WCK Muay Thai at its best

Major upsets (4), split decisions (4), title fights (3), the June 8, 2019 WCK Muaythai show certainly held your attention.

Bout #1

IKF AMATEUR WOMEN’S FULL RULES MUAY THAI / 135 lbs. Lightweight

Erica Heine (San Diego, Calif., C: 2-0, (3-0) ABX: 2-3, S: 1, 5’6″ tall, is 33-years-old and coached by Carl Gebhardt at Steel MMA in Tierrasanta, San Diego, Calif.) versus Angel Montano (Spring Valley, Calif., who was making her debut. Montano stands 5’3″ tall, is 20-years-old and trained by Andy Murad at the 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Gym in Spring Valley.)

In her debut, Angel Montano (r) got off to a rough start when facing the more seasoned opponent, Erica Heine, who went freewheeling with knees to the head and basically doing whatever she wanted to do to gain a Unanimous Decision victory. At times Montano looked impressive, showed a lot of courage under fire and a toughness that portends of better things to come.

Bout #2

IKF AMATEUR FULL RULES MUAY THAI / 115 lbs. Super Flyweight

David Cung (San Diego, Calif., C: 3-0, S: 2, 5’3′ tall, 33-years-old, coached by Eric Alignay of The Boxing Club in East Village versus Warren Yee (Van Nuys, Calif., C: 1-2, {2-2?} S: 1, 5’5″ tall, 21-years-old, trained by Ray Cole of Khantoum Muaythai, Northridge, Calif.

Being short of stature, 5’3” tall, many of David Cung’s opponents have been led to believe they’ll have no problem controlling the fight. Big mistake. As in Saturday’s contest, it was only a matter of time before Cung’s punches and kicks had the taller Yee backing up.

*After taking several extremely hard knees and sharp overhand rights to the head,* *Warren* *Yee was likely figuring he had gone as long as he could. Eventually, referee Luis Cobian made that decision for him and stepped in to stop Cung’s onslaught.*

Up goes the arm of the victorious **David Cung**. Showing full respect for Cung, **Warren Yee** clapped for his victorious opponent.

Win #4 was another laudable conquest for David Cung who celebrated with his proud coaching staff from The Boxing Club of East Village, (l to r) Erik Alignay and Jessie Magusen.

Bout #3

IKF AMATEUR FULL RULES MUAY THAI / 120 lbs. Super Bantamweight bout

Juan Manuel Medina (Chula Vista, Calif., Record 4-0, 5’6″ tall, 19-years-old, is coached by Jhanex Alviz of Team Parusa who train at the UFC Gym in Fashion Valley, San Diego, Calif. versus Felipe Aparicio (San Diego, Calif., Record 7-3-1, PKB: 3, 5’3″ tall, 27-years-old, training under the direction of Carl Gebhardt at Steel MMA in Tierrasanta, San Diego, Calif.

Pre-fight prognostications: Many, including this observer, were wondering if Medina, a remarkable young athlete, might be biting off more than he could chew. After all, Aparicio had been a belt holder, had more experience (more than twice as many fights, 11 to just 4), plus his body was fully developed in comparison to the teenager who was 8 years younger. At the weigh-ins on Friday, Aparicio looked sculptured as if he was about to enter a Mr. Universe Contest instead of a Muay Thai competition. While Medina looked dehydrated as if had been involved in some dramatic weight loss.

On Saturday evening, Medina’s gaunt appearance had disappeared. He looked much healthier, stronger and bigger. As a result, it was Medina who now held an edge as it pertained to his height advantage, and possibly having more power behind each of his punches and kicks. Regardless, the decision of this close contest ended up in the hands of the judges, each of whom saw the bout from a different angle. Your winner, by split decision, **Manuel Medina**.

On cloud nine, the young, gifted **Manuel Medina** has his arm raised skyward by veteran referee **Luis Cobian**.

Juan Manuel Medina (c) is joined by his support group, head coach Jhanex Alviz plus coach Jason Huber.

