trade with Hopkins in a back and forth round.  Hopkins starts to use his length in the final round and controls most of the action.  Knowing that he needs a big round, Simoukov ups the tempo however it is not enough in the eyes of the judges.

In a rematch, Lightweight contenders Chris Wells and Joey Baylon threw volleys of kicks and punches at each other over three furious round in the evenings first ‘Superfight’.  Wells took control of the bout by pushing the pace and landing kicks to the body over the first two rounds and a spinning back kick in the final stanza to take a unanimous judges nod.

The King of the Ring tournament continued with the semi-final bouts.  In the upset of the tournament, Edwin Samy edged Brad Riddell on the judge’s cards.  Riddell’s sharp boxing was on display as he landed hard right hands and was able to stifle Samy’s offence.  Samy started to exert himself more in the last two rounds, which was seemingly enough to take an unpopular decision.

In the other semi-final, Jo Hopkins was clinical in dispatching the towering Girish Rae in the opening round.  Hopkins showed little respect for Rae’s power and hurt him with every straight left he landed.  Rae is bulled into a corner before a left hand and a knee put him out for the count.

Local favourite Antz ‘Notorious’ Nansen battered Erik Nosa for four rounds in a brutal display to capture the WKBF Heavyweight title.  Nansen wasted no time in the ring, getting into

the groove early and showing poise in picking his openings.  Nosa was game but ultimately overwhelmed as the ETK prodigy blasted him with hooks, dropping him in the third, and

twice in the fourth, until he was unable to answer the referee’s count.

Despite the wear and tear of the two previous bouts, Jo Hopkins and Edwin Samy went toe-to-toe in the King of the Ring MAX middleweight final.  The first round was tightly contested as both landed their share of punishment.  Samy’s technical style served him well in the second stanza as Hopkins seemingly had trouble working him out.  Sensing a close fight,

both competitors went to war in the final round and, as Samy got the better of the exchanges, Hopkins started to box more and control the distance.  In the end, the judges award a split decision, and the King of the Ring middleweight title, to Jo “Southpaw” Hopkins in a fight that could’ve easily gone the other way.

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Results

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The bout between Ricky Hita [ETK] and Travis Green [Strikeforce] was declared a no contest as Hita appeared to injure his knee in the first round.

King of the Ring Preliminaries
Brad Riddell [City Lee Gar, Auckland] beat Brendan Varty [Harleys Kickboxing, Masterton] by TKO in round 2

Edwin 'Electric' Samy [ETK, Auckland] beat Sonny Sadler [Hardmans Gym, Northland] by unanimous decision

Joe 'Southpaw' Hopkins [City Lee Gar, Auckland] beat Dimitri 'Molotov' Simoukov [ETK, Auckland] by unanimous decision

Girish Rae [Fi-G Training, Dunedin] beat Taylor Holland [Pathai Gym, Auckland] by unanimous decision

Professional Lightweight Bout
Chris Wells [SMAC] beat Joey 'The Filipino Kid' Baylon [ETK] by unanimous decision

King of the Ring Semi-Finals
Edwin 'Electric' Samy [ETK, Auckland] beat Brad Riddell [City Lee Gar, Auckland] by split decision

Joe 'Southpaw' Hopkins [City Lee Gar, Auckland] beat Girish Rae [Fi-G Training, Dunedin] by knockout in round 1

WKBF Heavyweight Championship bout
Antz 'Notorious' Nansen (ETK, Auckland) beat Erik 'The Mustang' Nosa (Bustler’s Gym, Sydney) by knockout in round 4

King of the Ring MAX Final
Joe 'Southpaw' Hopkins [City Lee Gar, Auckland] beat Edwin 'Electric' Samy [ETK, Auckland] by split decisionNZFighters article found here

Rāhoroi Night Is Alright For Fighting: King of the Ring

Maybe it’s the unpredictability, maybe it was a childhood of Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, or maybe it’s just the fact that I am a product of the YouTube generation, with an attention span so incremental and sporadic that I expect to view an event that is a whole career jammed into one digestible evening. Whatever it may be, I always found myself attracted to tournaments as they always provided unpredictable battles of attrition where there is no way to plan for your opponent. 

