News, Events & Results - International Thaiboxing, Painthorpe Country Club, Wakefield, 5th March 2005

Report by Colin Hopkins

Main event:
Dale White v Mohammed Charkaoui
(England) (Holland)



With Dale White’s outings almost exclusively on foreign soil, it was great to see him live again, back here on home ground.
With a couple of big fights on the horizon this was a fight to keep White tuned up, as well as an opportunity to perform in front of his home town following.

White’s Dutch opponent Mohammed Charkaoui, coming off a 4th round KO victory in France, was unbeaten in 7 fights since his 1st round stoppage of British ranked No4 Robert Weir a year ago. Not forgetting that Weir went the distance with Britain’s No2 Paulo Da Silva, an immensely strong fighter, Charkaoui was booked to provide a lengthy nights work for White.

I always feel that Whites’ focus at the start of any fight on home territory is impinged upon by his personal sense of duty to perform well.
This was born out in a fairly uneventful first round, with White cautiously evaluating Charkaoui, having a good look for any available openings, but not too concerned in the early stages if they come or not.
When a couple of clinch sessions presented themselves, White took the opportunity to test Charkaoui, dumping him on the canvas on both occasions.
At the bell, White looked quietly satisfied with proceedings as he strolled back to his stool.

Back in the corner I thought I detected some irritation from White’s coach (and father); about the tempo of the fight, and I suspect he wanted Charkaoui pressured from that point onwards.
White duly obliged and as he stepped up for round two there was a uniformed increase in pressure being applied.
Not only did White’s work rate pick up, but the variety of techniques had Charkaoui guessing, and starting to look decisively uncomfortable.
It was soon evident that Charkaoui couldn’t ‘go’ with White as he upped the anti, and once White moved to the inside, it was obvious he was too strong physically and technically, and whatever competitiveness there was early on was history.
Despite giving away 3kg, White was capitalising on the inside, landing punishing knees into the midsection of his opponent, and subsequently putting him down for an eight count.

In round three White went to town, landing everything he threw. It was more of an assault on Charkaoui, and thank goodness he had his gloves up high enough to block a couple of roundhouses whizzed into his head, which still knocked him backwards despite the block.
Charkaoui was overwhelmed completely. He took a standing eight, but then waved the fight over, retiring himself from the inevitable.

Chatting to White after the show, he was happy to have got a fight in this month and happy with his performance “considering the [Charkaoui’s] form guide”.
White has “several options available” [to him], and we may even see him fight again in this country before the end of the year?




Prestige International bout
Gavin Sterritt v Tsirimos Panayotis
(England) (Holland)


One of the fighters I always enjoy watching, Gav Sterritt, has his sights set on some interesting goals. With ‘Super league’ and other opportunities to elevate you into some big time fights, I think Sterritt was perhaps looking ahead instead of in front of him.

A couple of weeks prior to the fight, Sterritt told me he was going to “jump on this guy” right from the off.
His opponent, Dutch based Greek fighter Tsirimos Panayotis, is not a fighter to be taken lightly, and is the type of unyielding opponent that Sterritt has to deal with to get his name on the big promoters wanted list.
Panayotis also has desires in those directions, and with a fight record of 11wins 1 loss and 10 KO; he is making waves of his own in Europe.

I was shocked a little on the night when Sterritt had a real cautious look at Panayotis. During the limited bits of action throughout the round Panayotis was solid, sharp and very strong.
The second round and the pace quickened, Sterritt tried to shorten the distance, stepping in with a tight guard. Unfortunately, as Sterritt went to throw a left, he dropped his right hand a fraction and Panayotis landed a perfect short hook, dropping Sterritt who was unable to recover, loosing by KO2 before the fight had really got underway.
Sometimes setbacks can be character builders. Sterritt promises to get back in again as soon as something can be found, and is determined not to let this hitch detract from his aims.

Congratulations to Tsirimos Panayotis who takes his impressive record to 12/1/0 with 11 KO and looks a real prospect. Hopefully he will soon be back in England to fight again.





Simon Chu v Gilmar Eugina
(England) (Holland)
How good is it to see Simon Chu back in action? He’s had a bit of a lay off after his loss to the world class Wicker Gym fighter, Christian Da Paulo, when Chu, after some strong performances and a big rise in the rankings went in against the best out there. That’s how you test yourself. Da Paulo was a step too far at the time, but now Chu should benefit from that experience.

Against Holland’s Gilmar Eugina, a fighter we have seen over here before, Chu looked tentative initially, but a picture of concentration, and worked well off his front kick and lead leg roundhouse. It was great to hear the familiar ooh’s and ahh’s as that left hook introduced itself and Chu looked seriously determined to perform well.

Chu took the first round, dominating the centre of the ring with Eugina watching, waiting and blocking most of the round.
Chu won the second more convincingly, but still had a tendency to be waiting with caution high on his list of priorities.
I was told before the fight that Chu would have to look after himself as Eugina was very capable of an upset. The Dutchman looked beautifully conditioned, strong and prepared to stand his ground when a big exchange of punches was traded, increasing the tension in the crowd.