Bout #4

IKF AMATEUR FULL RULES MUAY THAI / 147 lbs. Welterweight
James Gregory (El Cajon, Calif., Record 6-18-2, S: 6, 5’7″ tall, 39-years-old, coached by Mike Lemaire at the Art of Eight Training Center in Kearny Mesa, San Diego, Calif. versus Evan Boulton (Long Beach, Calif., 14-10-1, 6’4″ tall, 24-years-old, trained by Hung Vo at the UFC Gym in Long Beach.

Since we’ve become accustomed to watching a great many, remarkable performances from “Sweet Baby” James Gregory, the thought of him facing someone 9 inches taller and 15 years younger, was in question but not all that seriously. It would be nothing more than Gregory out to climb an even higher mountain.

Soon after those gloves touched, the catastrophe took all of 57 seconds. Within the first minute of that first round, there was Gregory, first trying to raise himself up and then awkwardly dropping back down into that faraway neutral corner. From this spill, he could not get up. The tibia in his right leg had been broken. With the seriousness of this injury soon registering, it appeared everyone in the place had been muted, silenced while the emergency personnel rushed forward to transport James Gregory to the nearest hospital.

Mightily concerned, his former adversary, Evan Boulton, reached out to Gregory with the warmest possible wishes.

Off he went to the nearest hospital without showing so much as a wince of pain.

With his trusty mate M. C. Mel beside him, our wounded hero James Gregory will now be inactive for at least six months.

Follow-up message from James Gregory in regard to his injury: “Thank you to everyone who reached out and showed their concern. They discharged me late last night with a full-length cast, and the break is so clean, the plan is for it to heal as is, 4-6 weeks in the cast. So fortunately, doesn’t look like I’ll be joining the metal shin club. Muay Thai is a rough sport and things happen. Staying optimistic, because that’s the fastest way to heal.”

As a result of the injury to Gregory, his opponent, Evan Boulton must have felt lost in the shuffle. Here we see referee Luis Cobian raising Boulton’s arm to signify his 15th victory.

Finally, we got to see Mr. Boulton, along with his trusty crew, adding a smile to their faces.

During intermission, announcer Dick Gregory introduced special guest Muaythai/Kickboxing legend Kevin “the Soul” Assassin” Ross, a veteran of 65 fights who has fought all over the planet.

Bout #5 was noteworthy because it was an IKF & IAMTF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WELTERWEIGHT (147 lbs. limit) Title Unification with 5 X 2 minute rounds.

In this one, you had Brandon Kurosawa (San Diego, Calif. by way of Oahu, Hawaii, 9-0-1, 5’9″ tall, 22-years-old and coached by Jessie Magusen of The Boxing Club, La Jolla, Calif. versus Clarence Watson (Redlands, Calif. by way of Bakersfield, Calif., 4-0, {7-0} AMMA: 1-0, four inches taller at 6’ 1”, born 6-9-93, 26-years-old, coached by Cody “The Squirrel” Sessions from Squirrel Muay Thai.

The crowd was up on their feet early for this Championship fight, especially when the fighters went on the attack from the git-go.

Round 1: it was Watson early, Kurosawa late. Round 2: Watson early, Kurosawa late. Kurosawa’s plan involved patience, learning Watson’s tendencies and then responding. Seemingly quicker and more powerful with his hands, more dominate with his kicks, Kurosawa then made an all out assault as they entered round three. This led to that one final knockdown which warranted the referee’s stoppage.

After noticing Watson had become wobbly and then glassy-eyed from the battering from one end of the ring to the other, referee Dan Stell quickly stepped in to stop the bout.

At this point everyone wanted to have their photo taken with the USA IKF/IAMTF Unified Welterweight Champion. While others like The Boxing Club owner Artem Sharoskin and Kurosawa’s trainer Caine Gayle waited patiently, others like ring card gal Kirstie Masciel, WCK CEO Dennis Warner, WCK Official Sarinda Chaney, ref Dan Bam Bam Stell and Stephanie Vino were there in a flash.

And finally, the gents who likely did the most to help the new champion reach his goal: (l to r) coach Glenn Salud, TBC Gym owner/adviser/former champion Artem Sharoshkin, WCK’s Dennis Warner, Kurosawa, plus coaches Jessie Magusen and Caine Gayle.

