80s kickboxers your memories please for my new book!

Thier was a team of ELITE British kickboxers,who fought all over Europe in the Eighties.Does any one remember these guys Alfie Lewis,Terry Mc elliney,Ronnie Green,Alby Bimpson.Anymore names and tales from the early days or maybe you where in the team? PKA AND CKO days WAKO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ohh the memories,I was the girlfriend of one of the team guess who????????????

Trevor Ambrose, Howard Brown, Steve Costigan, Billy Saul, Tim Izli, Roger Silsby, Nick Clark, Julius Francis,. ..to name but a few

brilliant memories of a fantastic time for british martial arts these guys where pioneers!thanx any more retro memories keep the names comin

Hi Linda,
I'm sure Alby can tell you lots of stories, as can Master Ronnie.
Can you email me your phone number and I will get Alby to give you a call.

jo@goldenbeltassociation.com

Thanks!

We have a scrap book of photos too, a lot of which are uploaded at http://merseysidekickboxing.com.

Derek Iddon, Tony Trimble. Elvis Parsely, Delroy Gray, Peter Pipe, Lance Lewis, Jeff Bullock, Gary Osbourne, my brain hurts.... Vince Jauncey??, Steve Tabener - The Wigan Hammer, Tony Goldfinkel, Dev Barret, Howard Brown ...

Tales from the early days ?? LOL - I have trouble remembering yesterday !!

Like Peter pipe losing it in Wolverhampton and chasing everybody around the hall !!

The Ilford Palais being the heart of the CKO shows !!! Derek Iddon fighting Trimble twice and losing on points knocked him out in the 9th twice !!

Dev Barrett!

Arthur O'Loughlyn, wasn't Kash Gill about in thoe days too?

Thanks guys, "keep em comin" nostalgia eh !

I have to say this was the start of the sport in the uk. I have the pleasure to have been one of Howard Browns instructors. I have had the priveledge of watching many of his fights. I also spent a lot of my early days training with Arthur O Loughlyn, he has to be the hardest man I have ever met, and the best sence of humour to go with it.Cash I have had the priveledge of being on under cards of some of his fights.Dev well he has cornered me on a few occassions,in the good old days when you turn up to a show with your bag on your own.

Levi Lovell(can't spell),Owen Comri,Fidel Castro Smith. Both of these have instuctored me over the years. Fidel was my main one, he was British champ when there was only one . He also went on to become a pro British boxing champ.

Howard was the best by a mile.He was such a man that he refed my early shows free of charge and traveled to Derbyshire to train my Nick Tabron and Rob Perry.All without any cost.
Steve Tabener was also one of the best,Hard,Self tought and a man that would put himself out for any one.

But there was a lot of unsung hero's, being these fighters such as Colin Manterfield. he was one of Locyies trainers and has produced some great fighters himself. He was Barnsley Kickboxing.

Myself started the sport in Derbyshire and surrounding areas and have produced fighters such as Sara Hall,Scot Taylor,Nick Tabron.Dale Wood and many more.

Without these peaple the sport would have never taken off.

Anyone remember Alan "the hammer" Bradley? or how about Seggy Robles? Chris Kent?, ,Kung Fu Tak?.

Chris yes the others no

Many memories from the very early 80’s having attended various shows mainly at
London’s Pickets Lock (promoted by George Sfetas), Brighton in the Centre
(promoted by the Sama gym), Ipswich (Mick Blackwell) and Newton Aycliffe (Barry
Norman), plus others. The PKA days.

Have to agree with some of the earlier comments, many unsung hero’s during that era. In no particular order:
Arthur O’Loughlin, Howard Chager, Segy Robles, Pat O’keefe, Gary Staff, Phil Shields, Charles White, Rudy Van Damme, Chris Kent, Sylvester Lewis, Terry Roomes, Steve Tabener, Alan Bradley, Lloyd Cobin, Chris McNeish, John Cooney, and fellow axer Paul Pearson.

So many quality matches back then, the main clash I recall was between Chager and Robles at Bantam. I think Chager was signed up by Micky Duff.
One lad we had from out gym Chris Chappell could kick like a mule. Was warming up kicking pads in the corridor pre fight at Pickets Lock and his opponent looking down our way. Can recall having been smug, like this is what you’re facing, only for Chris to be out kicked and beaten by Vince Jauncey.

Referee’s I recall were mainly Mick Blackwell and Bob Hunter, and Hee Il Cho was the main demo man entertaining during intervals.

I have some old Combat mags that includes several write ups and coloured pics, so if ya think they may assist with the book Linda then let me know, though I hear Paul Pearson has possibly the best library of Martial Arts mags ever.

Nice post Gary,

Yeah some great fighters and fights about during that era,you wernt so bad yourself mate!.

How do you know about my mags then? lol ive got hundreds of the bloody things from as far back as 1968.

Hope your well Gary.

Linda you are from N/Wales how could you forget Russ Williams the guy was a
legend in wales back then, i also believe he was one of the top promoters of
thai/kickboxing shows back in the 80s early 90s, having names on his shows such
as: Eugene Valerio, Gary Sandland, Richard "Badco" Smith, Chris Metcalfe,
Frankie Hudders, Phil Williams, Karl Kilbride, Rod Jones, Darren Baker
Spencer Wilding, Dylan Williams, Billy Wilson, Donald Cambell, Ashley Guishard,
and last but defo not least Keith "Pele" Nathan.

I remember fighting Chris Chappell, surprised anyone else does !!!
Kong Fu Tak is alive and kicking in Hong Kong training some very good fighters.
I am In Vancouver, Canada running World Kickboxing, still fit and training !!
Don't forget Floyd Brown , Tyrone Herod. Winston Walker.
A current picture to let you know I'm not out of it yet !!!
Vincent Jauncey

Hi Vince,

Glad your still well Brother,

Keep on kicking.

Hi Beaty - Karl Kilbride will be fighting for a World Title in November on our Supershow.

Hi there

Being Midlands based, I saw most of the above. Great days!

I also remember Paul and Graham Mcgrath, Ken Jackson and Danny Norton (or was he early ninties?).

Dont forget Kirkwood Walker, IMO the best of all of them.

Danny Norton was early 90s - What a good laugh he was - Crazy !!! LOL

Sparky and Colin Treasure also from that time!

I found this on the net about 80s kickboxer/fighter Alby Bimpson for my where are they now section

Alby first became involved in boxing and martial arts when he was 11 years old, in the late 1960s.

He was a very successful amateur boxer and fought in the A.B.A finals at Crystal Palace in London (1973). At this time Alby was living in Liverpool, but later moved to Skelmersdale and joined the local ju jitsu club in the town centre. He found a natural ability within this art and became an instructor in the early eighties.

The club was called Skelmersdale Bushido and was run by Brothers Jeff and John Bullock. Being a Thai Boxer, John later opened a Thai Boxing Club, and it was a natural progression for Alby to train in this art.

Alby displayed a natural ability for the sport and soon gained a reputation in the ring, he fought all over the world and became British C.K.O /P.K.A champion on two occasions. He competed all over Europe. He represented WAKO on two occasions, the first being in London in 1985, the second at the Olympic Hall, Munich in 1987. Placing third on both occasions.

He became very proficient in this martial art and was awarded his instructor Sensei grade after training hard for around 5 years. He then formed The Liverpool Bushido Club with classes throughout Liverpool in the early eighties and he trained and nurtured many champions in the art of full contact kickboxing and Muay Thai .

Alby went on to form Merseyside kickboxing and trained British and European and World champions on both an amateur and professional scale across the World, through his knowledge, mentoring and guidance. He then started promoting shows and became one of the leading promoters and matchmakers in the world of kickboxing.

Around this time he met a young ambitious martial artist called Chris Wright. This meeting was the start of the most successful period of the Merseyside Kickboxing story. Chris soon set the world of kickboxing and Thai boxing alight with explosive fights and knockouts of some the top ranked opponents.

He was quickly ranked in the British top ten and won the British title; he soon followed this up with a commonwealth title fight against Ricky Nickleson which he won. Chris then had a shot at a world title; he has since fought all over the world against the top heavyweights in the world and has unified the cruiserweight division in kick and thai boxing winning all the world titles at cruiserweight in the following associations. (I.S.K.A, I.K.F, W.K.A, W.K.O).

Alby was recently honoured as the ambassador for sports and leisure for the Borough of St Helens and awarded his 6th Dan Blackbelt grade in a star studded ceremony in the Borough for services to sport and martial arts.

Since this time Merseyside Kickboxing has grown, with many branches now across the North West. Alby’s classes centre primarily around the St Helens and Ashton areas, however many of Alby’s former students have gone on to open their own clubs in Merseyside, and still work closely with Alby today, taking guest classes, overseeing gradings and participating and organising interclub competitions.

Alby is also the World President of the Golden Belt Martial Arts Association, working with his personal friend Master Ronnie Green (five times World Champion Thai Boxer) an Association working with all martial arts across the World, working with true martial artists for the further development of the sport.

DENZIL LAWRENCE NOW THERES A NAME

It will be excellent to see Karl Kilbride in the ring, i was really good friends
with his brother and nephews when we were kids done a bit of boxing with them
as a kid but lost touch, last time i seen Karl fight was at our show at the
Gladstone theatre, Liverpool, good fight

Denzil Lawrence still teaching in Cardiff with Spiro Micallef Cardiff Kickboxing club, i rent gym space from them both very very good Wrold Full contact Champions.

I remember those old days well and fought on many of Russ Williams promotions at the Sprinfiedl Hotel and also on Nigel Howletts promotions in Bedfordshire area.

yeah welsh eagle really good shows at the springfield got loads of them on dvd
still go up and train with russ and eugene, good training sessions..

Russ Williams wow how could anyone forget Russ!,been around for ever and very sucesfull,also Eugene Valerio to.

I used to go to the Springfield shows to,maybe as far back as 1985/6!.

I started training in 84 as a kid 12 yrs old had my first fight at Springfield in 87 aged 15 fought a guy (from one of our other clubs) aged 25, i won then and had a number of fights up there after that. I also had a load of fights in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire areas mainly on Nigel Howletts promotions

If any one has any dvd's where i was fighting that would be great most notably i would like to have the fight where i fought David 'Spud' Tate for a Welsh title he was from Steve Johnsons club this was at the Springfield also i fought a guy called Fred Massey on a show that was promoted by Andre Tringham.

I got a video where Peter Stewart fought Malcolm Vernon for a British title and also somewhere Russ Williams fighting a guy called Peter Parker for a World title, there is also an early fight of Ralf Kussler on the same video too.

Thank you very much Lee for the information,i would love to get hold of the videos of the fightS any chance of a copy

There was a video on sale at one time called 101 Kickboxing knockdowns which had a lot of 80s stuff on it.. Both Thai and FC

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/101-KICK-BOXING-KNOCK-DOWNS-56-MINS_W0QQitemZ190237366270QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

and whose girlfreind where you ?? LOL

Linda if you email the address i will try and dig out the North Wales video and copy it onto DVD and send it to when i sort it out thanks
Lee

What about Paddy Boyle. In the late 70's he went over to Thailand and lived and fought out there for a year, winning 7 or 8 of 10 fights. He lived in and fought out of Sor Thanikul. In those days in the regional fights Paddy was having, no one would have probably seen a white man, let alone a ginger Irishman. Sor thanikul wouldn't have let Paddy represent them if he wasn't up to standard. He battled for gambling cash in the province shows, living and training in the harsh conditions with the other fighters, and he was in the camp when the bad goings on happened out there.
I still see Paddy now and again. In my eyes he's always been a pioneer of British Muaythai, and it must have been a brilliant time as well; he just laughs (shaking his head) and says "it was tough"

Trying to work my Dates out.... Paddy could have been out there in the early 80's?? I'll ask him when i see him.

Thank you very much ! "you have been very helpful"

welsh eagle when i get chance i will have a dig through the dvds for you and
burn you a copy.

welsh eagle try and get a date for me month,year and opponent if possible,

Colin,thats amazing,im ashamed to say i havent heard of Paddy Boyle! why hasnt he been interviewed etc for the mags? or has he?.

One of my students Phil Wilson went out around 1986 i think,he trained in Sor Thanikun to im unsure of the date he trained there,he eventually moved there full time and is still there.

