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Smandych wins C-MAX again; Super League Next?
Written by Duncan Kinney

Wednesday, 21 April 2004

Saturday night, April 17th Mike Miles Productions and the XFC presented “C-MAX 2 – Collateral Damage”. The event took place in Calgary at the Sun Centre to 1600 diehard fans. The C-MAX is an 8-man tournament with a $10,000 purse in the final match, $7,500 to the winner, $2,500 to the runner-up.



This event was originally scheduled for February 8th but “licensing” issues from the city postponed the event. Kirk Bovell from the Unified Martial Arts Academy of Barbados was “sick” and failed to show up or even give notice until the last minute. Erick Majia Cano was overweight and couldn’t make the 147 limit.

The Calgary Flames had a playoff game the same night. This being the first Flames playoff series in 8 years; the excitement in the city was electric. Mike Miles was “happy about the attendance, considering this town was in hockey mania with the hometown team in the playoffs”.



With all the difficulty in putting a tournament like this on, the effort was worthwhile. Calgary was treated to a kickboxing show worthy of any venue. The XFC and Mike Miles Productions plan regular cards for all year.



In the C-MAX tournament the fighters can use hands, feet, and knees (including knees to the face) with three three-minute rounds, with a two-minute rest period. All other full Muay Thai rules apply. The rules approximate the Superleague’s (a world-class European kickboxing organization) allowing knees to the face and disallowing all elbow attacks. These rules also allow the fighters to work in the clinch instead of being broken up right away as in K-1 MAX.



THE RESULTS:



Mark Brackenbury (Canada) vs. Jose Luis Uribe Garcia (Mexico)



Brackenbury was to have been an alternate, but Kirk Bovell didn’t show up. Brackenbury showed excellent ring smarts using teeps to knock his opponent off balance. Garcia would bull rush in and throw leather but Brackenbury showed top-notch defensive prowess as he picked off punches with his gloves and checked kicks. Brackenbury got the better in the clinches, spinning and kneeing Garcia like a pro. When Brackenbury got tired of kneeing Garcia, he’d dump him smartly. Brackenbury seemed to be holding himself back, keeping himself fresh for the second and third rounds of the tournament. In the third round Brackenbury scored a knockdown with a sharp right hand but didn’t press very hard after that. Brackenbury outclassed his Mexican opponent to a unanimous decision; and though he went the full 3 rounds, he passed through relatively unscathed.



Brackenbury: Unanimous Decision



Rino Belcastro (Canada) vs. Oscar Contreras (Mexico)



This fight started off with a torrid pace. Belcastro got the better of it with sharp counters and good bodywork. Rino landed a spinning back kick at the end of Round one. Conteras wasn’t a wallflower, he landed some decent flurries from time to time and Rino absorbed some strikes from his gutsy Mexican foe. This reporter gave Oscar the second round based on his flurries and aggressiveness, as Rino seemed to take most of the round off. Round 3 was the decisive round. And it was close all the way to 15 seconds left when Rino planted a picture-perfect counter right hook when Contreras was attempting a lowkick. Belcastro moved on but he had a battle with the tough Contreras.



Belcastro: KO 3rd round



Rami Ibrahim (United States) vs. Saji Geeverghese (Canada)



Geeverghese was an alternate who had to step in for the overweight Erick Majia Cano. Ibrahim is a veteran of the XFC ring. Geeverghese looked out of his league coming out right away with his hands down. Though he never got tagged on the chin, it was certainly sticking out there with no hands anywhere near it to provide protection. A little slower fight than the last two but Ibrahim had the advantage in skill and power. His strikes were sharper and he dominated his opponent. Ibrahim won a unanimous decision to move on to the second round.



Ibrahim: Unanimous Decision



Trevor Smandych (Canada) vs. Juan Carlos Bautista Perez (Mexico)



And, out came the defending champion, and arguably the centerpiece of the production, Trevor “TNT” Smandych. He got a huge response from the hometown crowd. The 21-year-old looked small and soft next to Trevor and the Mexican landed very little in the way of offense. Trevor dominated, landing hard, thudding leg kicks. Close to the end of the first round, Smandych landed a murderous left hook to the liver that put Perez down for good. Trevor moved on with the only fight that ended before the third round.



Smandych: KO 1st round



It was a solid first round of fights with good action throughout. The only one who passed through the first round and absorbed punishment was Belcastro. Smandych got his obligatory first round softie opponent. Brackenbury and Ibrahim looked very solid.



The tournament fighters are given a bit of a break with a super fight in the Super heavyweight division between:



Superfight #1 - Lee Mein (Canada) vs. Sabba Hesabi (Canada) – Modified Muay Thai rules (Same as tournament rules except for no knees to head)



Mein was in great shape with very little body fat while Hesabi has a bit of flab around the middle. While this match wasn’t exactly a scientific display of precision striking, it was entertaining, with two big guys throwing bombs. Mein had much harder punches and landed a series of right hands that put Hesabi down midway through the first round. Hesabi didn’t come just for the paycheck though as he got up and continued. Mein jumped right on him and landed an uppercut that put Hesabi down for the ten count.



Mein: KO 1st round.



After a brief intermission and the reporting of the score for the Flames game, the tournament continued. The president of the XFC and emcee of the evening Keith Crawford did a very competent job of announcing the event.