Bout #6 was an IKF AMATEUR FULL RULES MUAY THAI / 122 lbs.
Promotional Title Bout with 5 X 2 minute rounds.
Jordan Huber (San Diego, Calif., 7-2, 5’7″ tall, now 20-years-old, trained by Jhanex Alviz of Team Parusa at the UFC Gym in Fashion Valley, San Diego, Calif. versus Yannick Krapp (Temple City, Calif. by way of far off Peru C: 1-2, {8-3}, 5’5″ tall, 30-years-old and trained by David Huerta

Bout #6 turned out to be one of the quickies on the night after an early stoppage in round three. Apparently, Mr. Krapp suffered an injury to his left ankle, and could not put any weight on it.

Whether by injury or knockout, a win is a win and the Team Parusa group sprang into action to celebrate Jordan Huber’s good fortune, his eighth victory, plus the winning of this 122 lb.
IKF PROMOTIONAL TITLE Belt.

The coveted IAMTF Super Bantamweight International Title belt is once again secure around the champ’s waist.

The always tough Team Parusa, led by coach Jhanex Alviz, (standing, five mates over from the right) has one tight group.

Bout #7 for the IKF AMATEUR WOMEN’S FULL RULES MUAY THAI / 132 lbs. crown, plus the IKF & IAMTF WOMEN’S So Cal Lightweight 127.1 lbs. – 132 lbs. title would be decided in another 5 two minute round contest between: Selina Flores (Vista, Calif., 20-4, 5’7″ tall, 21-years-old, the current IAMTF Champion, now training at the Steel MMA Gym in Tierrasanta, San Diego, Calif. with another new instructor, Carl Gebhardt, would be going up against Ashley Smallwood (San Diego, Calif., 5-0, AMMA: 2-0, ABX: 2-1, 5’9″ tall, 33-years-old, who is former Military (Army) and over the past 14 months has been coached by Steven Frye at Victory MMA in Point Loma.

While one fighter (Selina Flores, red gloves) prefers to use her legs and kick more, her opponent, Ashley Smallwood, prefers to box.

Ashley Smallwood (r) and Selena Flores (l) exchange pleasantries after their extremely competitive five round fight.

After Ashley Smallwood won the oh-so-close split decision victory, and had the Championship belt placed around her waist by Sarinda Chaney, her eyes immediately welled up with tears of happiness.

(photo right) Ashley Smallwood is joined by her proud coach Steven Frye and fellow members of her Muay Thai team.

Happy beyond words, Ashley Smallwood (r) climbs the belt buckles to acknowledge the many friends and family who came from all over to see her fight for the coveted title.

Smallwood’s biggest asset had to be her combination of the longer reach and speed of hands. As this fight progressed, her jabs plus her overhand rights were getting through Flores’ guard. That being said, round three was too close to call. In round four, with neither fighter making much headway, it appeared Flores, with her strong finish, took that round. It all came down to that closing stanza in which we believe Smallwood did just enough to win the round.

Can you imagine the stories this youngster will be able to tell his friends at school and later in life, about how his mother was a champion fighter and won this title in front of so many people.

Bout #8, a four round WCK FULL RULES MUAY THAI /Lightweight 132 lb. contest featured a gentleman by the name of Sean Kervick (San Diego, Calif. by way of Waterford, Ireland), Record 1-0-1, 5’8″ tall, who trains at The Arena MMA Gym under the watchful eye of the gifted one, Charles Martinez. In his sites, Kervick had James Acosta from Los Angeles, Calif., 1-1-1, who is 5’6″ tall and trains at Team Victory with coach Rod McKiver.

Low and behold, in attendance was a rather large group of spectators there to cheer for Sean Kervick in his battle against James Acosta and you soon had the impression, that if this menagerie of Hooray for our side fans were to get involved, then surely the Kervick victory would be a foregone conclusion.