Anybody remember the lad from Oldham(Colin) im sure he went over to Thailand late 1970s or early 1980s,he eventually married a Thai girl,oh my memorys bad fo names now! anybody?.

And Dave from Bradford he was there early to i belive.

Paul.
When Paddy came back, he realised, rightly, that there wasn't any real Muaythai in this country and what was calling itself Thai boxing didn't resemble anything like that that he had been training/fighting. There wasn't anywhere he could 'ply his trade' so he just didn't bother. He only would watch fights from Thailand and hadn't heard of or know about any of the fighters we had here at the time.
When he used to come to my place of work on nights, he used to do a little bit of training with me (just to humour me and a bit of nostalgia) and his style was so Sor Thanikul (from those days) it was scary (those who remember it will understand). He became best fiends with the camps son while he lived there, but when all that stuff went on he had to leave.

Paul.
I don't think it's the lad your thinking of, but Paul Tite went out to train in Thailand, and i believe he married a Thai girl. He now owns a tremendous Thai restaurant not far from where i live in Bramhall.

hey and is it just Kickboxing?
as many names in Thai-Boxing Fought Kick
and The Likes of many master Skens Fighter incl: myself did
eg:
i fought top guy / fighter Phil Glover at kickboxing
as back then we couldnt get thai Boxing rules on every show
and i remember going to Birmingham with Ronnie green and master sken fighting on MATS... not even a ring
when the Lau gar Kickboxers was ruling the mat and sometimes the ring a few wars v them and us, the Thai won overall tho :-) :-p

Hi Colin,

Thanks for that,be very interesting to get Paddys story down on Paper though eh.

I remember the Sor Thanikun style of that time,Paddy must of been one tough man.

I dont think the Oldham lad i was thinking of is called Paul though i may be wrong, oh he is a nice guy,i just cant for the life of me remember his name.

Hope your well Colin.

Sandy

All of those Lau gar guys were top class. Later the Black Dragons to. Had fighters like Pele Reid, Wayne Turner and Vince Lewis. The Hilton family, Dave and George being the best of them were and still are top class.

You can still see Phil Glover on the circuit in Dave Lockwoods corner.

How about Levi Lovell,Steve McCannus,Roy Rutherfud,Lawrence White, Ray Hoffman
Gary Osbourne and Jonathon thaxton?

Full Contact, Simon Billeti. I believe he won his european title in the late 80's, spinning backfist knocking out the frenchman. Actually it might have been the 90's. Not 100% sure.Oh well, hopefully he wont take offence from me calling him an old man if he did win it in the 90's. ha ha.

Bring back the spinning backfist!! - not just an 80's classic!!!

Brain Seabrite ?

I trained at Sor Thanikul gym with Kong fu Tak in 1983, and we did'nt see any toher foreigners there !!

GUESS WHO IS IN THIS PIC ? Answers below please

sorry cant upload pic dont no why?

you trying to upload a Bitmap?

I think you need to use a JPEG ??

And the pic needs to be around 300KB max. You need to resize it first.

Anyone remember Paul Lenihen from Ireland AKA "The Lemon drop Kid"

Yeah I remember him, saw him fight in Manchester :)

Got smashed by Padatsuk and Samart...then again its brave x

|Markel Liewfat

There ya go Phil

Just thought I would put the above pic that Ax Team posted on from the very early days of kickboxing 1980 this fight was against hardnut John Everard from Barnsley who was ranked number two in Britain at the time,this was when we had only one champion at each weight and not 40.This was only my fourth or fifth fight but I was tempted into the ring with John by a generous purse of £15 or a pair of jeans,I took the money as £15 went pretty far in those days!!! lol.
P.S. Just look at that crowd [and look at all those glasses of booze!] this fight was held in Barnsley and the locals were always brilliant for support unless you fought the local lads,like I did that night!...Phil

Peter I can remember the lemon drop kid fight Howard Brown world title defence .Howard won but it was very close.

Sorry the picture could'nt be any sharper but it is before we had the luxury of computers and digital cameras,this is taken from an old copy of Fighters magazine.As Sandy quite rightly said earlier Thai Boxers had trouble getting Thai rules fights in the early days and so fought under Kickboxing rules too with all kicks above the waist even though I remember a few throwing the odd knee or leg kick in for good measure!
This picture of Sandy and me was taken at Manchester's Rotters Nightclub around 1981 or 1982 and the show was put on by the late great Danny Connor,who promoted many of these shows in Manchester.Sandy was right if you were unlucky enough to be drawn against a Thai fighter you were in for a very hard time!,I always remember the smell of Thai oil as we entered the nightclub and thinking 'Oh my god the Thai boxers are here!'Still these were fun times and I saw some great fighters here such as Tony and Vernon Dore,Steve Taberner,Ronnie Green,Lance Lewis,Brian Seabright,Steve Babbs he was a kickboxing legend in those early days,Thai fighter Mark Hoyt he fought to a draw with my old instructor George Wellington,and many more.
One of the best shows I ever saw here at Rotters nightclub though was Wu Shu Kwan versus Thai Boxers under Thai rules there was a lot of pride at stake here as these Kung Fu fighters were very tough,but as the fights went on with each side having a few wins one man stood out in the final bout and that was Ronnie Green who put on a spectacular display and battered his opponent the atmosphere was electric!...Good times!!!!

hey nice one
and LOL at me in MOONBOOTS
go me and phil
top lad Phil
you had the hardest head ive ever hit
nearly smashed my hand on ya napper
we had a 3 round way
at Rotters nightclub Manchester
and we have been friends ever since
your a legend phil
and wow yep
i also remember john everhard ( good name EverHard lol )
remember when he stopped ronnie green in i think it was Salford kickboxing show?
anyone see that shocker?

3 round war

Hi Sandy,
Yes I was there that night when Ronnie got caught with that punch I could'nt believe it!,I was pals with both fighters and it was awkward because they both asked me what the other was like beforehand and I reassured them that they would do well, personally I thought John Everard was way out of his depth when all of a sudden he pulled that punch from hell out of the bag,wow what a punch! I still remember the loud smack when it connected everyone was gobsmacked!
Another shocker that same night was 'The Wigan Hammer' Steve Taberner beating the 'unbeatable' Steve Babbs,the last time I met Steve Taberner he was doing photo's for the Quest show in Birmingham during the mid-90's,a big fighter with a big punch and a really nice guy....Phil

wow yes i was there too and it was back when we got matched up on the day
and did you know that day my opponent didnt turn up
and guess who they matched me with?

before john turned up and was due to fight him as he came later in the day lol
woops it mightve been me getting smashed from ronnie tho lol
as that fight was a full contact kicks above the body rules yep !

and Yes Steve the Wigan hammer what a legend !
he had a Brass band lead him out to his fights
Awesome
and i was talking to him on a noth west radio station a few weeks ago ref: a debate re: Childrens ch-4 Kids thai boxing debate he was sounding great, well and fit and Did you know he stopped fighting for what he practices now>?
"born again christian"

Anyone remember these guys this picture was taken at the 1983 World W.A.K.O. Championships held at the Wembley Conference Centre in London I came third in my division but just being there was very memorable as this championships really did feature some of the worlds best kickboxers both in full-contact and semi-contact.The British team consisted of a who's who in the world of kickboxing names like Dev Barrett [Dev won the world title in his division!],Godfrey Butler [anyone know what he's doing now he was awsome!],Ronnie Green [Whatever the rules Ronnie was pure class!],Steve Taberner,Edge Brown [Howards Brother],Gary Osbourne [The new kid on the block came second,Gary was a really nice lad],Howard Brown did'nt take part allowing me to take his place.
Some names in the U.S.A. Team were John Longstreet,Jeff Smith,Mike 'Nasty' Anderson,John Chung and Charlie Lee they did a truly outstanding demonstration of kata to music something new to many of us in those early days.
A trivia question can anyone remember the well known irishman sat in the middle? He was also known as the 'Godfather Of Irish Kickboxing',a great man who did a lot for the martial arts in Ireland,I fought his nephew in the early 80's too.

George Canning

Spot on Pete full marks lol...Phil

Can anyone name the members of the english team?

This was taken at the 1985 W.A.K.O. World Championships at Wembley some of the British team from the back.. Alby Bimpson,Jeff Bullock,Les Roberts [Les promoted many shows in Walsall and was a great character it was always a pleasure meeting him!],Darren Evans's dad,Tony Roberts [Les's brother,they both worked my corner once and were arguing all through the 7 round breaks it was hilarious!!],Darren's mate?,at the front..former European champion Darren Evans and myself.
The previous picture I recognise Trevor Ambrose,Alby Bimpson,recognise the face but forgot the name!,?,Tony Moore.

A CKO Promotion from around 1985/86 Jeff Bullock is on the cover of this programme.

OOPS! Wrong size!
A CKO Promotion from around 1985/86 Jeff Bullock is on the cover of this programme.

Hi Phil

I know Les very well. He used to co-promote with a guy called Mick Silverstone at Walsall town hall. I still see Micks son every week.

Les has moved down to sunny spain now (email me and I will tell you more, lol).

He has a twin brother called Brendon and you just could not tell them apart. I like Les.

Darren Evans worked on the same doors as myself and was part of our team for a while. He has gained a lot of weight now and is nearly as wide as he is tall!

I remember Les for his remarkable flexibilty and this he could demonstrate in his kicks. He used to get in the ring in a tux and without warm up do a jump spinning kick over the mc's head and as you know, you would not have thought it of him.

Just look at some of the names appearing on this show held in Warrington,Wayne Ambrose,Darren Evans,Joey James,Raj Patel,Dave Elrington,ALBY BIMPSON,Andy Mayo,Derek Iddon and Lance Lewis!!

Was that Paul Taylor who Les used to train? Used to spar lots at his club. Know Kelvin Bland to.

Look at the advert bottom right.

Thats was my ex business partner Ray Leigh. British Warrior moved with us to Evans House when Cheshire Martial Arts Centre opened in 1986. Ray sponsored all my early shows in Warrington. He actually fought himself in Warrington on an early kickboxing show at The Fiesta Club (later became Legends)

Ray died a few years ago (RIP pal) but the business was sold to one of our students and it is still alive and kicking.

Check the site out www.britishwarrior.co.uk

Peter Nolan and Warrington Trailers are still around too!

The other sponsor on there is Station Garage which was owned by a guy we used to call Ches.

He was a judo expert, he lost his hand in an accident at work but always supported the martial arts. I remember him as he was a friend of James 'Budgie' Burgess' father.

Lol...thats value for money advertising for you!

It shows how old that program is, Peter Nolan used to do Dave's hair (col laughs at his own joke).

This was a ticket for that brilliant show that I witnessed at Manchester in 1980, Thai Boxers versus Wu Shu Kwan [or Khan!] look at those ticket prices,talk about value for money.lol.

Ran into Les's brother Brendan tonight. Coincidence after you putting that on here!

god i remember that picture with jeff bullock on he was a great coach and martial artist i was only 14 when i started with him in 1983 they were the days

I dug out a few more kickboxing memories anyone remember the following shows and venues?
Look at some of the top names on these shows!!!

This was the fight programme for the show

What about the Colosseum in Stafford these were legendary shows I remember seeing a very young Eval Denton start out here,I fought here a couple of times as well as my students,always a terrific atmosphere plus a great crowd!

This was the fight list for that show okay it's borderline [1990] but still worth a look!

And finally a classic show from the 80's,the fights got swapped about a bit,rules got changed or fighters did'nt turn up!it was being filmed for cable television and there were many behind the scenes problems.I took my fight with Billy Saul at four or five days notice and twenty minutes before entering the ring I was also told it was low kicks with throws!.I won but the fight was terrible the main fights did happen and Sandy's fight against Tekin Domez was a classic with Sandy taking the fight on points after wearing down a very tough Dutch fighter and getting his arm broken in two places,a well deserved win Sandy!
Also Lisa Howarth was in top form battering her tough Dutch opponent forcing the cornermen to throw in the towel after a few rounds,I think Lisa broke the poor girls nose,she was my favourite British female fighter of that time.
I remember Alby Bimpson fighting on this show against Trevor Ambrose [I think?] correct me if I'm wrong as I was in the changing room getting ready for my fight.

This was the fight list,it's different to the cover lol,even funnier it got changed again on the day!!!!
...Thats Showbiz!

