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Liam Harrison v Anuwat Kaewsamrit!!!!
Liam Harrison Beat current Rajadamnoen Champion and Legend Anuwat Kaewsamrit!!!!!
Congratulation to Liam on this major achievement and victory.
Wow - what a night.
Every fight was great, the show was amazing and it stands out as one of the best nights of my career so far which is saying something because there have been some good ones.
Each fight was brilliant - testament to the fighters and trainers and how far Muay Thai has improved in the UK. Also testament to the matchmaking.
A write up about each fight by Rick Hinchcliffe is below:
MSA Muay Thai Premier League
27th March 2010
M.E.N. Arena, Manchester.
The MSA Muay Thai Premier League show has been billed as the biggest Muay Thai show ever in the UK, so expectations are understandably high in the impressive setting of the MEN Arena in Manchester. The team at MSA Promotions have done sterling work, not only in bringing together some of the top Thai Boxing Talent from the UK, Thailand and Europe together, but in their organisation of such a large event.
For any ‘minority sport’ to break through into the mainstream public’s consciousness, it has to make a big noise, and events like this certainly crank up the decibels. There are ten fights on tonight’s card:
Mike Egan (Taz Muay Thai) v Stuart Kemp (Mike Tobin’s Gym)
The first round looks pretty close as these things often are, Egan throwing some good kicks. Kemp comes back with some fast punches and it is him doing all the chasing in round two. Egan is downed briefly in the third, and most of the attacking is coming from Kemp. There is the odd little flourish from Egan, but Kemp looks stronger. In the fourth, there is more of the same. Egan has some ‘bigger’ (fancier) techniques, but he’s not really scoring with them. He has a go at getting in the clinch and seeing if he can work it but Kemp still ahead. Again Egan is trying some of the more ambitious techniques, but most of the points going to Kemp.
Kemp wins on Points.
Jordan Watson (Bad Co.) v Gianluca Buccoliero (Team Pesare, Italy)
After the initial feeling out period of thirty seconds or so, Watson starts establishing his dominance with the power in his legs. Buccoliero catches Watson’s leg at one point, and it should be Watson that goes down, but the strength of the young Englishman sees Buccoliero unable to control it and ends up on the canvas himself. Watson scores three or four good high roundhouse kicks as well as a powerful front kick that sends his opponent reeling back. Buccoliero keeps gamely moving forward but all the time falling victim to Watson’s kicks, which as anyone in the sport knows are immensely powerful. Trying a different tactic, Buccoliero moves in for the clinch but is thrown straight away.
In the third, Buccoliero has to take a standing count towards the end of the round, receiving a powerful knee from Watson. In the break, it becomes clear that Buccoliero is not coming out for the fourth round, resulting in yet another well deserved and decisive win for Jordan Watson.
Simon Chu (Kiatphontip, Leeds) v Daitan Jackson (Salford)
The bout starts with a very good first round, with both fighters straight into action. Chu looks the dominant fighter through most of the round, at one point taking Jackson’s legs from under him. Towards the end of the round, however, Chu is also swept to the ground. In round two both fighters start very strong, but Chu takes his opponent down with a punch and Jackson has to take a count. He doesn’t really recover from the jolt for the rest of the round, as Chu just catches Jackson again and again. In the third, Jackson knows that he has to up the ante and comes forward with some good front kicks, but this puts him into Chu’s ideal range and he comes back with some stinging roundhouse kicks and a really powerful left hook. It is still, a much closer round, with both fighters coming forward with a high work rate. It is also the best round that Jackson has had in the fight so far. In the fourth, Jackson tries to come forward and attempts to clinch, but Chu’s footwork and better accuracy make the difference. In the fifth, Jackson knows he has to work hard and rack up some points, throwing the majority of the attacks. He came forward very gamely, though it is just too late for him to turn it around.
After five rounds the judges’ decision is that Chu wins and takes the British title.