Watching intently, it became obvious that every time Sean Kervick made a positive move, landed a punch, the judges heard an earful. Or perhaps they would hear a toast. “Here’s to a long life and a merry one. A quick death and an easy one. A pretty girl and an honest one. A cold beer and another one.” Imagining it to be so, these were the famed Irish hooligans that would often alter the outcome of a European soccer match. Surely the barkeep at the Sheraton was enjoying a record night of sales and hearing a funny remark or two. “If liquor were a pond and I were a duck, I’d swim to the bottom and never come up.”

So, with the Kervick faithful in house, the victory did become money in the bank.

Mr. Kervick’s response later: “There was no feeling like it! 🇮🇪

Happy to get the win over 4 solid rounds of fair play with a very tough opponent. Another good experience that I’ll learn a lot from with plenty to work on over the next six weeks.

Huge thanks to my coaches Charles Martinez, Vince Salvador and everyone at The Arena MMA gym for everything over the past year. It was an honor to represent the gym last night and I look forward to many more.

Thanks to everyone for all the lovely messages, those who bought tickets and came out last night. They made 40 people sound like 400. The support means the world to me. I hope to see yee all at the next one on July 20th! ♥️🇮🇪Also a big shoutout to everyone back home in Waterford, Ireland @Waterford Muaythai. I wouldn’t be anywhere without yee! Many thanks, Sean Kervick

Bout #9 WCK Full Rules MuayThai / 172 lbs.
Francisco Garcia (San Diego, Calif.), is another oh-so popular fighter with a record of 7-2, he’s 5’10” tall, and trains at the Undisputed Fitness Gym with coach Carlos Castro and on this night, Garcia was facing “The Urban Legend” Chris Culley, Victorville, Calif., Record 9-3, born 3-25-86 which makes him 33 years of age. Culley stands 5’10” tall, and currently trains with Betiss Mansouri at Millenia MMA.

(l to r) **Francisco Garcia** (*San Diego)* from the Undisputed Fitness Gym and **Chris “The Urban Legend” Culley**, Victorville, Calif.

As this contest proceeded, you might think these fighters were showing each other too much respect but that wouldn’t be the case if you saw some of their past fights. These guys could be likened to gunslingers, meaning one little mistake and a devastating kick could turn out your lights.

In the end, the victory went to the visitor from Victorville, close by where the former King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers had his ranch.

Bout #10 – 5 rounds, WCK Full Rules Muaythai Pro Lightweight 137 lbs. featured local favorite Marvin Madariaga from The Boxing Club East Village, 5’9″ tall, 134.4 lbs., coached by Jesse Magnusen versus Ron Scolesdang (Irvine, Calif.) 5’7″ tall, 134.6 lbs., 1-0-1 from the distinguished Team Oyama and coached by none other than Colin Oyama.

Round 1 was a feeling out round with no advantage on either side. Then, in Round 2, Madariaga took the initiative, with Scolesdang more of an observer. In Round 3, that advantage switched dramatically after Scolesdang landed three straight elbows which had Madariaga surviving the round but hurt and bleeding. Round four became a continuation of round three and the elbows and straight, hard punches to the head kept getting through Madariaga’s flimsy guard and down he slumped to the canvas. It was a first for this observer to see Madariaga so victimized.

Have you ever seen anything like this before? After registering his knockout victory over Marvin Madariaga, Ron Scolesdang’s support group quickly made there way into the ring and began to rough-up their fighter. First, it was head coach Colin Oyama (r) who started pounding Scolesdang’s chest, and not lightly.

Then it was Romie Adanza’s turn, and he did some serious rubbing up and down the midsection. However, unlike the police during mob violence, no handcuffs were used.

Then came this coy, comical look from both Adanza and Oyama after they just finished man-handling their fighter….priceless!

Ron Scolesdang (r) looks on, almost apologetic for defeating one of the fighters he has held in such high esteem.

Bout #11 an IAMTF Light Heavyweight match featured 5’9″ Edson Perez (0-1) from the Gracie Carlsbad Gym, Carlsbad, Calif. who is being trained by Andy Scott. Perez was taking on David Young from Upland, Calif., another member of Squirrel Muay Thai who train at the UFC Gym in Ontario, Calif. under the watchful eye of Cody Sessions. Young’s hairstyle might be a tad deceptive but those solid, tree stump-like legs, sure aren’t. Trying to stay clear of those menacing leg kicks became a nightmare for Edson Perez.

