Jordan was on fire Saturday night. He said training at Kaewsamrit Gym in Bangkok before the fight really helped. He said everything felt faster and more powerful, especially his kicks. In the reserve fight both Jordan and Hasgut threw alot right from the bell. Jordan went down in the 1st from a knee to the groin, but recovered well and fired up to end the fight early in the 2nd. After exchanging on the ropes with Hasgut, Jordan 2nd phased and timed a beautiful right head kick to KO the Czech.

Peter Crooke unfortunately injured his right foot kicking Toth's elbow in their quarter-final bout. Unlucky for Peter (I hope you're feeling better soon mate), but good for Jordan. He went on to fight a hungry Petr Polak.
This was a toe to toe scrap right from the opening bell that had people nail-biting ringside. But again, early in the 2nd it was the Jordan Tai show. Bullying Petr Polak into the red corner, Jordan landed a bomb right uppercut that immediately rolled Polak's eyes, then followed up with another 6 or 7 punches (just to make sure), before letting Polak fall through the ropes.

After 2 KOs in little over two rounds, Jordan was now the cheering crowd favourite to take it home. Although he's probably lost fans, but gained some respect in the Czech Rep.

His last opponent was Portugese Jose Reis. I thought this night was the best I'd seen from Jose. He had battles with previously predicted tournament favourite Yakut, and an inspired Amir Zeyada, buoyed from his quarter final TKO win over Prince Hamid. This indeed would have been Jose's night, but Jordan was too fast. With amazing hand speed and improved knees Jordan hammered home a very convincing win. The announcer mentioning that it was no surprise. Jordan has never looked so good. Well done bro!



It's amazing how things can be going so well but one little mistake can bring it all crashing down. Prince Hamid's fight against Egypt's Amir Zeyada was a perfect example. Right from the start it was obvious Hamid's speed was too much for Zeyada. Hamid was in and out, changing angles and picking off shots at will. Hamid constantly bombed bodyshots and Amir could do little but cover up and take it, hoping for a gap that didn't come. Hamid's hand-foot combinations have really improved since training with Roger Earp and Jason Suttie, his angles and boxing skill really dominating this fight...

Then he let one kick through in the 2nd that ruined everything. Hamid took a leg kick in the middle of the 2nd that took a few seconds to get up from. After a short count Hamid finished the round, but Roger and co in his corner decided it best not to continue from there. Unlucky Hamid, to be winning convicingly and then have to pull out.. that sucks brother.



Choppa and Shakuta's fight was a real chess match. It really came down to tactics. Choppa spent the whole fight chasing, and Shakuta was happy to keep running. You have to see him in person to appreciate how bloody tall Shakuta is. At 76kg the Belarussian is nothing but a little torso with telescopic legs and arms! No matter what Choppa did, he had difficulty closing on Shakuta, who had his game plan and ringcraft spot-on.

This was Choppa's first SL fight at 76kg, but Shakuta wasn't prepared to stand in front of him and trade. Choppa would take two steps coming in on attack, and Shakuta would take one (big) step back, effectively now out of range, fire a single counter, and then run. By the time Choppa had found the right tactics, and started to turn the fight around, the fight was over. Well done Dimitry Shakuta, a well earned win mate.