The 8 man middleweight tournament that just took place in Melbourne tonight was one of the best nights of action I've seen in a while down here in Oz. Wonderful stuff.

QUARTER FINAL
Sam "Shotgun" Harvey W3 Jenk Behic
Chris Collard KO 2 Steve Dale
Shane Chapman W3 Baris Nezif
Daniel Dawson W4 Wayne Parr (extra round decision)

Dawson was out of it after his fight (threw up in his corner) and had to withdraw. Parr advanced in his place.

SEMI FINALS
Chris Collard W4 Sam Harvey (extra round decision)
Shane Chapman W3 Wayne Parr

FINAL
Shane Chapman W5 Chris Collard

All the fights were brilliantly fought. In particular Dawson vs Parr, Parr vs Chapman (knockdowns galore) Nezif vs Chapman, Chapman vs Collard.
A couple decisions were somewhat questionable. Dawson vs Parr was razor close and a very strong case could have been made for Parr, but after getting shafted so many times in the past, I was happy that Dawson finally got a decision. Although it made no difference as Parr advanced anyway.

Also on the card Warren Elson defeated Dale Westerman when Dale retired after the third round. Dale announced his retirement after the fight, and this time it's definitely for keeps. I'll miss this guy, by far and away one of the nicest guys in the sport.

Overall this show was a classic.

Nickos what was the prize?
Great event to build the game in the OZ. Is Scott Bannan that weight?

Congratulations to Shane Chapman and Phillip Lam for a spectacular win. I agree Nickos, what an awesome show. I hope Dawson wasn't badly hurt. He is allways a great fighter too watch at work.

What the hell happened to Parr's shorts?

Duke, prize was $10,000.

Paul, what was wrong with Parr's shorts?

Yeah Duke, Scott's at that weight.

Any one no why he didn't fight in the tourney. I've heard alot about him from down under.

I hope you've heard better things than what we hear. Bannan cops an incredible amount of shit from the general fight fans down here. He's seen as a fake. Very harsh. I think it has something to do with him never fighting full Thai and having never fought the kind of guys that people like Parr and Dawson have.

No , I've heard he is a great fighter.

Scott Bannan didn't fight in the tourney because he is too heavy. Scott is not a 70kg fighter.

Congratulations to Shane "Chopper" Chapman.
What a night!!!!! You gotta check it out on FoxSports on April 21.

The Aussie Watch Dog
Grr Grr Grr

PS: Good to see you at the show Nickos...what a ride. Were any other Ax members there?

Scott's really a middleweight, and these guys were at or around the middleweight limit. He could have been in it if he really wanted I guess.

Nickos,
When he got knocked down by Chapman, his shorts tore right through the groin. Ended up looking like a skirt. He must have hit the canvass pretty damn hard.


I was there watch dog.

I know Paul...I was watching you. Hehehe...nice camera. You're a tall guy!

The Aussie Watch Dog
Grr Grr Grr

PS: I know what you did last summer

Paul, we are both being stalked these days. LOL!

I didn't even notice Parr's shorts got torn! I was freaking out during Parr vs Chapman. Looked like Parr had it easily under control during the last round and was just cruising to a points win, and then SMACK he charges into a flush left hook and hits the deck. Looked like he was out! I jumped out of my seat and nearly headbutted the roof.

Hey, did you guys see that singer cop those fireworks in the face? Shit!

Say hello next time guys.

That Parr Chapman fight was pretty exciting. The hook certainly was a surprise.
I didn't see the fireworks incident Nickos. The Pyro guy warned me just before the show started, I guess he forgot to tell the performer.

Was he hurt?

LOL at being stalked.

It was a tough carreer move for me giving up being a full-time professional stalker for the voyeurism involved in being a photographer.

Stalking is a bit over rated, and besides, the subjects just doesn't get it.


Joking

Nah, the performer wasn't hurt, just embarrassed the hell out of him. I had to admit, taking into account that he was OK of course, that it was damn funny. He just finished doing that annoying song of his, hopped around the ring in his best rapper imitation, did the gangster hand shake to all the fighters and then leapt out of the ring. As he bounced down the steps those fireworks went off and he took a nice faceful. Kind of brought him back to reality! The look on the poor guy's face was priceless.

Well...it's nice t be back again....

Paul...thank you very much for the video....

My head is still a bit crooked after some hard drinking session with Choppa last night...He said his hardest fight was Nasif....He said he was just trying to adjust to the rules (even though he has been sparring kick boxing fight with no knees)this was his first ever freestyle rules on his 19 career fights. He said he came close to accidently throws knees. I said to Nickos to keep an eye out for this kid as he has been giving Jason Suttie and some of the top fighters at the gym a run for their money at sparring....He said after that fight with Nazif, he felt a bit more relaxed and adjust to the rules. He also told me that his most techincal fight was against Wayne Parr as him and Wayne come from similar Muay Thai background. He said everyone else seems to rushed at each other and try to knock each out in the first round. He said Wayne was very upset with the decision so Phillip Lam might be looking at bringing Wayne Parr here to New Zealand for a rematch with Choppa on full Muay Thai rules in the near future. Choppa said he got knock down twice by Wayne but felt that the ref was a bit trigger happy on putting him on 8 counts...however he said that when he connect with the big left hook on Wayne.....he was surprised that Wayne even managed to get up...By the sound of things..every fight was a war....and Nickos, Paul and AWD....you lucky buggers to be there....

Chapman was dropped twice. The first was a crisp left hook. The second was a bit more of a slip, perhaps the ref was a little trigger happy. Chapman knockdown of Parr was a lot harder than either of Parrs.

Yeah...that's right...he said one of the knockdown was a flash knockdown but one he felt Wayne's shot...

That Warren Elson is strong isn't he? It's a shame that Dale is retiring...he still is a good fighter, but that young Elson will beat a few more big names in years to come.

Fighting with knees was Westerman's problem in that fight. Elson is very tall, Dale is very short. In the grapple Dale was ineffective. It was just too much of a disadvantage for him. If it was just a leg kick bout, then Dale could have taken him I believe, even though Dale wasn't 100%. Either way, I hope he enjoys his retirement.

For anyone that is interested,

My fight pics from this show are up. Drop by and check them out when you get the chance.

Right on. Everyone check out his photos. He's very good at getting some action shots. www.clik.to/kickboxing

After just watching this show on Fox. I think it is the best one which I have seen televised. I hope the Muay Thai rules equivalent which is being talked about eventuates soon.

Congrates to Chapman , but I believe that Wayne Parr was given some rough decisions , the guy showed , alot of heart and skill . Not to take things away from Chapman he fought really well , and so did the others , but parr was givin some dice decisions

oops...I made that link incorrectly.
www.click.to/kickboxing

That should work.