I've come over all melancholy:)
Chunlee
Spiro
Albt V Trevor
"Denville"
Trimble
Iddon
Jeff Watts (Still around)
Tekin Domez was proper
Could Franco Pabviavich be Branco Pablovich by any chance:) The bill was obviously relayed by phone. Reminds me of a poster for an early gig featuring The Smiths. Was printed as "Dismiss" - Still sold out though, daffodil wearing ponce:)

Where to start with that lot?

Half of them on my doorstep!

I used to teach kickboxing at the Elms in Aldridge. Good venue in a town that does not have much else. Some of Les's students (Shaun Osay ((spelling)) being the best known) came back to train.

Freestylers, a real blast from the past. Changed their name to Trojan. Mighty gym, great fighters, Eval, Kirkwood, Winston, sacond names not needed. Ken Jackson runs Trojan Staford now and was a great full contact fighter.

They still have shows at the BRD I think, just the name has changed.

Phil

Only learned about this yesterday.

http://www.selfdefencesystems.com/holiday_self_defence.php

Cheers Mark,
That's a nice website!!! lol.

wow
o
w

either way... wow
Phil awesome and great names up above and top top memorabillia
Nice-1 pal
and hey i got the Video off cable t.v. its excellent quality for that time
its on VHS if anyone interested?
ref: 1987 super show

thanks for the flashback memories and yep broken arm in 2 places lol
second and 4 th; round they happened
No sense no fealing comes to mind.. not bravery or hard ? lol


and
jeff bullock
yep
he was the first guy i ever lost a fight in the ring with, lost a split points desc: to Jeff ( big respect to him )
on his and his brothers (john, what happened to him ? )
bullocks joint show in liverpool
showed too much respect in first 2 then i shared 3rd and won 4 and 5
but he got the nod fair play
and i lost my 11 and 11 unbroken record :-( lol


but got him back in a Big show in our hometown 4 years later
1 each me and jeff
alls good then
:-)


cheers Phil your a star

Phil your a Dude ! :-) top man

me V Tekin Donmez
Chakuriki Thom harrincs Holland

hardest fight of my life and 7 year fight carear !

me v jeff Bullock part 2


oh and

"100"
post btw :-p :-)

LOL Sandy what fight where you watching - Part 1 ?? LMAO ???


Funny to see pics of Sandy with normal hair and Jeff Bullock with any hair at all..

The part 1 was in Studio 54 in Liverpool !

thanks pal
and was you there that night btw?

p.s. check on the me v Tekin fight pics above who the ref: and promo was?
a clue
2 brothers


and herr cutt i was trying to post a piccy of me and jeff :-(

try agin...
and it was at the Legendary and best north west venue for Thai boxing events
Bolton sports centre Silverwell street Bolton town centre

Sandy I was there that night ... was holding bets from 2 businessmen of 50 quid each !!! LOL ... big money then !!! and the guy who bet against you is worth 96 million now!! LOL...

Was there at the fight pictured above !! - Give you that one !! ;-)

and...you are right ... the Silverwell Street Venue is an important part of the history of UK Thai and Kickboxing.... what a place probably the best atmosphere of all.. - the Mecca of the 80`s.. !!

also important from then was the Ilford Palais, Britannia Hotel Manchester, Walsall Town Hall, Ormskirk Civic Hall..

nice one Phil
and hey
it was 1 each we always talked about a 3rd ( rocky lol )
and your millionaire wouldnt be now if there had been?

sorry Jeff
( luv ya, but not that much hahaha )
but true lol
id have even bet on myself and i Dont gamble lol

The Harrison Brothers Oliver & Humphrey celebrating after both having big wins at Bolton Sports Centre that was an incredible show some brilliant matches Sandy's fight against Jeff Bullock was a classic but what about the other shocker Humphrey Harrison versus Kash 'The Flash' Gill it was like David versus Goliath,I always admired the Harrison brothers as they were both very tough fighters but the way Humphrey kept knocking Kash over was a complete shock that night,Kash 'The Flash' Gill was awsome in those days and one of the true greats of the eighties and early nineties.

This pic of Sandy Holt being led to the ring by Master Sken and Junior Salmon before his bout with Tekin Domez for the European title.
Anyone know what Junior is doing now he was a great training partner on my visits to Master Skens?

A victorious Sandy Holt European Thai Boxing Champion at Stretford Sports Centre aaah!!! memories

This will conjure up many happy memories for Thai Boxers & Kickboxers alike as many future stars attended these courses,our first day began at 6.00am on a freezing cold morning running along Blackpool promenade and training on the beach shadow boxing with rocks!!!BRILLIANT!!!

This was on the inside of theMaster Toddy & Master Sken The Legends!!!

Early Full Contact pioneers Tony 'TNT' Trimble,Derek Iddon,Denver Sheehan this was very early 80's in the PKA days.

WOW
O
W

Thanks Phil
thats great stuff and piccys anbd wow the Master Sken and toddy pics and stuff
amazing
thanks for sharing cheers
your a star geazer ta

Pound for Pound one of the best ever Featherweight kickboxers of the 80's Howard Brown he had dynamite in both hands!!
Howard fought Full Contact & Low Kicks and became a true world champion under both rules!!!

Is oliver Harrison the same one as Amir Khans ex trainer?

Great pics. Well before my interest started in MT but brilliant to see.

That Blackpool thing sounds fantastic!

Don`t think Sandyman gets the respect he is due on here sometimes, not many can walk the walk and talk the talk like he can (although he does sometimes post stuff alien to my own beliefs :) )

The PKA program is amazing. Darrell Allen and Denver Sheen names from the past. Denver went on to am box and made a great account for himself. He wanted to turn pro but his eye sight let him down.

Derek Iddon was great to watch - just a real tough fighter - was one of my favorites... he Never gave up !!

These were the good ol' days!

I came into the sport in 1988, starting the change from my judo career which started in 1976, and trained with Kevin Brewerton and got to mix back then with the legendary lau gar a-team - some incredibly talented fighters, some (eg. Pete Edwards, I remember when he was young!) still tearing up the mats now...

I would read the mags of Howard 'The Hawk' Brown (there are no comebacks!), and dream of being in the ring with the legends...

Getting into the WAKO team in the 90's meant I had the pleasure of fighting alongside some UK legends of the 80's such as Dev Barrett (his coaching took me to WAKO European Title, thanks for the 'step through left!' shout mate!. Chris McNeish shouldn't be forgotten either - hardest kick pound for pound I've ever come across - all from a chamber kick!

Good to hear the Black Dragons mentioned, used to tear up the mats at the FSK's in the early 90's fighting Pele Reid and Wayne Turner, and don't forget the Hylton brothers and Spider Harrison too...

My first introduction to Thai Boxing was around 1985...my judo club did a shared demonstration with a certain 'Woking Thai Boxing Club' led my Mick Murphy, later a big influence in my career, where I met very young top fighters such as Gerry Moriano, former European Champion who still out Thai-boxes all in sparring...I couldn't believe the force they were hitting the pads with! Mick used to regularly train at the legendary 80's training sessions in Thai boxing from the Thai masters in Manchester...

First met Sandy (and Master Sken) in 1991 in Rimini, Italy, where Kev Brewerton took me to the Golden Dragon Cup...I though it was light continuous but turned out to be full contact shootfighting with throws, knees, leg kicks - Sandy did my corner and helped me win the tournament!!

I still have some of the magazines from the late 80's...I'll dig them out and see what I can find...

Funny that we're talking about the era I started as an historical age...I still consider myself young...it just reminds me of how much our sports have moved on! And how much the youth of today need reminding of the people that walked before them...

Smiler

Howard Brown was the man!! Anyone got some footage they could stick on youtube??

And Kevin the Jedi Brewerton!!! Remember getting him and Alfie Lewis's autograph when i was about 11!! Did either of these guys ever fight full contact?

yes Phil Oliver harrisson is that man !
and a good Fiend too
he was at my last Interclub with 4 fighters, and one being his son !

plus Amir Khans team shouldnt have bagged him :-(

Thats right Sandy they shouldnt of bagged Oliver who is as you say a great guy.

humphrey harrison is the man in my opinion, great shows in manchester with his brother oliver, in swindon! whats humphrey harrison up to now? we all know about oliver career (legends) the harrisons brilliant!

Saw both the harrisons fight and even saw one on TV boxing.

They where so strong and technically ahead of their time..

Yep Humphrey was awesome also
and shared the ring with some legends too
Great all rounder
and Hes Helping a wee bit with boxing and Oliver too sometimes
Also He is and always has been in great shape
I used to train with humphrey and Oliver every night in manc
and had great times and years with them under master Sken
great days and years ! :-) and Great and Fond memories that have helped shape my life

and
gary Smiler
wow yep remember that
mad as
and my guy Trevor got into thr Final and lost to the heavier italian champ but won his previous 2 fights by t.k.o.
Trevor thr bone hine

cheers Gary, always the gent sir
you was then and you are now !
Thankyou


First met Sandy (and Master Sken) in 1991 in Rimini, Italy, where Kev Brewerton took me to the Golden Dragon Cup...I though it was light continuous but turned out to be full contact shootfighting with throws, knees, leg kicks - Sandy did my corner and helped me win the tournament!!

here they / we are

here they / we are?
well will be in a mo
:-p and
can ya name them?

Master Sken's men....

Is bottom right Carl Thompson?

Oliver & Humphry H
William Hilditch?
Ronnie Green?
Phil Nurse (loved coming over to Hotel Piccadilly to watch him fight)
Bobby Beckles
Mr Holt himself (with a half normal haircut!)

Lol feels like only yesterday...one of the old programmes had Dave lever on it i beat him he looked like Barry chuckle x

hi to everyone i found this site when some one passed it on to me,a great way to be in contact with old friends and associates.A big hello to Sandy holt and Phil Glover i just thought i would briefly take you back to the begining 1979 at Rotters in Manchester was were i had my first fight,do you remember how it was we all lined up and Danny Conner would match you up,you fight him and you fight him and so on and so on you would look down the line trying to get a glimpse of who you were fighting.Any way i fought this big black kid {I had never seen a black guy before only on telly and i crapped my self} but i won my fight stopping him in the first round and that was that.This was the beggining and what followed was un believable {but ill tell you that next time i write} great to be on the site and speak with you soon steve taberner

Great stuff, I remember early 80's my lad Matt Skelton fighting Steve Taberner at Fagins night club on a Master Toddy promtion, it was a real tear up and I think it was Steves mum who came to Matt after he won and told him off for beating Steve. Memories

Does anyone remember the fighters from Master Bunriang's gym in Hammersmith and Wimbledon (Thai temple).

Abraham Phillips - fought Tony Moore on a few occasions BTBC Middleweight Champ
Dave Carter - Beat Phil Nurse and lost to Humphrey Harrison
Dave ??? - Fought Tim Izzli for a title

There where only 4 MT gyms in the country back in 1981 - There were either shows at Porchester Hall or in Manchester (Toddy, Sken, Woody)

Either that or fighting on a kickboxing show in Cricklewood run by Brian Dossett (cannot remember the niteclub name - ???? next to an Irish Bingo hall)

All Student of Master Boon's used to fight each other (for real) under the guise of a demonstation bout at the Busabong Thai restuarant in Fulham Palace Road just to get a free thai meal!

First met Bill Judd at a training session in Hammersmith on his first week over from Australia.

I'm off - starting to show my age :(

wow
wow
wow
wow

i luv AX
and great memories guys
and Hey Steve taberner welcome sir
what a guy and a Gent
and the first guy ever to have the Best ring entrance on a Kick / thai boxing show anywhere for a decade defo the best Ring entrance ever back then
in fact
Now if someone did it on a show

A Forward / ahead of his time Person and Entrance
Go The Wigan Hammer

Hey Steve Tabener !!! I fought on a couple of the same shows as you.... didnt you have a gym above a garage - was it called Roundhouse Autos ?? or something similar ??

Hi Paul,Yeah i remember Mater Bunriangs students and boxers.

Abraham Phillips fought Tony Moore if my memory serves me correctly.

Abraham also moved to newcastle upon tyne for a short while,he told me it was to quite for him!.

