The World Association of Kickboxing Organisations (NZ) Full Contact nights had been full houses for the previous event so the Te Awamutu ASB Events Centre had been booked for the event of 30th April 2005. 13 fights were booked for the evening, with the final four being eliminations for July's National Championships and selections for the New Zealand National squad for entry into the World Championships at Hungary in December.
The local townspeople had come out in force and even the events centre seating was struggling to hold the numbers at one point. All the ringside tables and corporate sponsors were sold out and the 1000 seating was close to full. A number of leading Martial Arts coaches who had not been previously involved in the event had also appeared on the scene to see the rise of W.A.K.O.'s tournament scene.
Whakatane's Kotaga Ryu put two fighters in to the winners place, Aucklands Gareth Nesbitt had a hard fight against Tauranga's Leith Trail, losing, but putting up a good show of strength against the fitter Trail. Local boys, Doug McWatters and Johan Janse Van Rensburg kept the locals happy with wins over Aucklands, Adam Moss, and Putaruru's James Papara. Te Awamutu Girl Marina Cunningham was out-kicked by Hamiltons Anna Sisson but stablemate Frank Swan was disqualified due to not appearing for the weigh in against Te Awamutu's Glenn Anderson, Anderson taking the win.
The four National title eliminations really got the crowd on their feet. Otorohanga's Georgie Tutaki outclassed Hamiltons Abbey Legget to go through to the National title shot. Husband Wiki 'Whirlwind' Tutaki was up next against a battle hardened Thai boxing fighter, Jeff Holland. Holland came into the ring with full Thai protocol, followed by Tutaki. The fight was domineered by Tutaki but Holland giving away over 10 years of age to Tutaki received a rapturous applause for his gallant battle.
Peter 'Sugar Rush' Thompson versus Josh Prince was the penultimate fight. Thompson is the chief coach of Toa Fighting systems of Auckland and likes to lead by example to his students. The fight was enjoyed by the crowd due to Thompson and Prince's respect for each other during the bout. At one point Thompson even helped Prince to his feet after dropping him from a Jumping back kick, The Promoters offering to change Thompsons 'Sugar Rush' handle to 'Nice Boy'!
The final bout which the majority of the crowd had come to watch was met by an enormous cheer, Te Awamutu's 'Bad Boy' Brad Johanson walked out of the dressing rooms behind by his coach and manager Rick Dobson, himself a former British & European Karate champion and GB National Kickboxing champion. The crowd went wild and the smile on Dobsons face could easily be seen, at last putting his protégé in the ring in their home town. Johanson, a former Golden Gloves Boxer showed the crowd his kicking skills with a array of aerial kicks while his opponent entered the ring. Joseph Ngarimu, a former thai Boxer hailing from Otorohanga looked bigger and more powerful than Johanson as they met in the middle. As the bell sounded, Ngarimu was shocked to find Johanson's strength and speed was immense, dropping him to the canvas at 25 seconds with a streaking right hook. The referee gave an eight count and the fight continued although Ngarimu did not look too steady on his feet. Ngarimu fought back but Johansons combinations were just too strong and fast for him sending him to the canvas again before the end of the second round. Ngarimu's right eye had close during the break and he never got off his chair for the second round. Johanson now has a shot at a national Title, to be held July 2nd at Te Awamutu's Event centre. WAKO (NZ) are taking a Full Contact and Semi-Contact team to the WAKO World Championships in December at Hungary, For further details of up and coming competitions or to enter, contact W.A.K.O. (NZ) on [email protected] or ring 0800 542 548.
"Tsune ni itte Kyu ni awasu"
Rick Dobson
Chief Instructor – Phantom Kickboxing
National President – WAKO (NZ)
PO Box 397
Te Awamutu, 2400
New Zealand
Ph: +64 27 255 2522
Fax: +64 7 870 4347
World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (NZ)
Elite International Martial Arts Association (UK)
