Sunday, August 30, 2009

By Isaac Kuhlman

  Tonight's Muay Thai fightcard at the Hilton Showroom--presented by Dennis Warner's In Sync Productions in association with Henan TV of China--was an exciting showcase of extraordinary striking and international pride as a group of Chinese fighter's headed by Hung Xiang Wang (28-0 and WBC National Champion of China) and Kang En (International WBC Super Lightweight Muay Thai Champion) took on some of America's and Las Vegas' best including fighters Kevin Ross and Shawn Yarborough. The fight was broadcast live to 10 million Chinese viewers at home which made this one of America's biggest opportunities to show of their Muay Thai prowess to an international audience. Ross looked to take the title away from Kang En as the two fought for the belt earlier this year, but a language miscommunication caused the referee to deduct 1 point from Ross as he lost by unanimous decision. Ross would not let that happen again. 

  Even before the fight started fans could tell that Ross still carried the animosity of the previous fight with him. After the referee gave his instruction Ross pushed Kang En back to his corner--to the surprise of Kang En. Though, it's not exactly a sportsman thing to do, it got the fans into the fight even more than they already were. The first round continued that built up anger as it was action packed. Both fighters landed a significant amount of strikes in the round, but Kang En may have had the cleaner and more accurate strikes. It was a close round.

  The second round looked to be all Kevin Ross until the final minute of the round when Kang En landed some shots that knocked Ross off balance and looked to hurt him. The third round was a striking clinic put on by Kang En--at least in the sense that he threw every strike in the book at Ross. Kang En attempted (and mostly landed) spinning back elbows, back kicks, front kicks, back fists, and spinning back fists. Either Kang En was getting comfortable or he was getting nervous. He may have known that he was getting tired or maybe he thought he was behind on the scorecards, but it looked like Kang En wanted to finish the fight in the third round.

  As the fighters came out of their corners in round 4, it was apparent that Kevin Ross wanted to end it quickly, and end it with as much pain as possible. After landing a combo and knocking down Kang En with a trip (legal in Muay Thai but not scored as a knockdown), Kang En looked either dazed or annoyed as he took a few seconds longer to get up. Ross knew that he had Kang En. As soon as Kang En got up, Ross attacked. Landing a combination of strikes, Ross knocked down Kang En. Referee Tony Weeks started the count, but, after looking at Kang En's roaming eyes, he immediately called a stop to the bout.

Photo: Ray Kasprowicz

  Ross won the bout at 1:03 in the fourth round, and he now becomes the International WBC Super Lightweight Muay Thai Champion. The same belt he felt he should've already been holding. Ross jumped on the ropes and held his hands up screaming as the fans cheered loudly for him knowing what Ross had to do tonight to get his revenge.

  Another interesting fighter was Baxter Humby and his fight against Yan Xu. For those who have never had the chance to see Baxter Humby fight, you should know that Humby is a fighter who was born without his right hand. His right arm is only about as long as where the elbow is on a full-length arm. He basically has to fight with one arm, but he still is able to land close strikes and block with the right arm. His record in striking sports is 67-11-1, and is a very dynamic striking with great defense. However, this night the fight would go to the scorecards, and even though most ringside observers and fans of the fight had it scored in favor of Humby the judges gave the split decision to Yan Xu. One judge scored all 3 rounds in favor of Yan Xu which was absurd, but one of the 3 judges was also from China. It's probably not a coincidence.

  Shawn Yarborough got the chance to shine again. As he is already one of Las Vegas' great hopes in Muay Thai and studies under Master Toddy (as do most strict Muay Thai fighters in Vegas do), he took on Chinese opponent Hou Xu. This fight had no controversy, and the judges scored it exactly as everyone else scored it. It was 49-46 all around as Yarborough dominated almost the entire fight except the second round when both fighters were resting in the clinch a lot. The highlight of the fight was when, in the 4th round, Hou Xu became frustrated and attempted a flying knee that Yarborough dodged, and Hou Xu went flying over the top rope and almost landed in the crowd off stage but managed to catch the rope and fall back to the canvas.

Photo: Ray Kasprowicz

  Hung Xiang Wang defeated Joe Schilling fighting out of The Yard in Los Angeles after a leg kick and a bad landing damaged Schilling's knee to the point where he could barely walk. The referee was confused as it was a freakish way to go down, and he counted Schilling out with a 10 count, but then asked if he was able to continue. The referee then allowed the fight to go on because Schilling said he was fine. It was obvious that he wasn't, and as Hung Xiang Wang went straight for the leg, Schilling jumped in the arm and grabbed Hung Xiang Wang as he fell to the ground. Schilling was tapping and waiving and telling the referee he couldn't go on, but as the referee didn't understand much English he proceeded with a second 10 count, and the fight was over.

  Though the fight had some hitches with the Vegas crowd and international ring-side observers disagreeing with some of the Chinese officials, the fights were very successful and exciting, and Kevin Ross re-established his rightful place in the world of Muay Thai.