Oh! this site is so exciting talking with people ive never seen for so long,i cant wait to meet up with some of you guys.Hi Nigel at Eagles Thia, yes i remember the fight with your man Matt Skelton {tough Fight} but a great guy i met Matt in 1992 when i fought my last fight I was fighting Gary Sanderland for the W.A.C.O. British Heavyweight title {the only one i hadnt won} can you believe it i had no corner men as i had in all effect finished fighting then but was cohersed into fighting this last fight for the title that had evaded me any way Matt said he would corner for me.So there was me and Matt in our side and Gary Sanderland and Alfie Lewis cornering for him.the fight turned out to be the most blistering battle you have ever seen Gary hit me with the most devastating punch ive ever had {nearly took my head off im sure} any way i took the standing eight count and went straight back at him {as I always did} and put him down for a standing eight count {all in the first round} any way i went on to seal the victory with a round kick to the head in the last round dropping Gary to the floor and that was it i won the Title taking my tally to Six heavyweight titles. Hi to herrcut yes i did have a gym above the car garage called roundhouse ,looking forward to meeting you . Hi to Sandy i will be seeing you in october i met one of your friends last night who told me about your tournament coming up so i will come along if thats o.k. best wishes Steve Taberner P.S i didnt become a born again christian i became one of Jehovahs witnesses

Hi again sorry about this but does anyone out there have any photographs of me VS Gary Sanderland fighting for the W.A.C.O. british title it was in Ormskirk 24 August 1991 what ever happened to the video? any body got a copy? Steve Taberner

Gary Sandland now runs his own nightclubs in Birkenhead, the Latin Quarter and the Beach really successful..

Yes Steve I remember you and gary sandland scrapping, with Matt in your corner. We had great respect and admiration for you. You also fought another of my lads Branko Palovic, who went into pro boxing like matt. years seem to go by in seconds. If you are ever in our area please come and see us, Matt is still boxing but may come back to Thai next year
Nigel

Is that definite about Matt? Thought he was still in the hunt for boxing titles? Is he about to hang up his boxing gloves? Thats quite an exclusive if so!

Matt says he will have 3 more boxing fights, but as we know for such athletes it is hard to retire from competition, I hope the excitement of a K-1 comeback will persuade him, but nothing official until next year, we will see!!!!

Hi Steve,
Nice to hear from you again the last time we met was at the Quest when you took the promo pictures for the 'Quest 2' in Birmingham,anyone got a copy of that show by the way?
That show in Ormskirk I remember very well I was on it too! lol,I had Alfie Lewis and Gary Spiers in my corner when I beat Darren Evans to win my division and your fight with Gary Sandland was a battle of the big bangers a real crowd pleaser with a nice kick at the end!!!
The other names I remember that day were Carl Harper,Trevor Tacy,Colin Treasure and Chris McNeish they all won in their weight divisions that day,but as usual a different set of names got picked to represent us in the World Championships but that's another story! [Politics!!!]
Sorry no Photo's or video's but here is the programme cover and then let me take you further back in time!!!!

These pics are from Steve Taberner's legendary bout with Steve Babbs at Salford in Manchester these are from the very early 80's and Steve Babbs ruled for many years in those early days of kickboxing,but this night we had a to a new face on the scene 'The Wigan Hammer'...Steve Taberner!!!

BANG!!!

The great Steve Babbs in action in the late 70's remember not all fights were held in a ring in those early days some were on the mat,I had my second fight on the mat and it was'nt good because your opponent would jump off the mat if he was getting hurt.Steve Babbs was one of many Lau Gar Kung Fu stars who ruled both semi-contact and full-contact fighting,there were quite a lot of champions that came from Lau Gar.I did Lau Gar for 9 years and met,trained or sparred with many of the big names of those early days and they were always an inspiration.

Legends!!!.....HOWARD BROWN

Legends!!!.....HOWARD BROWN
I was put in against Howard Brown very early on in my career in 1981 at a big show held at the Tower Ballroom,Birmingham,but,it was almost impossible to beat him I was way out of my depth at that time as he was then British,European and World Amateur WAKO Full Contact Champion.In those early days the competition was very,very strong so when he won those titles he truly was the best,Howard won by KO after knocking me down three times and the fight was stopped in the second round he was just too good and too strong for me.I always dreamed of fighting him again in later years when I had gained the experience but it was never meant to be and we remained good freinds whenever we met.
Other Big names on that same show were Steve Taberner versus Winston Greenwood [Great Kicker!] and the man on the next picture against my original trainer the late George Wellington.....

Legends!!!.....GODFREY BUTLER
I saw Godfrey fight many times he always spoke with an amaricanised accent which was always funny as the other guys at that time said he was just from Birminham and put it on to sound cool!Anyway Godfrey Butler was one of those early kickboxers who possessed dynamite in both hands when he fought in the World WAKO's in 1983 my wife felt really sorry for him as he was winning quite easily until an accident happened in one of his bouts and he was carted off to the hospital,when he returned his leg was covered in plaster.After that I did'nt hear much of Godfrey fighting again I'd love to know what he's doing now?

Legends!!!.....ARTHUR 'O' LOUGHLIN
What can I say Arthur has been there,done that and got loads of T-shirts and he's from good old Barnsley in Yorkshire I always remember my very first fight sitting in this smsll room waiting to be called up to fight as I was on next bout.The fighter sat opposite looking very tough and every inch a fighter was Arthur 'O' Loughlin he looked at me very serious and said "Is this your first fight kid?",I was a bag of nerves and could just manage to say "yes" in my very nervous voice,he looked at me again gave me a wink and said "You'll be alright ginner" [for those not from yorkshire that's Barnsley for ginger hair lol!!!].My name was called I went out and got absolutely pasted!
Arthur has always been a down to earth sort of bloke what you saw was what you got Arthur was very real.

Legends!!!.....OWEN COMRIE
Anyone remember seeing Owen when he fought Taekwondo superkicker Kenny Walton at Nottingham? he was awsome that night and had way too much firepower for Kenny,apart from doing really well at Full-Contact he also started training under Thai Boxing's Master Toddy and had great success under low kick rules too!

Sorry the Godfrey Butler segment should have said americanised and not amaracinised also I should have spelt Birmingham and not Birminham!...apologies to all brummies with american accents!!! [It was late at night though.lol]

This was taken late 1989/90 another short notice fight with the C.K.O. [Contact Karate Organisation] man Phil Mayo, in the 80's it was the C.K.O. that dominated many promotions in England.
A group of us took these bouts at short notice and went over on the ferry to France to take on some very well prepared French fighters later that day,do you remember these lads anyone? Edge Brown [Howards brother],Jit Singh [I think he was from the midlands area?],Myself,Darren Clarke [he made our day by winning the best way abroad K.O.!] and finally one of Kickboxings early promoters Phil Mayo!

Jit Singh and Darren Clarke are both from Leicester.....and good old Phil Mayo

Milo El Geubli vs Howard Brown I in Amsterdam

Milo El Geubli vs Howard Brown II(rematch)in Amsterdam

Milo El Geubli vs Howard Brown II(rematch)in Amsterdam

Hi Dirk,
Great pictures of Howard in action there!,who won in those bouts and did'nt one of those shows also feature Ronnie Green giving Dutch Champion Jaol Vierra a real lesson in Thai Boxing / Kickboxing I have only ever managed to see short clips from these shows and are they available anywhere?...Phil

who won Milo el grobi? or Howard brown?

and Great stuff Phil and all for sharing awesome memories and people
thanks :-)

Darren Clarke was a Great kickboxer - aaa`hh!! Phil Mayo !! Slept on his floor once before fight and did an exhibition match with him !!! Good Guy and worked hard for Kickboxing !!

Hi Phil and Sandy,
The first fight between Howard Brown and Milo El Geubli, was on 21 april 1984 in Amsterdam. Howard became, European champion w.k.a , because El Geubli, hitted Howard with a spinning backfist and the elbow cutted, the head of Howard. So, the fight ended in a disqualification for Milo El Geuli. On that same show, Ronnie Green fought Joao Vierra, he really dominated the fight and Vierra stopped the fight, before the end.
On 12 may 1985, Howard Brown fought Milo El Geubli again, in Amsterdam. Milo won the fight on k.o in round 5, he knocked Howard out, with a lot of punches to the body. So, he became the new European Champion.

Karanjit (The raging Bull) Gill V Mark ( The Wild Thing ) Ellwood
What a fight this was. Going to dig up some more old photo when i get a chance...

i was inspired into martial arts when my older brothers showed me a video ov muay thai v wushu kwan about 1980 [master ronnie green v bill judd] ronnie stopped him in the 3rd round i think looked a great show my bro says all the great thai boxers were there.now does anyone remember that apart from bill that is respect ste

Thai Boxers v Wu Shu Kwan had loads of action as there was great pride at stake that night with each wanting to show who was the best,I still have an old magazine write up of the show and just had to look at it again.Ronnie won on points it was a unanimous decision,both fighters were going at a very fast pace but Ronnie was like a man possessed and tried his best to knock Bill Judd out.I was there that night and the atmosphere was electrifying every bout was full of thrills and spills with plenty of knockdowns and k.o's,the referee that night was Peter Platt,I remember him doing many of the shows held at the Rotters Nightclub in Manchester.
Other notable Thai fighters that night worth a mention,are Mark Hoyt I'd seen him fight before and he was very good but he suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Wu Shu Kwans Steve Lynsey and got knocked out in the second round.
Also Luke Durham anyone remember him? he works as a Doctor now but he was superb in the ring and a really nice guy out of it,Luke fought Wu Shu Kwan's Ari Ali Salif and had an easy win on points.

Just found these tonight Jeff Bullock v Pete Feeley,one of Jeff's first bouts under Thai rules I think?,this fight was at the Belgrade Hotel,Oldham on one of Master Toddy's Shows in 1981,Pete won this one.
On the same show Ronnie Green stopped Irelands Brian Cullen,I fought Mark Hurst and ended up with a draw,Stuart Hurst fought another lad from same gym as me and won on points these were held under kickboxing rules.

The skipping rope was invented around this time too!

This photo was taken at the World WAKO Championships at Wembley 1983,it's Joao Vierra from Holland, I got third place after losing on a bad decision to a guy from Norway in the semi finals,the Norwegian went through and Vierra easily knocked him out to win the WAKO World title.

This thread is great i remember training with Arthur O'Laughlan from Barnsley back in the early 80s as well as fighting the likes of steve babs and Frank Lynch from Lau Gar (only semi contact though) but never the less with small karate pads on it didnt half hurt.

I agree this is a brilliant thread and gives people respect where it's due!
Frank Lynch now he was a real funny character! in the late 70's he did fght full contact and semi he was British champion for a while too, I remember he used to turn up at shows wearing a top hat and his famous walking stick handing out autographed photo's of himself a true showman!!!
The late 70's full contact scene was dominated by the Lau Gar fighters Steve Babbs was the most famous one doing full contact so respect to you sir if you shared the ring with him!!!

The fight with Jeff and Peter was a great fight but the re match was incredible - in front of a partisan crowd in Ormksirk, Jeff stopped Peter with a Head kick...

Still think Jeff Bullocks best fights where against peter and Sandy !!

wow this thread / topic just gets better, and Phil glover has a million memories / piccies to share thanks!
and great piccy with jeff and Pete and didnt know that re: what herrcut told us?
1 each for them and was same for me and jeff too


you do get good rematches :-)

You are right Sandy - I have seen things I had forgotten and been reminded of just how good things were!

I think Phil should set up a web site and post all Pics he has !! LOL

And Phil... dont you ever throw anything away ?? ;-)

Hi HerrCutt & Sandy,
I'm really glad that I did'nt throw all those old magazines away because I have many more memories I can put on this thread,it's great to see these pictures,old posters,programmes,etc stirring up so much interest!!!...Phil

Hi phil i only ever shared the matt (semi contact ) with these guys they were well out of my league for full contact but yes your right the lau gar boys were amazing in the late 70s early eighties i trained with two guys in sheffield when i was a student George Wellington and Graham Abdulla ( both Lau Gar but semi contact) and we used to go to the Kung fu nationals just to watch the likes of Steve Babbs and Frank Lynch, Humphry Brooms, Neville Wray im going to have to stop now as ive come across all funny lol

I must admit it does feel good to know that I was there watching the Birth of FC karate / kickboxing in England and even competed on the matt with some of these guys..

When you here some people talk about FC today you'd think they had invented it.lol

Back in the Day as they say

Phil did i read you earlier post right that you trained with George Wellington as well.

