KITCHEN fights NAKAMOTO for WCK title
By Julien LANCHAS , Tuesday July 10
Fourteen-time Muaythai World Champion Julie Kitchen, 44-8, of Cornwall, England, will seek an unprecedented 15th world title when she meets undefeated World Boxing Council (WBC) and current World Muaythai Council (WMC) World Champion Miriam Nakamoto, 14-0, of Dublin, CA, for the World Championship Kickboxing (WCK) Women’s Champions of Champions title in the five-round main event of a 10-fight international Muaythai fight card starting at 6 p.m. Saturday, August 18, in the Events Center at Pala Casino Resort and Spa.
Three additional women’s world title fights, a men’s title bout, a men’s challenge bout and a Big 8 North American Welterweight Qualifying tournament complete the professional card. A three-fight amateur card at 6 p.m. will lead off the action.
The main event will feature the two best female stand-up fighters in the world. Kitchen, known as the “Queen of Muaythai” for her 14 world championships, is recognized as the most successful female fighter ever in the United Kingdom. Nakamoto, “the Queen of Mean,” has won six world titles and became the first American-born female fighter to win the World Boxing Council Super Lightweight world championship when she knocked out Luxembourg’s Claire Haigh in the first round on August 21, 2010 in Haikou City, China in a WCK Muaythai event.
“This will be the best female fight of this decade,” said Dennis Warner, the president of In Sync Productions. “This will be the Ali vs Frazier of female fighting. Both of these women are recognized as the best stand-up pound-for-pound fighters in the world. n Sync Productions has been promoting female stand-up fighters since 1989, and Kitchen vs Nakamoto is certainly what the fans want and this fight won’t disappoint.”
In the other women’s title fights:
Tiana Caverly, 32-11-2, from Perth, Western Australia, will defend her World Boxing Council (WBC) Muaythai World Bantamweight championship against Jemyma Bertrian, 13-2, of The Netherlands.
Lena Ovchynnikova, 8-2-0, from Lviv, Ukraine, will meet Emily Bearden, 16-6-0, from New York City, USA, for the International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) World Super Bantamweight title.
Hilary Mack, 19-6-0, from Glasgow, Scotland, will fight Tiffany “Time Bomb” Van Soest, 8-1-0, from San Diego, CA, for the International Karate Kickboxing Council (IKKC) World Super Bantamweight championship.
In the men’s championship action:
Popular local fighter Fernando “The Menifee Maniac” Gonzalez, 16-8-0, of Menifee, CA, will defend his WBC Muaythai USA Cruiserweight title against San Diego, CA favorite Dave Nielsen, 9-2-1. Gonzalez also is a MMA fighter who has successfully crossed over into Muaythai. The first professional bout will pit former World Champion Mel Menor’s newest sensation, Mike LeMaire, 1-0 in Muaythai, San Diego, CA, against Strikeforce MMA veteran Jerron Peoples, 0-0 in Muaythai, 4-2 in Mixed Martial Arts, in a special Muaythai vs MMA bout.
The Big 8 Tournament will feature four Welterweight fighters who will vie to represent North America in the Big 8 International Welterweight Championship in November in Minsk, Belarus, where fighters from eight continents will compete to become the international champion. The four competitors will be Raul Rodriguez, 19-6, from Bakersfield, CA; Shane Oblonsky, 9-3, from Westminster, CA; Joey Pagliuso, 13-3, Riverside, CA, and veteran Joe Davidson 8-2, Fontana, CA.
The four will draw a card from a 52-card deck. The fighter with the highest card will select his opponent and the remaining two will fight each other. The two prelims will be fought early in the fight card. The tournament championship will take place just prior to the main event.
