New Zealand Thaiboxing Champs 2004 Press Release

Tuesday 16th February 2004



The TBANZ (Thai Boxing Association New Zealand) will host its 3rd Annual
National Thaiboxing Championships at Lower Hutt’s Walter Nash Stadium on Saturday, March the 20th from 6pm.



The top 4 ranked fighters will be selected to compete in each weight division.



Worldwide, kickboxing is becoming the most popular martial art. Mike Tyson was recently signed up with the K1 event to fight “Giant” Bob Zap in Hawaii in May. Bob Zap, standing 6’8” recently knocked out Aki Bono, the ex sumo yokosuna champion. 



Also on the card will be a professional boxing match between ex Fijian Olympic representative Oscar Talemaira, who currently resides in Wellington, and a chosen super heavyweight opponent.



Professional Wrestling also makes a comeback after many years absence. This will be the first time ever all three codes will appear at the same promotion.



Tickets cost $20 from either He Toa Kickboxing Club (939 2503) or Wonderland Records Lower Hutt (569 7581). Ringside tickets $100 (with food and drinks). Generous discounts for advanced bookings. Closing date 14th of March for booked tickets.



Regards,



Martin Stirling

Event Promoter



For more information Contact:



He Toa Sports

North Street Petone (next to Ava railway station), Wellington



Ph. +64 4 9392501



Click here to email
Martin Stirling for further information

wow thats interesting! a boxing fight onthe same night as the nationals.good to finally see this happening!
but what does the k1 have to do with this event?

Who is that on the poster?

Dan Sterling
Marin Sterling's Son

Spelling mistake

Martin Sterling's Son

Thanks Scotty,that guy looks mean,good poster.
Osu!

Just bringing this back up to the top as some points have been raised in another thread regarding the rules for this event.

Who is and is not elegiable to compete? This has always been a grey area and will probably continue to be, until the rules are SET and ADHERED to. Just no chopping and changing.

Last year there were also issues with judges and referees decision. That is really not cool.

I kinda hate to post this but unless stuff like this is clarified from the beginning then the events will never reach their potential as a gauge of NZ talent.

No finger pointing, name calling or bitching either cos that's not going to solve any of the problems. Cheers.

Any info on who's fighting in what weight classes?

Only one week to go.
Any chance you can let us all know what 4 fighters have been accepted into each weight division?

not sure if that is how it is working scotty martin told me he had 15 matched fights

However it's working this year, it would still be good to know the fighters as a basis for discussion

Yeah, getting close now! Any names?

ttt

Not mach is being said about this event!!!!

Come on let us know what's happening!!!!
Somebody!!!!
Only 3days to go.

Sorry! Spelling mistake. Should say!!!

Not much is being said about this event!!!!

Come on let us know what's happening!!!!
Somebody!!!!
Only 3days to go.

Fill us in Barry.
You must know what's happening.

I know your there barry.

Stop hidding from us,
or have you gone and found solace in that bar of your old sempai's again????
lol

ttt

LOL ..I'm already there !!!

Martin doing it all this year but I'll try and get something for you.

Well it's been 24hrs!!!

What have you got for me Barry???
lol

Well i hear the Super Heavyweights are going to be a cracker.

CHARLIE SMILER vs KERRI KARENA & EDWIN MARSH vs JUNIOR IONNA
thats gonna be worth watching!!!

Plus
My boy CHRIS MASON vs DAN STERLING in the Cruiserweights.

Plus there is the Lightheavy Weights
BILLY DAVIS & 3 Others who's names have gone out of my head for the moment but i know there is 3 others.

And i hear there is no Females Fighting??? only 4 girls entered but from 4 different weight divisions, So no go on the girl divisions
SAD, SAD, SAD, VERY VERY SAD,

So, So far there is 7 fights in total

Anyone got any more info????

I don't know of anyone going in the nationals this year aside from those you mentioned above, highlander.

Quite surprised to see Billy is at light heavyweight again though!

Hope its a good night, see ya all there.

check an guard

Ouch scored a standing 8 count off that one...

Keri vs Junior Iaone
Keri won 3rd rnd KO

cant help with results
Billy Davis bt Todd Wilson 3rd rnd decision.
Billy took TBANZ Light heavyweight Amature champion
Duncan McMillian won his division
thats all i know

What a poor show of support! Are all clubs struggling for fighters or is there another reason no-one is entering the Nationals?

Are there only 4 girls fighting in all of NZ? If so, what can we do to promote this side of fighting? A lot of girls fights have been more entertaining than guys so from a promoter aspect where do we go now?

If it's run like that again there will be nobody entering!

:-(

that was the worst show I have ever been to. Thedy shouldnt be allowed to have these nationals ever again. its just makes our sport look like a joke to people on the outside.