Andy Howson (Bad Co) v Dean James (Pra Chao Sua)
The first round begins with some cautious exploration by both fighters and by the end of it, though close, the judges might just have the little dot above Howson’s name. The second is again close, with both fighters of a similar high calibre. At one point James has his legs taken from under him but he’s straight back up. Other than that, there is very little between the two. In the third round James landed the slightly better of the punches with a little more accuracy. This is also the first round to show any significant amount of clinch work, with both fighters making good use of the knees. After the fourth round, with a good repertoire of techniques: kicks, punches and knees, it could still be either fighter that gets the big cup. In the fifth, both fighters continue to put in some good techniques, and this is the first fight of the night to include any significant amount of knee and elbow work.
After five rounds James wins on points.
Andy Thrasher (GFC Bury) v Hakim Bouzambou (FIGHT PLAZA) ?
Towards the end of a hard fought first round, Thrasher takes his opponent down with a right, leaving him to take a count. It’s a telling punch from which his opponent doesn’t really recover. Thrasher wins by a KO in the second round, after showing his dominance, unbalancing his opponent a couple of times before outclassing him with the accuracy of his punches and elbows.
Kieran Keddle (Semtex gym) v Imran Khan (Wicker Camp)
The first round looks fairly close. Keddle is landing more techniques, but when Khan does land them they are noticeably more telling. Round two presents more of the same: Keddle is doing most of the advancing, but Khan drops in some stinging elbows. Khan’s strikes definitely look the more venomous. In the third, Khan adds some powerful knees into the mix. Keddle keeps coming forward with his fists, however, bringing Khan to the canvas at one point. In the fourth round, Khan looks the stronger and is landing more meaningful techniques. Keddle is still battling bravely forward in the fifth in order to try and redress the balance, but at the end of five rounds, Khan wins on points.
Khan wins.
Damien Trainor (K-Star) v Kaewkla Kaewsamrit (Kaewsamrit, Thailand)
Both fighters look very strong in the first round, but Trainor is coming up with the better combinations and putting it all together more convincingly. The lightning fast jabs, immediately followed by whip-like kicks give Trainor the edge. Kaewkla is looking stronger in the second round with some venomous, fast front kicks and some solid punches of his own. Trainor’s legs are swept briefly from under him at one point, but he comes back straight away with good strong punches. Towards the end of the second round, it is Kaewkla’s turn to be brought down by a kick to the legs. In the next round, Trainor seems determined to land a flying elbow technique, trying them again and again as part of his combinations. Kaewkla comes back with a few combinations of his own, driving Trainor back to the corner a couple of times but Trainor immediately responds with some good body shots. The fourth round proves to be a real crowd-pleaser. Kaewkla is coming forward more now. From the clinch Trainor is briefly through the ropes, but he’s straight back in and the fight continues. Both fighters increasing the variety of their techniques, including the difficult but devastating spinning elbows.
The fifth round sees some really good punching combinations from Trainor. Kaewkla returns the favour with some of his own, but the combinations don’t come together quite as well as Trainor’s. Trainor is using the full repertoire, with flying knees and a good strong front kick, which takes Kaewkla down. Though both fighters are showing great skill, Trainor is definitely doing most of the scoring. After five rounds of edge of the seat action, Trainor takes the decision.
Neil Woods (Team Kaobon) v Kevin Harper (Majestic Gym)
Harper is looking more relaxed and throwing more techniques from the off. He does have his legs taken from under him, but generally he is landing the more meaningful techniques and looks as through he’s done that bit more in the way of preparation for this fight. Having said that, Woods, fires off some very good punches. In the second, Harper is putting the techniques together a lot better. Following kicks, punches and elbows in succession in meaningful combinations. Referee Tony Myers briefly stops proceedings to check the cut above Woods’ eye. Woods comes back with a lot of power, knowing that a cut brings the danger of an early stoppage. He goes in like a whirlwind, knowing that, with the cut, time is not on his side. Harper comes back with some good techniques, looking to open the cut up further. He’s not concentrating solely on that, however and still throwing some good kicks to the legs. Of course, if he can slow Woods down enough it will make it easier to get to that eye. Tony Myers, still concerned, stops to check Woods’ eye, but deems that the fight can continue. It is a hard fought round, with Woods’ cut adding a certain urgency to it. In the fourth, Woods throws some good boxing techniques, but Harper just seems to have more weapons at his disposal. Woods keeps coming forward and giving it everything in terms of power in his attacks, knowing that he has to stop his opponent to win, but at the end of five rounds it is Harper that wins on points.