The pace really picked up in the third and Chu didn’t have time to be apprehensive. There was serious concentration in Chu’s eyes and a couple of left hooks just missed their intended target, although Chu wasn’t looking to land them specifically.
The front kick was still working well, but Eugina was trying to pressure Chu, setting up his own assaults.
With the excitement mounting, Eugina, on the attack, stepped into Chu’s range and took delivery of one of Chu’s now famous left hooks, a sweet short perfectly timed shot, flush on the chin. No need for a count.

Another big KO win for Chu, which hopefully, should see him back in the rankings.
This was a big weight for Chu, 75kg, and he obviously carries that power with him, but I’m sure we’ll see him back down again for his next fight and even more dangerous than ever after this confidence builder.



Commonwealth Title fight 79kg

Ricky Joseph v Colin Carson
(England) (Scotland)
Ricky Joseph has become a feature of the Dean White promotions. He always fights full rules, defends his belts, and brings his own atmosphere to the show by way of a loyal and vocal following.
Carson’s conditioning didn’t look the best I’ve ever seen, but when the bell sounded he was all over Joseph, and looked very strong indeed.
Not what you would call a technical fighter, but with his obvious strength and the usual bottle that the Scots bring with them, he was making life extremely uncomfortable for Joseph.
By the end of round one, Joseph had a bloodied nose, and struggled to take a share of the round.
Joseph had to knuckle down into a contest more brutal than technical, and it was as hard as I’ve seen him have to work in a fight, probably spurred on by the hope that Carson might fade the longer the fight progressed.
Carson’s work was untidy but effective, punching and leaning on, taking advantage of the height and apparent strength differences.
Joseph scored little success of his own, save some useful knees on the inside, and never looked like taking the round off Carson.

With Carson showing signs of slowing early in the third, but still strong, Joseph looked like there might have been light at the end of the tunnel if he could outwork Carson for the remainder of the bout.
The fight might not have been pretty, but it was it was gripping stuff and the third round became Joseph’s most encouraging yet.

Round four and Carson was marauding forward again. Joseph’s physical turnaround had faded and his only chance appeared to lay in the clinch, where his technique gave him an edge and the elbow was looking a good weapon for him. Unfortunately for Joseph, every time he took the fight inside, the fighters were broken up and brought to the centre of the ring, eliminating what effectively seemed to be Joseph’s only avenue to victory as all his other options looked very limited.
With the winning of this fight on the inside and Joseph restricted there, it paved the way nicely for Carson to plunder the points as he stayed big and strong until the final bell. A bit of an elbow fest at the end of the fight kept things tense and the crowd on their feet.

Carson took the fight unanimously on the score cards and for his efforts takes home to Scotland a Commonwealth title belt.


English Title fight 55.5kg

Dan Brissett v Dean Hopkins
(Trojan Gym) (Panthainarasingh Gym)

Dean Hopkins is building up a reputation and a good following. His manner, like other Panthainarasingh fighters, is stylish and solid, and usually guarantees a classy performance.
In the first round he put things together nicely, mixing it up with the punches and kicking game and working well on the inside.
Brissett initially looked like he might be a bit of an opponent for this fight, but stuck in there well, toughing it out under pressure making use of a strong low kick.
My initial thoughts were to wonder how Brissett would cope when Hopkins, who had already secured the opening round, stepped up a gear in the following rounds, but he soon showed the answer to that as Brissett proved himself to be the stronger fighter of the two.
Everything Hopkins threw - his combinations, his work rate - wasn’t having much effect on Brissett who just walked through them, giving him the confidence (not that he lacked any) to start throwing his own techniques.
He forced Hopkins onto the back foot, and had him in trouble of sorts at the end of the round landing three solid punches to the head, including a cheeky one he thought he would take his chance with, landing flush, just as the bell was sounding.

For the duration Hopkins work rate was good and his techniques looked nice, but Brissett was the boss in there and the fight had changed momentum.
In the clinch he was seemingly able to dump Hopkins to the floor at will, and despite cruising for periods of each round, when he started teeing off things were getting through.
It crossed my mind that the two minute round duration of this five round National title fight was working more to Hopkins advantage than Bissett's as it was always Bissett that was having to take his foot off the gas when the bell sounded and Hopkins who required the break.

Bissett stuck to just a few basic techniques but was always in command, even securing an eight count. He was selective with his techniques, he landed what he threw, and he was in control of Hopkins, despite Hopkins’s unwavering efforts.
Unfortunately for Bissett, the judges didn’t agree with me (I scored it 49-46 to Bissett) and scored work rate over effect. Not a popular decision and the belt must sit slightly uncomfortably on Hopkins’s waist. I believe the promoter instantly offered to put on a rematch. Definitely a fight to keep an eye out for if the rematch is anything like as good as this one.


Under card fights

Anthony Sibanda (Kings Gym) bt Danny Pearse (Way of Life) tko2

Scott Miller (Scotland) bt Gavin Pearson (Golden Team) tko3

Vincent (Kings Cobra) bt Andrew Snell (Jai Free Style) pts

James Severn (Golden Team) bt Martin Jewel (Panthainarasingh) rsc2

Kane Watson (Dean Whites Gym) BT Emil kristensen (Sor Rachan, Denmark) tko2

Phil Briggs (Kings Gym) BT John Rutter (Kings Cobra) pts

Jamie Sutton (Dean Whites Gym) bt Alexandra Arai (Sor Rachan, Denmark) pts

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