OMG Rex, was it that bad mate?
Well, sounds as if i didn't miss much then, not trying to be sarcastic or anything but i haven't heard/read a positive comment yet!!!
P.S. Big ups to Martin for putting it on anyways and also to the fighters for doing their thing.
Peace.

oh by the way ,the fights themselves where great, and all of the fighters where very impressive, just the way the show was run was piss poor.
just my 2 cents

I think it's important for everyone to express their views on impotant topics such as this (Nationals), whether they be positive or negative ....this way the promoters for such events can see what they're doing right/wrong and hopefully make ammends where necessary.

P.S. Has anyone got the full results?

aaron i was not there but its a bit harsh to call the topic impotent LOL (-:

Yeah, it's good to talk about it but perhaps in this international forum it's best not to bag it too much. Things could definitely have been run better from a promoters perspective. The "side shows" could have been left out as well.

Also, it seems that it is not really a very good indication of who is the best Amatuer at all. So how can it be given any credit as being the "nationals"? Not many of the winners could seriously be called the best at that weight. Not their fault at all but it's true.

On the other hand, it's only the 3rd year it's been run so it's still growing.

A few suggestions.

Drawn decisions: They suck at the best of time. You can't have a draw in the nationals but making the ref decide the winner seemed a bit off. Go an extra round I reckon. Then see which fighter really wants it more.

Fighters Pools: OK, when a weight division contains 3 fighters, giving one of them a bye is not fair. Full stop. Take the 2 best and let them fight it out. Saturday saw the title go to the gent who got a bye in the first round and didnt even have to fight the 2nd round as both of the other guys were too damaged. Granted, he was the best fighter in the divison but who wants to win a "title" that way?

Weight Divisons: There was some confusion of what the weight limits were. I wasn't alone in thinking that the Jnr Middle weight limit was 69.8kg, not 71. Granted it's only 1200grams but if you trained your guts out to make the weight then found out you didnt need to starve yourself for the last day then you would be pretty pissed too!

It was pretty sad in the weekend but hopefully we can learn from it and develop and legit national tournament where the best from each weight divison can fight each other.


Anyways, some decisions I recall.

Rowan Sampson beat Pumipi Ngaranoa
I think that was bantamweight in the junior mens.

Jason Watene beat Nop
I think that was Senior Mens, Junior Welterweight.

Gordon Pye beat a gentleman who's name escapes me.
That was senior mens Jnr middlweight.

Charles August won the Snr Mens Light heavyweight by default.

Dan Stirling won the snr Mens Cruiserweight.

Keri K won the snr mens Super heavyweight.

Apologies if any of those are incorrect and if I've spelt any names wrong. Congratulations to the fighters.

Hey thanx for the results Andrew, much appreciated.
Dave....LOL, don't ya hate it when that happens, well here's a few "r"'s to replace my missing ones in the future .....rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

There, that should just about do it...LOL :-)

Rowan Sampson! WOW! That boy can fight! Really enjoyed his fight! The SUPER STARS OF WRESTLING was a bit of a flop! Shame that they had that at a "kickboxing Nationals"

with the k-1 taking off now, who wants to fight at a national level...there are bigger and better things in the k-1 for all fighters but it is a good idea for the amateurs to start off..is this tournament for pros and amateurs...i see keri karena fighting in this i think he should stick to the big boys in the k-1 and leave the little boys do there thing in there as this is a stepping stone for a lot of the new guys coming through, so i think its unfair for him to fight these guys....i think thats why you dont see the likes of suttie,sefo,peck,viney,terangi,tai and chapman fighting at these tournaments....why bother...BUT to all the new guys coming through keep it up as you one day you will be with da big boys too...and to marty stirling awesome promotion..do what you have to do as i see no one else getting off their whachaka and doing it...go marty...bring it on 2005

Andrew
Yeh i know what you mean about the Draw decisions.
My boy was the one that got the draw against Dan Sterling & the Ref (Geoff Aitken) got to decide who the winner was!!!
Well after all he was working & getting paid by the promoter & Dan Sterling was the promoters Son.

So need i say more!!!!!

Im not upset about my boy lossing, As he has not been in the game long enough (only 5 mths & 2 fights) & is not really ready to be a national Champion & i only put him in for the experiance AND!!!! against a fighter with over 15 fights & about 8-10 years experiance, So at the end of the day i did not really expect him to win, But it was a Bit of a disapointing way to lose after being kicked in the nuts 3 time.
it should have gone another round to decide as you say Andrew.
We would have rather lost convincenlly over an extra round than have the REF decide the outcome. TOTAL BULLSHIT.

All i can really say to end this post is!!!!

If the NZTBA officialls can't get the NZTBA running properly then RESIGN and Let someome take over who will run it the way it should be run.