In the end, the judges scores were once again split with two of the judges ruling in Young’s favor (2-1). With the victory Young improved to 1-1 while Perez dropped to 0-2. What we failed to show you was the overjoyed coach, Cody Sessions, who weighs at the most 122 lbs., proudly lifting his 175 lb. fighter up into the air.

Bout #12

IAMTF FULL RULES MUAY THAI / 165 lbs. 3 RDs
Clifton Patrick Harrington– (San Diego, Calif., record 1-0, 6’1″, 29-years-old, coached by Denis Grachev of the City Boxing Gym, San Diego, Calif.
versus Eric Michael Ross (San Diego, Calif., 2-1, 6’1″ tall, born 12-13-89, 30-years-old, trained by Shaun Shepard of Pacific Roots Muay Thai, Miramar, San Diego, Calif.

This was another of those bouts where the scores were so close the judges disagreed and came away with a split decision victory for C. Patrick Harrington (l) who in our opinion clearly out-fought Eric Michael Ross in round one, then let his guard down in round two. With the third round being so important, Harrington showed the most heart and came away with the most strikes and kicks.

Bout #13

IKF AMATEUR FULL RULES MUAY THAI / Heavyweight/ 220 lbs.+
featuring Jose Roberto Nuno (San Diego, California, 6’2″, 26-years-old, trained by Jhanex Alviz of Team Parusa located inside the UFC Gym in Fashion Valley, San Diego, Calif., making his debut versus
David Guerra (Fontana, Calif., 1-0, 5’11” tall, born 10-24-89, 29-years-old, who is trained by Cody Sessions of Squirrel Muay Thai located inside the UFC Ontario Gym, Ontario, Calif.

Round one was over in a flash after the big guy, **Jose Roberto Nuno**, blasted the shorter David Guerra, with destructive blows.

Jose Roberto Nuno (c) strikes a pose between his two notable coaches (l to r) Jhanex Alviz and Gibran Alvarez.

Bout #14

IAMTF AMATEUR WOMEN’S FULL RULES Muay Thai Atomweight, 110 lbs., 3 RDs, Jessica Cook (San Diego, Calif.) 5’4″ tall, 29-years-old, 1-0-1 of Team Parusa and trained by Jhanex Alviz at the UFC Gym in Fashion Valley versus Debbie Chen (San Diego, Calif.) 5’4: tall, 36-years-old, 1-0, trained by Carl Gebhardt at the Steel MMA Gym in Tierrasanta, S.D., Calif.

Plain and simple the decision went to Debbie Chen who after taking a commanding lead in the first two rounds only needed to match Jessica Cook’s output in the final round.

Debbie Chen (c) celebrates her victory with the coaching staff of (l to r) Fumihiro “Hiro” Tanno (Brendon), head coach Carl Gebhardt.

Bout #15

IAMTF Super Welterweight – 155 lbs., 3 RDs featured Barach Sekander (San Diego, Calif.) 5’9″ tall, Record 1-1, who trains at The Arena MMA gym in Point Loma, San Diego, Calif. where he is trained by Charles Martinez versus Torger Torgeren (San Diego, Calif.) 5’9″ tall, Record 2-0 who trains at The Undisputed Training center in Center City. His coach has been Antonio Arango

This one didn’t last long – not after one of the hardest left hooks on record landed on the right side of Torger Torgeren’s face. Down went Torgeren who erroneously thought he could get back up.

After Torgeren’s recovery from the knockout, Barack Sekander (l) and Torger Torgeren (r) await the announcement of the decision.

Before leaving the ring, Barack Sekander (c) and his support group which included Muay Thai coach Charles Martinez of the Arena MMA Gym, posed for a photo.

And so ends another memorable Muay Thai show at the Four Points By Sheraton Hotel.

WCK Muay Thai at its best

Pin It on Pinterest