Mark Brackenbury (Canada) vs. Rino Belcastro (Canada)



Rino came out in the first round and imposed his will on Brackenbury with Rino landing nice 1-2’s, some leg kicks, and even an axe kick. Brackenbury seemed tentative in the first round and didn’t throw too much, preferring to let Belcastro lead.



In the second round, Brackenbury started using his superior speed and clinchwork to break down Belcastro. This round was close as Belcastro had no quit in him and continued to come forward throwing strikes.



Round three was one of the best of the night as both realized the fight was on the line. Lots of effective knee work from the clinch by Brackenbury, but when they separated Belcastro kept chucking punches and kicks Brackenbury’s way. The round ended with 30 seconds of violent and exciting seesaw battle between two warriors. Brackenbury got the unanimous decision, but this reporter would have liked to have seen one more round. A much closer fight than the judges had on their scorecards. Brackenbury came out of this fight with an ugly red contusion high up on his ribs.



Brackenbury: Unanimous decision





Trevor Smandych (Canada) vs. Rami Ibrahim (United States)



Smandych came out to a huge roar from the crowd. They were definitely behind their hometown boy. Ibrahim came out to some hip-hop and does a little jig on his way to the ring. The first two rounds consist of both fighters exchanging combos. Trevor has the edge in power but his timing seems a little off and he tends to put on the earmuffs and rely on his chin instead of using movement. First 2 rounds were very close and could have gone either way. In the third round Smandych picks it up and shows some excellent clinch work. The fight was close but Trevor shaded it with his knees from the clinch, counters, and more powerful strikes.



Superfight #2 - Scott Clark vs. Gustavo Adolfo Perez Hernandez – Full Muay Thai rules



Hometown boy Scott “Pitbull” Clark returned to the active ranks in a Light Heavyweight clash. As this was a full Muay Thai bout the fighters get to present their ram muay to the audience. Clark started off with a crackling lead left hook to start but after that the tempo slowed down. Clark looked slightly tentative to begin but warmed up nicely. Hernandez couldn’t keep proper distance, as he would throw one or two strikes and fall into the clinch. From the clinch Clark looked very relaxed landing clusters of knees to his opponent’s ribs. Clark also displayed some nice dump techniques as Hernandez looked lost in the clinch. Hernandez was warned 3 times for grabbing the ropes when in the grapple. In the second round, Clark popped out of Hernandez’s grip and landed a compact elbow that appeared to bother Hernandez. Hernandez quit on his stool in between round two and three complaining of eye problems, possibly due to the elbow.



Scott Clark: TKO 3rd round



The C-MAX 2 final:



Mark Brackenbury (Canada) vs. Trevor Smandych (Canada)



The final started off oddly as Brackenbury’s name was announced and it took him 5 or 6 minutes to actually walk down to the ring. Trevor came down to the now familiar refrain of TNT by ACDC. Smandych started off with some nice middle kicks. Brackenbury is strong as well throwing combos with hands and feet to the body and head, though it should be noted that Trevor shelled nicely for most of Brackenbury’s flurries. Trevor on the whole was the more aggressive fighter who initiated the exchanges.



As the second round started the crowd got into it chanting TNT. Trevor picked up the clinching and landed some knees to Brackenbury’s ribs. Trevor has shown definite improvement in his clinching technique. In the past Trevor used to grab the ropes just to be separated by the referee. Now he seems much more comfortable and doesn’t fall victim to Brackenbury’s spinning techniques. Trevor does take a teep in this round which plants him but he was unhurt.



In the final round of the C-MAX tournament the (fighters laid it all on the line. They traded kick for kick, punch for punch, and knee for knee. Smandych landed some huge body kicks and knees. That welt on the upper ribs of Brackenbury only got uglier and was on the verge of bleeding. Brackenbury seemed tired by the third round as he’d fought the harder rounds and taken more punishment.



That turned out to be the deciding factor as Calgary native Trevor Smandych wins the C-MAX 2 – Collateral Damage tournament via split decision after 3 rounds of some of the best action Calgary has ever seen. The fact that these fighters could summon up those reserves and fight so hard to the final bell after fighting three times in the same night should be commended. Trevor takes home $7 500 while Brackenbury gets $2 500. Though no shame on Brackenbury, he fought sublimely throughout the tournament. This was undisputedly the fight of the night.



Smandych: Split Decision



Trevor fought an excellent tournament defending his C-MAX championship crown. Though he had an eight month layoff he shook off the ring rust and mowed through the competition. He showed improvement in his clinch game which will be vital if he wants to step up in class. And it looks as if Trevor will be doing exactly that. In only four short weeks Trevor “TNT” Smandych has a fight across the pond in England with fellow welterweight Kieran Keddle. If Trevor wins that fight, expect to see “The Canadian Golden Boy” in Superleague sooner rather than later.



When asked what he was going to do with the money, Trevor didn’t take the obvious “I’m going to Disneyland” route and instead responded with, “pay my taxes and spend it on training”. Trevor had some redness on his face but felt “fine right now but I’m going to feel it tomorrow”.



Part 2 of this report will focus on Trevor Smandych’s upcoming plans to take his career to the next level.

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