Michael Dicks (Darlington) v Bovy Sor Udomsorn (Kaewsamrit, Thailand)
In the first round, Dicks is, despite being kept on the back foot throwing most of the techniques. He doesn’t look as powerful as Bovy initially, but is landing more blows, although Bovy absorbs everything that is thrown at him without seeming to notice any of the blows.
Throughout most of the bout Bovy simply marches forward, soaks up everything thrown at him and relies on his fists. Dicks is throwing a much wider range of techniques, though Bovy just keeps coming like an automaton. Although nothing seems to faze Bovy, the techniques that his opponent throws must be scoring, Dicks being the one landing all of the kicks and elbows. It seems that Bovy’s strategy is just to keep marching forward, take everything that’s thrown at him and rely on his toughness to tire his opponent. It’s an unusual strategy, and Dicks has thrown the majority of strikes in the bout. In the fourth, Dicks does look as though he’s starting to tire a little from his much higher work rate. In the fifth, however, his blows are finally starting to have a visible effect and Bovy starts to weaken as he receives some stinging elbows from Dicks. After doing most of the work over five rounds, Dicks wins on points
Liam Harrison (Bad Company) v Anuwat Kaewsamrit (Kaewsamrit, Thailand)
This was obviously going to be the big fight that most of the fans came to see. After his defeat last year in Jamaica at the hands of Anuwat, the question on many lips was whether Liam Harrison could turn things around and come away with a different result this time. Bearing in mind Anuwat’s fearsome reputation, it was not a task that many would envy:
Harrison starts off in round one cautiously, with his guard well up. Anuwat throws a couple of low kicks, which Harrison blocks without any trouble. As the round progresses however, he opens up and is throwing some good kicks to the legs, which look just as dangerous as those that Anuwat is throwing. In the second round, Harrison relaxes much more and lets go with some impressive techniques. It is obvious now that Harrison is unfazed by their last encounter, and that he has prepared well for this one. He fires off and lands a succession of high roundhouse kicks, and at one point Anuwat is briefly on the canvas. Anuwat has fast and powerful punches but Harrison manages to avoid most of the blows, dropping in a well-timed jab of his own. All in all the second round is definitely Harrison’s. Anuwat started round three strongly, and a fighter of this calibre is always going to be dangerous, but again, Harrison proves difficult to catch and comes back with the high roundhouse kick. He manages to slip out each time he is backed into a corner. He takes a couple of shots from Anuwat, but despite the speed and power, they don’t seem to have much effect on Harrison. As the round goes on, Harrison seems more and more at ease. As he gets the measure if his opponent, his natural flair for timing, distance and position come into their own, and Anuwat falls for the high roundhouse again and again. Harrison is on fire in this bout now. He takes a good right hand from Anuwat, but is only fazed momentarily, coming back with some good punches of his own, and the fourth, too has to be Harrison’s round. His dominance continues through the fifth round, and it has now become apparent that Harrison’s recent assertion that he would return from this match with nothing less than a win was no idle boast. Whilst Anuwat throws some hard punches, Harrison continues to land the more varied and effective techniques, including the elbows and a flying knee. After five rounds, Liam Harrison takes the victory by unanimous decision. Not only has he again cemented his position as the UK’s number one Thai Boxer, he has done it with the style and flair that will make him one of the sports all time greats.
Rick Hinchliffe
28 March 2010
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