Can't believe it just reading a thread about the best KB gyms in the UK and came across this post:

Farhad

2004-07-19 18:25:48 ( time)

Farhad writes:

i agree with moley , gradings in KB are very important, witohut black belts the sport goes no further and isnstead we end up with those lau gar cowboys taking ovef the market!..


Like i mentioned earlier if only these muppetts knew there roots,

keep the memories coming especially the posters ther great to look at,

i think ive got some 1970s and 80s editions of combat and fighters in my loft im going up tomorrow to have a look.

ps whens the book coming out and can i pre order a copy

Hi Samy01,
Yes you read right I was trained by George Wellington as well,in fact he was my very first and most important instructor regarding kickboxing,I first began with George around 1978 at his gym in Sheffield,I was living in Doncaster back then.George was the chief instructor for Lau Gar Kung Fu and taught over in Doncaster a few times,one day he advertised a new class at his gym in Sheffield teaching 'Full Contact Karate'. In those days fighting full contact was considered the ultimate and people were still under the belief that one kick or punch could kill you!!!
Anyway I did'nt die after my first lesson [although I felt like it.lol] and was hooked on this new sport I stayed with George until around the mid 80's and he was like my best instructor,friend and father all rolled into one,I had tremendous respect for this great man and always will.During my times with George I went to many shows in Birminghameither to watch,fight or sometimes he would take me to spar with some top Lau Gar fighters.George himself was always in peak condition and had amazing technical skills he did'nt fight full contact too often but I was always in awe of him when he did.One of Georges best fights was against Brighton's Chris Kent who was one of Britains best fighters in those early days of the P.K.A in Britain,I think they fought to a draw.
Sadly George Wellington died during the 80's at the tender age of 34 from an heart defect,I'd gone my own way by that time but George's death nearly made me pack it all in I was so upset...here are some pics...Phil

My inspiration George Wellington!!

This was George Wellington walking out to fight Birmingham's Godfrey Butler the fight resulted in a disqualification for George after constantly getting warned for holding,later George did tell me that he just could'nt do anything as he was so dehydrated,shame as it would have been very interesting to watch.
God bless you George and rest in peace....
Phil

Wow those pics are fantastic, yes George did teach in Sheffield on London Rd i used to train with him and his wife Viv, that was a golden era of martial arts

Three guys i trained with in Sheffield at the same time at Georges were, Carl Knight, Graham Abdulla and Gordon Ingles ( must have been 1977 to round about 81 and) i remember going down to watch and compete in the kung fu nationals in birmingham on a number of occasions, there was also another guy in Donny i can remember dont know if he was a fighter but used to see him alot Carl Spencer.

And yes sadly George did pass away we wer proberbly both at his funeral,

Small World!

Hi Phil,

I think I met George just the once. I started out in Kickboxing in York under the YKBA back in about 1984 (I think!). I was taught by Steve Lund, Darren Walker and Pete Heath who I think was from Doncaster originally. Great days, but I was drawn to MT fairly quickly (think it was with a 1-1 with Sandy in about 87/88 - bought for my birthday!). It's amazing to see all these names that pretty much changed my life and moulded what I would end up doing

Hi Phil I hope you are well mate(and haven't forgot me!!) You have got some great pics and memories. It was great seeing pics of oliver and humphrey, who both had a great influence on my career. do you have any pics/progs from the piccadilly hotel shows mate?

I remember training with Frank Lynch and Steve Babbs(when he lived in Darlington) both awesome athletes.

Phil i think i say for everyone reading this thread that we are glad you didnt pack it all in brother,George would be proud of what you accomplished and prouder still of you mate.

Yes Paul i agree with you

look at the number of people that have been influanced in some way by you (phil) or other students of George's that turned to teaching.

The amounts must number in the thousands, I can picture a pyramid with george not at the top as he must have learnt from his instructor / mentor (master yau if im not mistaken) but some where near and his (georges) influances spreading out reaching the likes of Phil and beyond ( phils students ) wow I bet he would be proud to have taught some one of your calibre and not just as a fighter but as a big influance on the kickboxing scene.


Steve Babbs , Frank Lynch those names still make me smile!
sam

While we are on the subject of some of these guys, does anyone remember the old clash of the titans? Lau Gar v TAGB v Warriours with Bob Sykes etc. Remember seeing Master Sken/Ken's demo and being very impressed by the kicking apples from swords as a young fighter!

I used to like these shows and the rivalry a great deal!

I saw Oliver today. He was at GFC interclub with his kids. He is still there helping the grass roots of our sport.

Piccadilly hotel Mark....seems like yesterday i was in my pram watching you lol x

Thanks guys for those kind words,
Samy01
I'm glad others also remembered George and yes it really is a small world apart from Graham Abdullah and Gordon Ingles I'd forgotten about Carl Knight he was very mild mannered but technically very,very good.Do you also remember Paul Mason he was very fast and went in very hard when we sparred,and my old friend Carl Spencer from Doncaster,Wow!!! me and him go back many years,all of these did semi-contact but still they were good times.
DaveA
I remember Pete Heath he was teaching for George and I think his sister was going out with George who was laid to rest in Armthorpe,Doncaster where Pete used to live in those days.I only met Pete a few times as George began introducing gradings for his kickboxing classes and all I wanted to do was train and fight hence the reasons behind my decision to eventually go it alone.
Mark Russell
How are you doing mate the last time we met was at Leeds at the Dekkers v Bad Company show,as it happens I do have some old programmes which I saved from my times at Master Skens so hopefully I can get some of these up too as long as no one thinks I'm going off topic "80's kickboxers Your Memories Please...." Oliver,Humphrey,Phil Nurse,Ronnie Thompson,Bobby Beckles,Junior Salmon,Adrian [Carl] Thompson,Sandy ? lol,the list goes on I was very priviledged to have trained alongside you lads in the late 80's.
Oliver Harrison got me into perfecting body shots once,we were both sparring when Oliver dropped me with a body shot that even Andy Howson would have been proud of!!,Master Sken had just popped out of the gym before it happened and I was left dying on the floor feeling faint and sick,Oliver told me to get up before Master Sken got back I could barely stand when Master Sken returned but Oliver pushed me and literally held me up whilst we fought on not wanting to show Master Sken any signs of weakness!!!Thanks to Oliver I worked on my body punches which helped me in my boxing and future kickboxing fights.
I will have some more pics of 80's memories tomorrow...Phil

After doing well in the WACO Europeans I was really thrown in at the deep end!!
My next fight was against Howard Brown,he knocked the stuffing out of me!! apart from that the show itself was fantastic all the top fighters were there Steve Taberner,Winston Greenwood,Godfrey Butler,during the day there was a big semi-contact tournament with the Lau Gar team winning the trophies!!!
The Tower Ballroom was a great venue for kickboxing shows in those days.

The PKA is coming!!! [early 80's]

This was one fantastic show to be on just look at the fighters in the pages of this programme all this was way before every town had their very own world champion!!

Fighters on that show were Paj Ray Singh [Remember him?],Junior Salmon [great fighter from Master Skens],Jeff Bullocks fight ended in a disqualification if I'm right,Dave Roberts [Les's Brother] beat George Wellington pts,Steve Babbs v Steve Taberner I think Babbs won on points,Howard Brown,Godfrey Butler,Edge Brown and myself we all won by knockouts! as I said it was a great nights kickboxing and another treasured memory!!!

Anyone at the 1983 WACO World Championships at Wembley Conferance Centre witnessed some fantastic British fighting stars in action against some very strong teams from America,Germany,France,Italy,Holland,etc we had Ronnie Green,Gary Osbourne,Edge Brown,Godfrey Butler,etc and in my mind the fighter who showed what True Grit was all about...Dev Barrett..he really had some tough opponents on his way to the finals but bruised and bloodied he well deserved to win that day!!!

Gary Osbourne new kid on the block he came second,a great fighter he turned pro at boxing eventually which was a great loss to kickboxing!

.....I came 3rd

Remember the CKO & Phil Mayo?
Look at the names in these ratings...more memories!!!

Dennis White!!!

Pele Nathan v Atapung!!!

Another win for Ronnie Green v Nong Lake Padmuntard

Winston Walker v Delroy Patrick at Fagins Nightclub,Manchester on one of Master Toddy's shows!!!

Now how many of you remember these two brilliant fighters we have moved onto the late 80's here the good old CKO days...Roberto Fatica v Tony Goldfinkle!!!

Your at it again Phil!

By coincidence I bumped into Graham Mcgrath this afternoon in a pub where we were watching football. He looks a lot different now.

wow phil this is great-
and hey i fought roberto fatica
from Paulys gym in 1987 in London
great fighter

As requested by Mark Russell...
The reason I always kept these was because they were quality programmes for their time as for many shows it would be a printed sheet of paper folded in half!!

you even see a clip of Howard 'The Hawk' Brown's retirement fight in this little gem.

The line up on here was awsome all the best fighters from Master Skens and the Trojan Gym's Kirkwood Walker,Ken Jackson and Winston Walker,there was a fantastic demo on this show between Master Sken and Phil Tan too,Phil and I used to partner up at Master Skens and he even helped out in my corner down London once as well,top man!!!

These shows were around 1988..

Check out the names on a typical Master Sken show,excellent!!!

A big big thanks to all who are contributing to this site and especialy you Phil you seem to have a wardrobe full of memories.How great it is to see theese names coming up it is like we were all one big family. I promise you till we die there will never be an era like we had! so many fighters who earned peanuts but gave there all and made names for them selves and thankfully have not been forgotten and of course this site is once again bringing those fighters back together again. Wouldnt it be great if somehow we could arrange a get together for us all! p.s. i am anxious to get in touch with Bob Hunter the referee from London and Paul Finn the promoter from Warrington any one any ideas! Steve Taberner

Hey Steve you ended up on this bill too !!!

This first pic is of Godfrey Butler he had dynamite in both hands!!!
I just had to put some more golden memories on here so I dug out even more old pics,etc and you're right Mr Steve Taberner there will never be an era like this again,I loved the late 70's/early 80's I was'nt a champion then and was in awe of everything that was happening around me looking back it was quite magical.Something you mentioned earlier which I also remember was the matchmaking at those shows in Manchester,we would turn up,join the queue,get weighed and fight whoever they offered!
The 80's in my opinion saw many changes within the sport we had the PKA,CKO,BAFCA remember them the British Amateur Full Contact Association [I still have my old licence!],WACO which later changed to WAKO and in the mid to late 80's the ISKA then the WKA began to take off over here with Howard Brown and Kash Gill winning world titles in Birmingham.
You're right Steve we were all like one big family in those days,and yes we did get peanuts for fighting,my first paid fight was for £15 lol!,we did it for the love of our sport,a family reunion would be fun!!!...Phil

The charismatic Frank Lynch early Full Contact champion he was part of the elite Lau Gar fighters who fought both semi or full contact and were champions at both in the very early days of kickboxing when Lau Gar fighters were beating everybody greats like Steve Babbs,Clive Parkinson,Neville Wray,Humphrey Broomes,Chris Wrey [from Leeds] and more.

Who is this you may well ask?
Believe it or not it's the great Humphrey Harrison with moonboots on fighting full contact rules on the very same show that Steve Taberner beat Steve Babbs!

This was 1982 at the famous Rotters nightclub in Manchester,I was fighting a guy called Charles Alder,he wore a black belt as you can see so that was pretty scary for me! [only joking...] he was very skilful but I won that night.One of the famous Dore brothers was refereeing that night Vernon or Tony,sorry but I always got them mixed up!

Moving a little forward in time to the late eighties and check out the hilarious spelling on this CKO show!!!

Did anyone go to this show?

Memories...

Roger Sylsby v Alby Bimpson...

Gary Osbourne v Derek Idden...

Jeff Watts v Billy Saul...Classic!!!

Colin was part of a brilliant demo team as well as being a great fighter!

Remember this guy?

The Lemon Drop Kid!!!...Paul Lenihan shared the ring with many great kickboxers and Thai Boxers such as Graham McGrath,Ronnie Green and Thai legend Samart Payakaroon he was very classy!