And so the ASB Stadium would hold the Elite Thai Kickboxing promoted ‘King Of The Ring’, an action packed affair including an 8 man heavyweight tournament combined with contests for national and world titles. 

Favourites Antz Nansen and Nato Laauli established themselves early with strong performances in their preliminary bouts. In many people’s eyes, the two finalists were sown up however the semi-final matches would test many of the certainties gained for the initial bouts. Antz Nansen would turn out another strong performance in decisioning Henry Taani with the other semi-final, an excitement fest between Joshua ‘Jaguar’ Heta and Nato Laauli, going right down to the wire. After seeming dominant during the first two rounds, Laauli has the fight brought to him by Heta, who is looking to mix it up. The draw declared by the judges only whets the appetite of the crowd as they thirst for another round much like the heavily contested third. When the dust finally settled, it would be Heta whose hand would be raised in a bout that could of gone either way. 

In the first world title bout contested of the evening, Bronwyn Wylie took on Melbourne’s Tegan Papasergi for the WFBK Featherweight title.  The aggressive Wylie pushed forward early while Papasergi tried to establish distance with her kicks.  The Australian just couldn’t keep her opponent off her as Wylie simply walks through anything Papasergi throws. This unrelenting pressure would prove decisive as Wylie is awarded both a unanimous decision and the WKBF Featherweight belt.

Roger Earp was pushed to the wire by Joe Concha in defending his WKBF Junior Lightweight title. Earp started the bout landing combinations however Concha began to work him out and counter effectively. Every round was up for grabs as the two combatants did everything they could to win each three minute stanza. The split decision awarded to Earp would be testament to the competitiveness of the bout.

Three 3 minute rounds is now the only thing that stood between either Antz Nansen or Joshua Heta, $7,000 in prize money and the King of the Ring title. Eleven minutes between challenger and champion with the final a classic battle of pairing an unstoppable force with an immovable object. 

Nansen comes out early exerting pressure and he slips a Heta attempt and lands a four punch combination before the bell.  The intensity is thick in the second round with ‘Notorious’ landing heavy punches. Heta is as tough as they come and exchanging willingly but a spinning backfist gets his attention. In one of the most exciting rounds witness in New Zealand kickboxing, Heta and Nansen go toe-to-toe in the final stanza.  Nansen’s spinning backfists and right hands seem to be the defining factors, although this is something that can only be assumed by the sound they make as Heta doesn’t believe in taking backward steps. After three gruelling battles, ‘Notorious’ Antz Nansen would be crowned ‘King of the Ring.’

The crew at Elite Thai Kickboxing succeeded in putting on another entertaining show.  All bouts exciting and consequential, all fighters game and without any lull in the action. This would lead to one reporter being heavily entertained.

King of the Ring Results

Oneil Wiperi (SMAC) beat Ricky Hita (ETK) by unanimous decision

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King of the Ring Tournament Preliminaries

Nato Laauli (Alpha Thai Boxing, Wellington) beat Tafa Misipati (ETK, Auckland) by unanimous decision

Antz Nansen (ETK, Auckland) beat Junior Ioane (Highlanders, Napier) by TKO-R1    

Josh 'Jaguar' Heta beats Omar Gabriel by unanimous decision

Henry Taani (South Auckland Lee Gar, Auckland) beats Sasha Kunts (City Lee Gar) by unanimous decision

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King of the Ring Tournament Semi-Finals

'Notorious' Antz Nansen (ETK, Auckland) beat Henry Taani (South Auckland Lee Gar, Auckland)

The fight between Josh 'Jaguar' Heta (Sa Ming Jai, Northland) and Nato Laauli (Alpha Thai Boxing, Wellington) was declared a draw after three rounds. After a fourth round, Heta was declared the winner.

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James Gordon (ETK) beat Rod MacSwain (STRIKEFORCE) by split decision

Bronwyn Wylie (ETK) beat Tegan Papasergi (HANGAR 4, MELBOURNE) by unanimous decision

'WILD' Roger Earp (Elite Thai Kickboxing) beat Joseph Concha (BULLDOG GYM, SYDNEY) by split decision

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King of the Ring Tournament Final
Antz 'Notorious' Nansen (ETK, Auckland) beat Josh 'Jaguar' Heta (Sa Ming Jai, Northland) by unanimous decisionNZFighters article here