And by the way!!!
All the ups to Martin Steling who did try his best. THE NZTBA SHOULD HAVE GIVEN HIM MORE SUPPORT!!!

Thinking about it positively, what about everyone coming up with suggestions as to how to better the event for next year and encourage more fighters to take part. It's the national competition for our sport (which we all love and want to promote as best we can)so it's up to everyone involved to give idea's and feedback. K1 is a good comp and does a lot for the rep of NZ fighters abroad but we still have a lot of fighters here that are not in the K1 league and we have to support and promote them too.

As all sports move into a professional era its disapointing to see the national kickboxing champs run like an amateur circus, however the titles won are only as good as the guy you beat for it?

Congrats to those who did win and also to those who were runners up, remembering you are still number two and not last.

Ref's call on who should win after three rounds, well that's about sum's the whole scoring system in place. An extra round is needed there.

This whole fight night lacked two factors: Communication and Money. It's not worth going on and on about it as it's well and truely done now, and i'd rather watch a kickboxing show no matter how poorly run it is, than watch tv soaps!

Top effort Keri K, if i need a tree cut down maybe you could use that wicked leg whip of yours!Most outstanding fighters of the night Rowan Sampson VS Pumipi Ngaranoa, rowan giving away both the weight and age difference showed why it's his third straight title, full credit to pumipi for excepting the challenge and offering the crowd something to cheer about!Look out K1 that gordon pye showed his class and power making short work of his opponent, he will certainly get the ball rolling at the K1 anzac seris.

WAYS TO IMPROVE THIS EVENT: DONT HAVE IT! WE GOT ENOUGH NZ CHAMPIONS AS IT IS!

Ways to improve the event - do the impossible and get the support of all the gyms country wide.

Which is down to the people running the NZTBA to work at - unfortunately the financial rewards make this difficult as most have jobs in the real world.

Work on the professionalism and event management, have some kudos attached to the title (i.e. the only way to qualify to fight in the World champs at Thailand for example is to be a national NZTBA title holder)

Sort out the rules on the extra round format which seems obvious.

It sounded unfortuately like only a few people from one part of the Isaland supported it.

With such a divided community on this competition it is a very hard ask.

Are the committee from only one part of NZ or spread throughout NZ and how important is the NZTBA to the people on the committee? If it's not a priority then change the committee.

One other thing - Marty should still be concratualated for putting on and hosting the event, shows are never easy and success is never garanteeded - the organisational template gets refined with each event and should thus improve, there is a place for the nationals and to be quite frank if grew in stature would be considered a breeding ground for potential K-1 / Max competitors.

The other problem is that NZ is a small country and our fighters turn pro very early, and this lessens the appeal of an Ameteur show to some extent. This is a hard thing to get around, additionally with there being so many quality shows run now all with ABC titles the appeal of an NZTBA title is also not as high. For example why fight another Kiwi when you can fight an Aussie as an Ameteur for a ABC Commonwealth, South Pacfic or what ever title?

Unfortunately most of our ameteurs train like pros and often with pros, the format of the shows are often professional and essentially the rules are the same also ... hence it is a mind set that will be hard to get around.

Great points Mike!!!

Hope all is well with everyone back home, been reading this thread and felt like putting my “2 cents” in!

The TBANZ is obviously going through hard times; it has been for a couple of years now but this is a typical cycle in New Zealand. Personally I feel development of decent organisations in New Zealand follow a “saw tooth” path, they develop so far then everything seems to fall apart.

The TBANZ was once really strong and well supported. I remember when it was promoted by Brett D’Arth (Auckland), Myself (Wanganui), Stuart Chambers (Palmerston North), Ben Ahipene (Dannevirke), Barry Page (Kapiti), Mark Hampton (Wellington), Martin Sterling (Lower Hutt), Malcolm Harley (Masterton ), Kerry Sidwell (Nelson), Issac ? (Nelson) and Geoff Aitken (Christchurch). I think Dave Hitchens (Porirua) also had some TBA titles on a couple of his shows and also Brian Twoomy (Tauranga). That’s around 13 people involved with promotions with the TBANZ plus many more that were members but didn’t promote. Also back in the very early stages it was promoted more extensively in Auckland. It has been a while since one organisation was promoted by that many people in our country.

New organisations start all the time in New Zealand and everyone is happy and working together while more and more people join, BUT, as the membership grows the greater the chance of conflict between people. New Zealand is not a big country and often the conflicts that result in the down fall of a new organisation are the same ones that created the down fall of the one before it. Personally I feel we will keep going down this “saw tooth” road unless people make a better effort to resolve their differences.