Have to say this has been one of the best threads on ax for sometime,
Ive just dug out and watched videos of Howerd Browns 1988 fights against Paul Lenihan and Kazuma Siaki, I was at both these shows at packed out Villa leisure centres which featured the likes of Kash Gill,Steve McCannus,Des Walker and Graham Brockway.
Interestingly there are only about 3 undercard fights on each show with the rest of it made up with martial art demos.
The Brown Kazuma show also features an 8 man semi contact stop/start tournament with the likes of Alvin Mitey,Steve Babbs,Keven Brewerton and Kenny Walton.

No way....17th september lol...before my 18th birthday ace xx

And..i was 58.5...no way Muggy and Russ are on it and Paul Tite x

just latched onto this site and am amazed what ive seen so far loads of names i remember and lots more not yet appeared.i was one of the many legions of fans who used to follow steve taberner around .so many things to talk about. just thought id reminise on one which stuck to mind we had gone to watch england vs holland up in Leeds run by master sken as far as i can remember all the English lads had lost to the strong dutch team.there was only one fight left steve taberner and the dutch heavyweight who we had secretly been watching in warm up and we crapped it.stupidly i told steve what we had seen,he just shrugged his shoulders went in the ring and knocked him out in the first round "incredible" does anyone out there remember that tournament early eighties and who else fought on that English team

thanks phil for all the pics m8 great to see all the greatz

Thank you too Gerard!,
I'm just really pleased that all those old magazines,photos,posters,even tickets,etc have reminded people about those early days,and for me it's been well worth hoarding them just for this thread...Phil

Vinny at 58.5!! they were your modelling days mate! ps. Phil Yeh your right the last time I saw you was at the leeds show. I hope you are well mate and thank you so much for all of these memories. Alot of these shows were before I started Thai, but helped influence me into the sport.

The Golden Belt are proud to announce that Steve Taberner will be at our Supershow on November 8th 2008 as our professional photographer.

There are less than 30 tickets left now if you want the chance to meet Steve in person.

The Man...The Legend...Steve Taberner aka The Wigan Hammer!!!

For what its worth..

Cheshire Martial Arts Centre, the long time home of Warrington Thai Boxing and now home to Wolfslair Warrington was formed in 1986 when it took over Paul Finns unit.

We are still here in the same unit today.

I remember fighting in Warrington on one of Paul Finns shows he had a lad called Tony Birchall,it was for the CKO British Featherweight title around 1985 it ended in a draw but luckily for me good old Les Roberts organised a rematch in Walsall and I won the fight.

Towards the end of his career Tony Birchall trained with me

wow wow wow wow
amazing stuff Phil guys
great you share
and yep the progds; and fights of master skens was very prof:
and lol people whinge at 15 fights and theres 21 on their lol
( 20 on mine this sun: 5th: october in Ikon Bolton... blatant plug sorry lol )

always had that many at piccadilly hotel shows, great venue in manchetser and many wanted to fight on it and because of the anount of master sken sitnarong gyms in the uk
you only needed 1 from half the gyms and the card was overflowing lol

wow wow wow wow
amazing stuff Phil guys
great you share
and yep the progds; and fights of master skens was very prof:
and lol people whinge at 15 fights and theres 21 on their lol
( 20 on mine this sun: 5th: october in Ikon Bolton... blatant plug sorry lol )

always had that many at piccadilly hotel shows, great venue in manchetser and many wanted to fight on it and because of the anount of master sken sitnarong gyms in the uk
you only needed 1 from half the gyms and the card was overflowing lol

and check the names and officials and weights etc:
on here
and where are they nows ????

Ronnie thompson 63 kgs
doing great things in Walkden and my good friend too


Vinny 62
and now?
6 sausages but far sexier :-)


mark Russell 79
lean n mean at that weight mark

i had 4 on
David Watson

3x weight cat champion Trevor the bone hine.

2 weight cat champion and heaviest low kicker i / we had , he KO'd em with it
craig howlin.

and Brit and Euro great champion Bobby beckles top fighter



and the Big shocker and win and best fight tony Moore had v Steve Holt
awesome
and what a KO

I was the one who at the time was lucky to be a round at the start of the sport.

It had great champions who could fight for real, and to be a part of it was Just Wow.

I lost to a Good PKA British Champion in John Everad in my 3 fight. ALL the English Thai boxers had to fight the best british fighters, or they would not get fights.

Laughter we were met with as we came to the ring, for this funny thing on our head, the shorts, the big boots, and to top it of the funny dance to the music which had everyone rolling about, it did not do much for your street cred!

But I know Thaiboxing will have the last laugh but for the good of the sports.

It is a shame it has taken something as good as the MMA to make us see what we had all we needed was to work together.

I thank you for all the good times and the bad times wish you all the very best in sports.

And to the MMA you have done good who dares wins.

Master Ronnie Green

The piccadilly definately brings back some fond memories.
Sandy yeh I may have been lean and mean but also.....STARVING!!!!LOL

It's great to see all that memorabilia and a lot of storys to share.I'm just sorry i missed the boat when this was around.Good to see it all.

Hi,

Going back to the CKO show poster above, I used to work the door at Straw's Nightclub, Sandhurst, back in 1988 with Cliff Brock...nice lad, looked after me, the kid on the door with the other established doormen.

I was just 18....fresh faced...just started my Lau Gar Kung Fu and points/light continuous kickboxing era...working the door on the back of my judo and ju-jitsu...very young and fresh faced!

Picking up the magazines and wishing I was fighting like those I read about...

Smiler

Anyone any idea who this is, coming back out of retirement to fight for a World Title (GBH).

And of course the infamous Trevor Ambrose.

And who can name this guy (on the right). A clue would be that he beat the great Pele Nathan twice.

Is it Terry Mac ??

Certainly is!

And this shady looking character is?

sheeez he looked bigger than that to me when I was younger !! LOL

Saw him fight Pele... didnt he fight Trevor too?

Nope, never fought Trevor, but I did twice (from Alby not Jo, lol).

What about a photo of you on here Herrcutt!

I have posted one from the show at the Mons.

Bur my ex threw all my bits in the bin - was devastated !!

Bet that hurt!

Tell me about it - we all ended up in the bin mate !! LOL

Is that you Kevin??

Yes Mate I am still breathing.. - Just realised I lost my profile as I ended up with 2 x Herrcutts by mistake LOL

Nice to know you're still breathing! A lot of memories! Had no idea it was you.

Next time you come back over/home let me know, would be great to see you again, as my guest!

Will take you up on that mate - was talking with Trevor on Facebook about having a rematch for his 50th !! LOL

And Memories ?? Training in a swimming pool in them temperatures ?? we must have been crazy!! ? LOL

that pic is Karl Kilbride sporting his Eugene Valerio haircut i remember when he had that hair i was boxing with his nephews both proboxers at the time how time flys good luck Karl and all the best from Mersey Thai x

Hi phil thank you for all the memories you are putting together,and of course all the effort.could you please give me a ring i would love to speak with you.Incidently the c.k.o. fight you mentioned in 85 under Paul Finn did i fight on the same bill? and do you know the wereabouts of mr Paul Finn as iwould love to meet him again.my number is 01942 208744 many thanks steve

Paul Finn.??.. I fought on one of his shows at the Rugby Club !! He was a nice guy !!

Right here from the pages of AX:

Maurice Smith versus Peter Smit.

Pretty funny fight in which Smith took Smit downa dn punched him after Smit repeatedly struck Smith. RIP Peter you will be missed.

Anyone remember the very tough scotsman Iain Burke? In this bout against fellow scot Cameron Murphy [held in Glasgow],he gave a stone away in weight but still managed to win on points,as you can see there is no ring this was around 1980 when some fights were still on mats!

One fighter that should never be forgotten when mentioning great kickboxers especially from the 70's & 80's,this guy was way ahead of the rest and some of the very best featherweights - lightweights were all beaten by him too?

Here he is dishing out some punishment to top Dutch Champion Iwan Menes an excellent low kick kickboxer in the early days,on the same show other top Brits beating the Dutch were Brian Seabright and Albert Timothy...

Lance Lewis was/is an extremely talented person his kickboxing skills were phenonimal,watching him fight would send shivers down your spine he was that good!!!

Another very strong fighter from the late seventies/early eighties was this guy Gunther Roomes he had an awsome reputation for knocking people out,I read something somewhere that he was one of the reasons why Frank Bruno took up Boxing because of bullying!...

Hi again to Steve Taberner I will try and ring you tomorrow morning,I had to put this on it's a poster I've always kept,I could'nt make this one,but I was reminded of it earlier when Mick Cunningham mentioned a show that he went to involving England v Holland and Steve Taberner.Well this poster was from around 1980-83 I think and I wonder if it may have been the same show even though the team is France and the venue is Manchester not Leeds,it was a long time ago!!!....Phil

Oh and Steve here is something else I dug up the picture is not brilliant but still.....Memories!!!

These pictures are from the British WAKO Championships [1991]for those who don't know the previous picture was when Steve beat powerhouse Gary Sanderland in the finals that fight was well worth being there that day,apart from me winning as well that is!!!

The previous show was around 1988....

Phil, what was the name of the ref at the WAKOS ?? Irish Guy !

Was it Ray Flint? this is a pure guess though so if anyone knows it would put my mind at rest,you\'ve got me thinking now Herrcutt!
On that same British WAKO\'s it was suprising just how much talent was on one show these were some of those winners...
-54kg..Carl Harper
-57kg..Phil Glover
-60kg..Trevor Tacey
-63kg..M.Lube [Mick I think!]
-67kg..Colin Treasure
-71kg..Chris McNeish
-75kg..Bertil Queeley
-81kg..Danny Norton
-91kg..Steve Taberner
Over 91kg..Matt Skelton
The winners were supposed to gain a place on the British team but the same thing happened as what still happens today,a different team fought in the world championships a shame really but thats politics,etc who needs it!!!
In the semi contact there were big names like Pele Reid,Rafiel Nieto,George McKenzie and Wayne Turner to name a few it was a great day out for everyone.

Hello,
You all have certainly brought back some memories of the past.
I certainly was not of the calibre of you guys and you won\'t know
me,but I had a few fights. I trained under Phil Mayo back in the
early/mid eighties.
I see my Name, John Sanpat ( note the \'n\' is actaully a \'m\' in the
surname but Phil never got it right !! ), on the program in Aldridge.

Thanks Phil Glover for posting and I had to go and dig out some of
my old programs. I ought for the CKO featherwieight title against
Dave Jones in Swansea. I lost this bout. A rematach was to take place
at The Studio in Streatham London, in 1986. Was all ready for the fight
only for Dave to show up with his hand all bandaged up. Apparently Dave
had been in a street fight that week.

Well shortly after that I immigrated to Kitchener,Canada a small town
where KB was non exisistant.Some 20 years later I\'ve trained with several
clubs and although not with any club right now still train at home.
I now live in Toroonto.
I\'ll see if I can find some pics and post them.

So what is Phil Mayo doing these days. He was agreat guy and helped the
sport and me.If anyone is in touch with him pass on my regards or if you
have a contact e-mail that would be great.
Mine is chelseajohn@sympatico.ca

I do get back to the UK quite often. Would love to attend an event on
my next visit.
Thanks for the memories,
John.

Hello,
You all have certainly brought back some memories of the past.
I certainly was not of the calibre of you guys and you won\'t know
me,but I had a few fights. I trained under Phil Mayo back in the
early/mid eighties.
I see my Name, John Sanpat ( note the \'n\' is actaully a \'m\' in the
surname but Phil never got it right !! ), on the program in Aldridge.

Thanks Phil Glover for posting and I had to go and dig out some of
my old programs. I ought for the CKO featherwieight title against
Dave Jones in Swansea. I lost this bout. A rematach was to take place
at The Studio in Streatham London, in 1986. Was all ready for the fight
only for Dave to show up with his hand all bandaged up. Apparently Dave
had been in a street fight that week.

Well shortly after that I immigrated to Kitchener,Canada a small town
where KB was non exisistant.Some 20 years later I\'ve trained with several
clubs and although not with any club right now still train at home.
I now live in Toroonto.
I\'ll see if I can find some pics and post them.

So what is Phil Mayo doing these days. He was agreat guy and helped the
sport and me.If anyone is in touch with him pass on my regards or if you
have a contact e-mail that would be great.
Mine is chelseajohn@sympatico.ca

I do get back to the UK quite often. Would love to attend an event on
my next visit.
Thanks for the memories,
John.

