Roya Fardi has her hand raised after defeating Kristina Alvarez in the first Muay Thai match of the "Battle of the Champions" held November 20, 2009 in San Diego. All photos taken by Jim Wyatt
Boxing Zone Promotions of Imperial Beach with an assist from the U.S. Muay Thai Association put on quite a show, Friday at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in San Diego. With so many matches on the docket (14) and such a larger crowd in attendance (900+), officials at ringside were wondering if they could pull it off before the roosters started to crow. They did, barely.
The event called “The Battle of the Champions” hosted Muy Thai Kickboxing fighters from northern Mexico, Chandler, Arizona, and up and down the state of the California. The gyms represented: American Boxing of Pacific Beach, Bob Chaney’s Family Martial Arts of Murrieta, CA., City Boxing on 14th Street, The Compound MMA & Fitness of Oceanside, CA., Extreme Power Gym of Oceanside, CA., Fight & Fitness of San Francisco, Guardados Gym of Ensenada, LA Boxing of San Marcos, CA., Miguel Reyes Gym, Tijuana, Pacific Beach Boxing Gym, Poway Mixed Martial Arts, Sitan Gym of Chandler, Arizona, The Black Tiger Gym on Miramar Road, The Boxing Club at Liberty Station in Point Loma, The Boxing Club of La Mesa and Convoy St., Undisputed Fitness & Training Center on University Ave.
And now the results of the matches:
Match #1 featured super lightweights Kristina Alvarez from Poway MMA versus Roya Fardi of Ameriacn Boxing. Fardi was the aggressor from the outset and managed to stay on the inside where she was most effective against her taller opponent. It wasn’t until halfway through the third round that Fardi began to tire and Alvarez came on out-pointing her in their final round. Fardi received the decision.
After knocking Gary Archuleta of his feet with an amazing kick, Adrian Morilla goes off to his corner to await the referee's ten count.
Match #2 featured super lightweights Gary Archuleta (4-0-0) of Poway MMA who relied on his head hunting boxing skills in his battle with Adrian Morilla of the Undisputed Fitness & Training Center. Morilla used his entire arsenal and became a crowd pleaser after landing a devastating kick to the Archuletta’s head that sent him to the canvass. Morilla was relentless using his knees, left and right leg kicks to return Archuleta to the canvass. Morilla was awarded the unanimous decision.
After hearing the announcement that she has defeated Vu Mai (right), Angela Martin is exhilerated when having her hand raised in victory.
Match #3 featured Vu Mai of Team Loco from Pacific Beach Boxing (4-1-0) who was challenging Angela Martin for her USMTA Jr. flyweight State Title. The bout was a rematch of an earlier fight won by Martin. From the outset Martin was more impressive landing her stiff jab and using her left leg to kick Mai over and over. Mai, the smaller of the two ladies, landed combinations to the head which didn’t appear to faze the tougher Martin who purposely stood between rounds. When spectators talk about athletes giving it everything they have, these two did just that for four straight rounds. In the end Martin did enough to defend her title.
Jacob Poss (left) defeats Adam Griffis (right) at the Battle of the Champions Muay Thai Competition in San Diego.
Match #4 featured cruiserweights Adam Griffis facing Jacob Poss of the Boxing Club in Point Loma. The turning point in the match came when Poss caught Griffis coming forward with his head down and landed a devastating knee. He also caught Griffis in the groin area to cause a stoppage. Early in round two of the scheduled three rounder, the referee called a halt to the fight awarding a TKO victory to Poss.
Sean Ueda (left) scores a knockout victory over David Martinez (right)
Match #5 featured welterweights David Martinez from the Black Tiger Gym facing Sean Ueda of Poway Martial Arts. From the onset it appeared Martinez’s strategy was to psyche his opponent out by walking fearlessly through every punch and taking every kick, sluffing off blows as if he was indestructible. When Ueda saw Martinez’s hands go down, he took full advantage of his daring. Then it came like a cobra striking its prey, a roundhouse kick to Martinez’s head. The amazing kick knocked Martinez into la-la land. As Martinez struggled to get on his feet, someone in the crowd yelled, “That’s what he gets for showboating.” Even those at ringside questioned his recklessness.
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