A group of people will never all agree with the best path forward but if we keep turning our back and walking away every time something doesn’t go the way we want we will only progress so far. If people are not happy, why not get the support of others and show up to the annual meeting and vote for change. The TBANZ, if I remember correctly, only cost $50 a year for membership renewal which was all that was required for the right to vote.

The TBANZ was once a strong, well supported organisation. I hope those people who were once involved can swallow their pride, lay it on the table and resolve their differences to enable it to continue to promote Thai Boxing in New Zealand. It also needs to be acknowledged that there are other organisations who aim to do the same thing; I feel the TBANZ needs to try and work with them as best it can as New Zealand isn’t big enough to go down our own little paths. LET’S NOT WASTE ALL THE HARD WORK DONE BY THOSE BEFORE US. I will be coming back to New Zealand in a few years and wish to pick up from where I left off and keep promoting the sport I love. I just hope there is a good organisation and group of people who do their best to work together to make this a little easier.

Another issue which I think is hindering the development of the sport nationally is a clear division between Auckland and the rest of the country. A couple of year’s back I posted on this message board the TBANZ title holders. Several people expressed concerns about yet another sanctioning body in New Zealand, I noted all these comments came from Aucklander’s. This made it completely obvious to me how detached Auckland can be from the remainder of the country. As I have pointed out above, at the time we had about 13 people promoting TBANZ so how could it be hardly recognised by the majority of the Auckland Thai Boxing community? Auckland seems to have a large amount of sanctioning bodies where the remainder of the country has only a hand full, possibly a need to look in your back yard before venturing out the gate! I have said this not to criticise but to point out a clear problem that I think needs to be addressed.

Its nice to see Rex Redden, Lance Scheranke, Gordon Pie, Oliver T(sorry can’t spell), Ngakau Spain, just to mention a few, travel to Auckland to fight but how many Auckland clubs support shows in the rest of the country? I have only seen a handful of Auckland fighters over the last few years. I also read the thread earlier this year when Dave Hitchens looked at a “Wellington vs Auckland” show. He put down a number of Wellington fighters and asked for some Auckland fighter’s names, did he even get one offer? I know this event was postponed and wish Dave the best of luck in trying to get a response out of Auckland if he re-schedules.

That’s about it, I feel like I just wrote a book! Not intending to offend anyone here, just pointing out how I see things to try and get useful discussion going. I know that many will disagree with me but look at my profile to see who I am; at least I don’t hide behind an alias.

Way to go Ray, Awesome points mate, I hope all is going well for you over there :-)

Interesting points, i think reguardless of who list what (alais names) it doesn't really matter it's how the opinion is acted upon that makes it very interesting, after all it is why we post on this site, to get an opinion on something and see if we share the same ideas and values??


Was surprised to see Lollo at the recent napier Phight Night, it is true that auckland has it own 'world' there and can attract the very best fighters from the reigon, so how can a national championship be run without auckland contenders? the strong support in auckland for the sport and the demand for fight shows is in a league of it's own,how auckland is run can't be too different than elsewhere but what makes it different is the international fighters and trainers base located there. eg Sefo academy,balmoral,rebel lee gar,phillip lam,etc for all fighters it's a pot luck place to grow a reputation and put your club on the map. The country is becoming some what divided in to three sections where as in the past it was probably more lower north island vs the upper north island? The hard work of many others is slipping away because no-one is willing to take control of the situation, or maybe there's no-one interested in saving the sport?

The sooner ray perry comes back to NZ the better! but the least we could do is give him something worthwhile coming back too......

At present there are very good fighters coming through the ametuer ranks, and like mike said, they've trained like pro's because they want to be pro's. So as these fighters train and fight there needs to be a structure among the event organisation and promoters just like the structures within your gyms? We've all heard the usual stuff, fake fight records, weigh in's on phoney scales, fighters pulling out cause the opponents got huge tattoos. If this is how you train,be trained or train your fighters, what good are you bringing to the sport? At the moment there are titles just for showning up at fight nights, how legit is that? Time the board had a meeting, scrapped the crap and promoted the real titles out there, having said that it's probably been done before so need we say help or simply good luck........

Mauy Thai Kickboxing NZ is not waiting for someone to talk about all the problems it's waiting for someone to listen, find and put into practise the solutions...

Problem is it takes time and energy and persuasion enough to get people to set aside their agendas. And eveybody has them people struggle set aside short term gain for long term progress - having said that, Lollo is a good example of a trainer who supports other gyms - has does take his boys around the country which is a start.

But in some respect we still need an Auckland Rep getting some action up here in terms of supporting the Nationals - we need a cohesive sanctioning body that actually works together unfortunately many have treid and now lack the energy to keep banging away at a brick wall.

What we need is someone perpared to martyr themselves for the cause - another question is whould NZ club be prepared to pay someone to take on that role and advance their cause ???