Hello,
You all have certainly brought back some memories of the past.
I certainly was not of the calibre of you guys and you won\'t know
me,but I had a few fights. I trained under Phil Mayo back in the
early/mid eighties.
I see my Name, John Sanpat ( note the \'n\' is actaully a \'m\' in the
surname but Phil never got it right !! ), on the program in Aldridge.

Thanks Phil Glover for posting and I had to go and dig out some of
my old programs. I ought for the CKO featherwieight title against
Dave Jones in Swansea. I lost this bout. A rematach was to take place
at The Studio in Streatham London, in 1986. Was all ready for the fight
only for Dave to show up with his hand all bandaged up. Apparently Dave
had been in a street fight that week.

Well shortly after that I immigrated to Kitchener,Canada a small town
where KB was non exisistant.Some 20 years later I\'ve trained with several
clubs and although not with any club right now still train at home.
I now live in Toroonto.
I\'ll see if I can find some pics and post them.

So what is Phil Mayo doing these days. He was agreat guy and helped the
sport and me.If anyone is in touch with him pass on my regards or if you
have a contact e-mail that would be great.
Mine is chelseajohn@sympatico.ca

I do get back to the UK quite often. Would love to attend an event on
my next visit.
Thanks for the memories,
John.

Hello,
You all have certainly brought back some memories of the past.
I certainly was not of the calibre of you guys and you won\'t know
me,but I had a few fights. I trained under Phil Mayo back in the
early/mid eighties.
I see my Name, John Sanpat ( note the \'n\' is actaully a \'m\' in the
surname but Phil never got it right !! ), on the program in Aldridge.

Thanks Phil Glover for posting and I had to go and dig out some of
my old programs. I ought for the CKO featherwieight title against
Dave Jones in Swansea. I lost this bout. A rematach was to take place
at The Studio in Streatham London, in 1986. Was all ready for the fight
only for Dave to show up with his hand all bandaged up. Apparently Dave
had been in a street fight that week.

Well shortly after that I immigrated to Kitchener,Canada a small town
where KB was non exisistant.Some 20 years later I\'ve trained with several
clubs and although not with any club right now still train at home.
I now live in Toroonto.
I\'ll see if I can find some pics and post them.

So what is Phil Mayo doing these days. He was agreat guy and helped the
sport and me.If anyone is in touch with him pass on my regards or if you
have a contact e-mail that would be great.
Mine is chelseajohn@sympatico.ca

I do get back to the UK quite often. Would love to attend an event on
my next visit.
Thanks for the memories,
John.

Not sure why my post got posted four times !!
Sorry,
John.

Sorry pictures are\'nt uploading yet will try tomorrow...Phil

Hey Phil the WAKO ref in the pic was Irish and not all of him was real !! LOL

54kg..Carl Harper
-57kg..Phil Glover
-60kg..Trevor Tacey - This was just around the time he retired Jeff Bullock
-63kg..M.Lube [Mick I think!] - Mick (The Hook) Lube
-67kg..Colin Treasure - Great Guy - shared a room with him for in Russia!!
-71kg..Chris McNeish
-75kg..Bertil Queeley
-81kg..Danny Norton - Mad a box of frogs - and a really nice Guy !!
-91kg..Steve Taberner -
Over 91kg..Matt Skelton - Nuff Said

Alby Fought Trevor 2 x times ..

Hi Chelsea John,
Like you I'd love to know what some of these guys are doing now another reason for my putting so many pictures on this thread,I'm sure there are many more of you out there with some great pictures/stories to share,and you're right Phil Mayo did do a great deal for Kickboxing during the eighties,the CKO instantly reminds me of Phil Mayo.
This was taken during a trip to Belfast around 1989/90 for a defence of my ISKA title pictured alongside Phil Mayo is Irish Kickboxing legend former ISKA World Champion Billy Murray from Belfast and Robert Masterson very well known for his refereeing skills and his appearance in 'The Karate Kid III' if he ever sees this he will know what I mean!It was a shame we never saw more of Billy over here as he has done so much for Kickboxing and still works extremely hard coaching and promoting.

Still got some more oldies left....

This was taken around 1986 the Master himself...Ronnie Green I first met Ronnie on Master Toddy's weekend courses in Blackpool and I also remember being held spellbound at his amazing fighting skills.Many,many years down the road I took part on a course at the SENI 05 show in Birmingham it was supposed to be with Ramon Dekker but he could'nt make it and Ronnie took his place,I joined the class with the rest of the students and Ronnie used me to demonstrate with and believe me he is still as awsome now as he was when he was fighting!Ronnie sparred with everyone and used me first to demonstrate his control what happened next was pure magic as I watched him against other students,some were trying it on going a bit heavy but Ronnie just toyed with them and made it all look so easy!!!
Ronnie Green is a very humble person,a deadly fighter and a true gentleman!!!

King Arthur 'O' Loughlin from Barnsley he was one very tough fighter and Arthur fought a lot of the very best American kickboxers at a time when they ruled in Full Contact the early eighties.What I liked the most about Arthur was the fact that he was very down to earth,MAD yes! but he was very real.I used to go to his gym in Wombwell,Barnsley on a Saturdays for some sparring with his lads and they were all mad too!,Arthur would spar with us all and somedays he was very controlled and others he would just beat the living daylights out of you!!!
One of the best!!!

Now were talkin! Uncle Arf! My first instructor and to this day my greatest inspiration! He was an animal in the ring with power in both hands and a chin of granite. Not to mention an awesome jump spinning back kick which he dispatched several foes with!

....and a good exponent of the spinning Back fist!!! Bring back the spinning backfist!!

You're right Mick yes Arthur did have a brilliant spinning back kick!
I first met Arthur in 1979 at a pub called the Londoner in Monk Bretton,Barnsley,I was having my first fight and waiting in the changing rooms with me was Arthur,he was sat there as cool as ice with his granite hard face.He asked me if I was on next so I must have looked pretty scared and he said don't worry kid you'll be alright,in the first round I was knocked down five times!,four times in the second!,guess what I lost the fight!,the day after I woke up with lumps and bumps all over my head that was probably the hardest fight I ever had and Arthur said I'd be alright! lol...

Best ring entrance ever seen was Arthur entering to Simply the Best - Hairs on the back of my neck stood on end !!! LOL

He was a real tough Guy out of the old school !!! But Skilled and intelligent too !! What a combination.!

Arthur 'O' Loughlin! now there was a great fighter and what a tough man,blacked my eye in sparring, last year in Florida i was talking to Steve Shepard who told me Arthur was one hell of a tough man and gave him a great fight he asked me to pass on his best to Arthur if i ever saw him(I havent so if anyone does..),respect among fighters after all these years!awesome.

Just for you Mick Crossland your uncle Arthur....
[This has been on before but not the full headlines!]

More vintage Arthur's to follow...

King Arthur went to America and beat some of their very best PKA full contact fighters Jimmy Blann was one of them,Arthur had him down twice in the second and once more in the later rounds winning this fight convincingly in the states,at that time Jimmy Blann was world ranked number 6,this was quite a feat in those days as the Americans really did dominate under full contact rules.

Oops!!!
Sorry wrong picture these are Arthur v Jimmy Blann...

Still not working right hopefully these are the correct pictures...

Pictures are just not loading properly it keeps putting on a previous photo will try later but the last two were Arthur v Jimmy Blann [White Bottoms]...

Phil, you have to be careful that you are uploading images with diffent names to images you have already loaded.

i.e. if you have already uploaded an image called "picture 1234_john.jpg" then you cant upload a new image with the same name. The next image would have to be "picture 1234_johnA.jpg" or whatever for the server to see a "new" image

Thanks Ax for the advice but I have'nt uploaded the same image,I have tried to upload with a different picture and name,but for some unknown reason it has uploaded the very same picture on several occasions

I think these are around 1980/81

I think these are around 1980/81...

I think these are around 1980/81...

I think this is 1980 full contact on the mats!

That last picture was the great Steve Babbs versus Jimmy 'O' Grady described as one of Karate's hardmen at the time,this fight was held at
The Top Rank Suite,Birmingham possibly around 1979 or 1980 it was for the British Heavyweight Title and they also fought on the mats!

Dev Barrett fought one of the toughest fights I ever saw in the eighties and got a well deserved win when he won the world title at the 1983 WAKO World Championships.

My mate Sandy Holt will remember this show,I was with Master Sken and his Sitnarong Camp at that time and we went over to Sweden to fight I took on Jonny Gevre,Junior Salmon fought Dennis Sigo,Phil Nurse fought too, I can't remember who else fought as the other names on that programme Fred McNabb and Trevor Ambrose did'nt take part if I'm right.
What I also remember was the two Swedish lads who drove us to our chalets racing down the motorways and skidding around the corners trying to make us nervous wrecks and Sandy may remember the nightclub we all went to after the show.We were all stood next to the dance floor looking like Hobbits as the Swedish are all very tall and blonde,every now and then you would get knocked flying by the big Swedes getting onto the dance floor and that was just the girls!

This show was held in 1987 I remember the Pet Shop Boys 'It's A Sin' being played in the arena that night!..lol.

Okay so I'm a little over with the years but the Colosseum had some brilliant fights I fought there a couple of times and so did some of my students,the Colosseum had a great atmosphere about it with a great crowd too.Because I have had fights over three decades I tend to remember many shows or times with the music and two tunes that stand out here is MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" and Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby",I remember everyone in the Colosseum bouncing about to these records they were great tunes to come out to back then..looking back!..lol.
We saw many of Eval Denton's very early fights at this place and there was a great deal of pride and rivalry at some of these fights,ones that stood out were Eval Denton [Freestylers] v Ralph Kussler a terrific fight which had the crowd on their feet!
These shows were put on by John Atkinson's Freestylers gym if I'm right and were a great showcase for the local talent Eval Denton,Kirkwood Walker,Winston Walker,Ken Jackson,etc not forgetting Steve Logan [on the poster!!!] like I said earlier this place had that special atmosphere that you only get at certain venues.

Talking about tunes at events, CKO events played Survivors 'Eye of the Tiger'.

I was back in Ilford this past July. Sad to say that the Ilford Palais has been
demolished. Had my very first fight there.

I fought 3 x Times at the Ilford Palais and travelled a couple of time abroad with Phil Mayo and did a demo fight with him once !! Slept on his floor the day before a fight !! He did not let me have the bed !! LOL Fvxc me I was fighting too.! and then took me for brekkie at the London Underground staff canteen !!

Great Guy !! Was one of the pioneers !!

Thanks Phil all these pics are great. Someone needs to create a website and get all this stuff up where everyone can see it all the time. And maybe a few video clips of the greats too!!

Coincidentally, ive just recieved word that Arthur O'loughlyn is holding a reuinion for all those who he ever knew thru the sport so anyone thats interested in seeing him and a host of other former fighters such as Sean Cassidy, Paul Rushton and Steve Rhodes - and ive heard possibly Colin and Maybe Tony Manterfield will be there - then come along to Locky's bar on the High St in Wombwell Barnsley on Sunday 7th December. Proceedings start around 2pm and if i know Arthur they'll probably go on til late.

Mick

Glad you like the pictures Mick,a reunion is a great idea I've still got some of those old fights with Sean Cassidy,Paul Senior,Martin Utley,etc as we were all on the same shows at the Barnsley Metrodome and luckily for me I had the support of the Barnsley crowd then and they were brilliant.
In the very early eighties in Barnsley many shows were held at the Londoner Pub in Monk Bretton,it was a great venue,the referee looked like an old ex boxer,the crowd were very noisy and charged up on beer,if you were'nt from Barnsley and you were fighting a local you were in deep trouble!,I remember local hardnut John Everard used to have problems getting an opponent and one night I remember him going round the audience trying to get anyone to fight him and he did,that's how it was in them days!Looking back it was funny to think that people struggled to keep up with the six kicks per round ruling,also I remember being able to use hip throws then as well.
Arthur had a great following in Barnsley,he was an ex miner and one of the lads always up for a fight in the ring and a great crowd pleaser too,you're right Mick a website devoted to these golden years would be lovely and a great tribute to the pioneers of Kickboxing or Thai Boxing in this country...Phil

I trained with Krister bergenhall from Jarfalla muay thai in sweden in 1991 he was ace..his fighter could knee the granny out of most of the gyms back then x
Partanen fought Oliver for european title,oliver said it was his hardest fight x

I remember Oliver fighting Michael Partenen he was quite tall was'nt he ...when we went over in '87 with Master Sken all Thai Boxing bouts were with shin pads and this was due to Boxing being banned as a sport there was a loophole in the law meaning you could fight Thai as long as you wore shin pads!..crazy I know but Boxing was only allowed back into Sweden last year.In the late eighties and early nineties there were a few excellent Thai fighters from places like Sweden and Norway where they could only fight wearing shin guards,when they came over here they had no problems whatsoever fighting without protection...Phil

ttt

Rudy Van Damme Belgium/ Euro champion

Phil Shields British Middleweight champion 1980-ish, and me with hair!

Rudy could kick a bit eh Gary! remember Kong Fu Tak? could kick all night!.

Heah up. No, never got to see Rudy fight, though was matched with him for his Euro only for him to withdraw injured ;-(
Kong Fu Tak also fails me, simply cannot recall, mind it was a life time ago.
Were you at the above show Paul, in Darlo. The crowd look in a frenzie eh!
Think it snowed like we don't get in the UK anymore.

Hi to everyone out there - it’s been some time and yet all those names and faces have brought the memories flooding back. Certainly I recall fighting on mats as well as the ring.

Am going to give Sandy a call and let him know where I have been hiding the last twenty years – it will be good to catch up!

I think the biggest memory for me (1979 - 1988) would be the traveling the Bushido clubs did in the 1980's to travel down to Phil Mayo Contact Karate Organisation bills. Starting out early in the morning and fighting in the evening when we arrived at the venue. As I recall we had some great nights and some not so great nights.

There were lots of goods lads – but I would particularly like to thank all those who attended the Bushido clubs and hope some of these photos instill some more great memories…

This is one of the few magazine shots were they covered both Jeff and I.

Sorry about that Kick Gary - a bit low.

Gary Osbourne and I met twice. First in Birmingham and then in a show run by Paul Finn as I remember.

One a piece - both vey hard fought

I was luck enough to meet the great Bill Wallace - and we got on great!

I love this shot - one of my first knock out in a Master Toddy show - somewhere in Manchester

A picture of Alby in the early years at Skelmersdale Bushido with a couple of great kids - Paul Grice and James Cummings - very succesful - showing their trophies following a successful tournament.

If anyone has any photos of the Bushido clubs - its fighters - please contact and let me know.

i think this site is great

Fighting against Gary Raycroft 1983

Fighting against Gary Raycroft 1983

A Karate tournamant 1979/80 - Liverpool? bring memories for someone.

Jeff is the one in black far right and am in the middle with good mate Tony Barton.

A Karate tournamant 1979/80 - Liverpool? bring memories for someone.

Jeff is the one in black far right and am in the middle with good mate Tony Barton.

Not last time I saw him. Lol

Members of the Skelmersdale Bushido Club.

The one on the far left kneeling is Gary Hardwood - Phil Mayo will recall him as he was the first of all members of the Bushido clubs to win a senior CKO championship in March 83.

Any More Pics John ??

Gary Harwood was very early days !! Makes me feel really old now !

Steve Taberner is currently putting together a website documenting his history in the sport, complete with photos - http://stevetaberner.co.uk

Hi Herrcutt,

I have attached a few more photo's - have you any from any of the clubs?

Recently I have emailed Sandy Holt - it was good to catch up and hear that he was bale to make a career from what he was doing.

I attach a fight report from one of my fights with Gary Osbourne and if anyone has a copy of the fight I had with him in Warrington - then I would be grateful if they would contact me.

John Bullock v Mark Dinniger London 1980's

Doing a demo at the opening of one of Alby's clubs in Tuebrook - Mid to late 1980's. John Bullock on pads

We got some stick for this at the time from the lads at the clubs but it did do the clubs good at the time!

I remember the bit the did in the fighters magazine !! LOL Jeffs got more hair on his chest than his head!!

Somebody should really contact the Advertser newspapers and try to see if they archived any of their photos ! or have old copies of thje papers you can get copied ??

Does anyone remember Rocky's gym in Waterford Ireland,
Rocky Lawlor really was ahead of his time with training priciples.
And had some really class fighters,
Paul Lenihan world champ(Legend!!!!)i was his training partner for nearly all his big fights, what a fighter.
Sean O Regan world champ(had a short but great war with Rob Kaman, he put Rob down in the 1st but got stopped in the 2nd)
Mags Tiger Dermody world champ(Fantastic fighter who i think had about 4 wars with Elle Ye
another legend, bad spelling im sure)
Liam Walsh irish champ, Another great fighter and i'm biased he's my cousin but he had some great fights with Colin Treasure, Eval Denton, Jonathan Canabata,Danny Haberlan,
Myself irish champ, i had a battle with Danny Norton(tough man too)and got injuried before i was susposed to fight Kirwood Walker and Harry Perries.
All great times

got some crakin shots of tony goldfinkle and billy in the gym from the 80s will try n get scanned n put on here

i fought and beat Elvis Parsley in 1985,Elivs was european champ and a aba boxing champ,think i caught him on an off day,but my fav was the Texan Troy Dawsey wot a animal.He told me if your born in Texas with a name like Troy you have to be hard

If anyone wants to see such Thai Boxing & kickboxing greats like Ronnie Green,Howard Brown, Owen Comrie, Lisa Howarth, Master Toddy doing padwork with Ronnie Green,Howard Brown & the awsome Samingnum a former Thai Champion plus Master Toddy doing a seminar featuring Kevin Morris,Anne Holmes and the ever youthful Barry Norman then please go onto You Tube put their names into search and they are all there in all their glory.
Some of the clips are short but the 80's will come alive again for those that were around during those special times,there are also a few fights of mine on there too.
I am planning to put on more hard to find fights but it takes forever to upload onto You Tube and that is after spending time editing the videos then putting them onto DVD and then onto my computer!!!
I hope everyone enjoys the footage that I put on and bear in mind that these fights are over 20 years old but show some of those early pioneers of Thai Boxing and Kickboxing in England....Phil Glover

IN A Former life I was running a a pub called the Greyhound in Parington m/c Ronnie & a very young Lee Green did training in the cellar..
At the time we went to a few shows at Bowlers Trafford Park and iam sure Piccadilly Plaza prob early 90s,ANY THOUGHTS.
cheers
Pete

I will be having a peep Phil, thanks. You're right about youtube, i would have put up a lot more than i have if it wasn't such a chore.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!,
For those that wanted to see Kickboxing's Danny 'The Wild Thing' Norton back in action,just go onto You Tube and type 'Danny Norton Kickboxing' or copy and paste the link below,I don't know how to put it on here sorry guys!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnygatDGjLM

That brought back memories Phil I fought Danny back in 1991.

Danny throwing a chair out of the ring at the gala baths

I remember another incident at the Gala Baths with a very well known former champion!,Danny was a bit of a live wire and there will always be stories to tell,but love him or hate him he was quite entertaining at the time!..glad I was'nt heavy enough to fight him though!..lol.
How did you fare against him John?

He dropped me in the 1st but I came back well enough,
Then he caught me with a bomb in the 2nd and opened a two inch gash and the over my eye and the fight was stopped, I think I was in for a lot more punishment only for the cut LOL.

amazing thread!

brings back memories as most of these guys were who I looked up to when I started out training under Rafael Nieto / M Suzuki when the 'Mugendo' team was full of names like the Lawson brothers, George Mckenzie, Wilkinson brothers, Dwyer Evelyn - looking back at the names on the shows makes me feel 15 years younger!

This isn't the 80's but fairly close.

This isn't the 80's but fairly close.

I'll try again.

hey. just thot I would remind folks north of the border. passports no longer required. Lex Easdon is still fighting strong. check out some of his videos on youtube. I recommend the trev ambrose fight. amazing.

hey. just thot I would remind folks north of the border. passports no longer required. Lex Easdon is still fighting strong. check out some of his videos on youtube. I recommend the trev ambrose fight. amazing.

Hey my cousin Liam fought Trevor in Dublin in 91, a good fight too,
He was a very good mover and very hard to land clean shots on.
Not to mention his lovely hairdo's :)

I went to Russia with Danny Norton and he won easy and was given a draw - He went Crazy Horse !!! LOL

He was a great guy though !! Still count the week with him as a real experience !

Anyone remember a Phil Woolley?
I'm asking this for a friend. Phil has told her that he beat
Pete Edwards who later went on to be World Champion.
Phil apparently fought him twice for the world champion title, round late 80's mid 90's.
Phil is from round the Evesham/Cheltenham area, UK, but he had some fights in America. He fought Billy McKlusky on numerous occasions?

He also says he was in the under 21 GB kick boxing team prior to 1981.
Anyone remember him or is he pulling her leg?

Thanks in advance

Great subject and great to see people opinions! Aint seen much on LEX EASDON of SCOTLAND on this... True LEGEND of kickboxing!!! A master in his own, could have went anywhere and stayed in the sport of kickboxing for the love of the sport and proved many people wrong!!! Trevor Ambrose Vs Lex Easdon was an awesome fight but once again EASDON shows why he is a true LEGEND... Wayne Ambrose vs Lex Easdon once again Easdon shown that he was no mug stopping Ambrose late rounds with a head kick. The return match with Donald Campbell where again EASDON showed his true colours and went out and stopped Campbell early :) So much to mention but in all cases one true legend in kickboxing the main man in kickboxing is the UNDISPUTED MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD... FROM PAISLEY,SCOTLAND..... LEX EASDON

john walsh try again mate

Guss "The Guzzler Gilbert vs Lee Baldwin

Classic Swansea vs Cardiff Kickboxing Bouts

A very,very rare fight of Steve Taberner pre Betamax I think and without sound...lol
The Wigan Hammer in action!!!

Fantastic thread

Phil I remember some of the old Lau gar names youve mentioned it makes me smile to think about em

quality

What a great thread, exactly what these forums are for.
Some great pictures of some excellent fighters. Some of those fight cards looked awsome.

Were fighters getting a purse back then? The ticket prices seemed quite cheap (or was it expensive then?)

Nostalgia :)

Purse???? LMFAO

Hi Guys,
just came across this site and did,nt know anything about it.
Been busy in Spain for years, but really nice to know most of the lads are still around.
Met a lot of really great Martial Artists out here in Spain, they're really into their Kickboxing.

Great to hear all the nice comments and soon i'll dig out some pics to share. I'm just about to resettle back in UK as Spain's taking a bit of a nosedive.
So I look forward very much to perhaps hooking up with some old pals in the near future.
Les Roberts.

Hope you are keeping well Les we had some good laughs together back then and you promoted a show in Walsall where I won my first British Title against Tony Burchill from Warrington way back in '85. I remember having to walk through a load of broken glass up to the ring because some of the crowd started scrapping right next to me and then they were at it again during my fight!...lol

This has a very lengthy commentary so I am not sure if someone mentioned Ramon Dekkers yet. Dekkers was still young but by the time he was 18 which was in 1987, he won the Dutch National Championship on 15 November 1987 and was awarded his first title at age 18.
Dekkers has pretty much become a legend. He was a very unique fighter in his day.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fighters-Emporium/306547131496

Definitely one of my favourite all time fighters is Ramon Dekker but I think the reason no one has mentioned Ramon is because this post is about memories of British kickboxers from the 80's...

Hey Phil,
we always had a great time supporting your bouts as I remember.
It's really great to hear from you and to know that all the guys are still in touch, what a great idea these forums are.
Say a big hello to everyone mate.
I'm back in UK now with only brief visits to Spain as I have many students there still.
I'm off to Italy next week to do a series of seminars for a couple of weeks. Then i'd like to get in touch when i'm back if possible.
A big hello to Mark Gibbs and the lads if you're still about.
Les.

Rainy nights in Walsall - Great days !

I just found this site and what asuprise to find lots of details about my students and the shows I promoted, back in the eighties, including old programes etc; Thanks Phil for posting them they bring back so many memories.I'm trying to find any videos of my shows held in Warrington at The Parr Hall or Wilderspool stadium,(Legends)or if anybody has a copy of Fighters magazine, with a centre page spread of me with Benny (The Jet) Urquidez.
It was so nice to hear all you guys talking about those great times we had back then,
I can be contacted on facebook Paul Finn or email paulefinn6@gmail.com