Oregon Event

First Kickboxing Event

In the State of Oregon, a great Success
By Billy Soksoda Medford, Oregon plays host of "The first kickboxing event in Oregon." IKF promoter Mr. Jack Glueck promoted his first show and was it quite successfully. In attendance according to Mr. Glueck was around 400 to 500 fans. Fighters were flown in from all over California and Oregon. This event was also the first to have the West Coast Championship. With three championship bouts and 6 full contact, International Kickboxing, and Muay Thai bouts gave Oregon kickboxing fans a great aspect of the sport. Only one bout was cancel because of a North Valley Self
	Defense fighter from Redding, Ca Pete Garcia backed out two days prior to the event, his opponent Mike Marinoble however did showed up. In attendance was the ISKA Inter- Continental Champion Boonkerd Fairtex and Alex Gong. Also rising super star in Full Contact kickboxing Eric Reagan was a special guest. The first bout of the night was a Muay Thai bout between (148lbs) Joel Colarec (Fairtex) from San -
- Francisco, Ca and (148lbs) James Taylor (ACMA) from Oregon. Taylor was a bit nervous and was quite wild with his punches while Colarec was landing good solid punches, kicks, and knees. Taylor was aggressive but left a lot of openings in which Colarec took advantaged of. Colarec landed heavy kicks and heavy hands to win the bout by a split decision.
Bout 2 was between (165lbs) Shawn Moore (North Valley Self Defense) of Redding, Ca and (166lbs) Dion Pamento of Sacramento, Ca. The fight looked more like a sparring match as both fighters were exchanging high kicks, spinning kicks, and so forth. However Pamento did land a solid front kick to Moore's face.
Moore looked tired early in the bout, which showed in his attacks. He was not attacking as much and landing a lot less. Pamento had good hands and won by a split decision. Bout 3 had two female fighters from California in an International Kickboxing rules bout. (118lbs) Esin Akpolat from Santa Rosa, Ca fought (122lbs) Sarah Welborn (Fairtex) from San Francisco, CA. This bout looked good as Akpolat was landing some spinning backhands. It seems that Akpolat was only trying the spinning backhand while Wilborn was landing punches and hard kicks. Akpolat opened her mid section up and Wilborn took advantage with a solid hook to the midsection. Akpolat bent over and could not recover as referee Dan Stell gave her the eight counts. Referee Dan Stell waved the bout off and Wilborn wins by TKO at 1:48 of the first round.
	Bout 4 had (162lbs) Marc Chandler from Santa Rosa and (160lbs) Dominck Robles from Sacramento; Ca in a Full Contact ruled bout. Robles timed his punches very well landing them solid and precisely. Chandler seems overly matched and was running from Robles.
In the third round Robles hooked Chandler with a left that dropped Chandler and referee Dan Stell stopped the bout at 1:14 of the third round. Bout 5 was an International Rules bout with (162lbs) old man Adam Rogers from Seaside, CA fighting (162lbs) Kogi Aramos from Oregon. This bout was quite entertaining as Rogers seem to have a lot more experience than the determine Aramos. Rogers was in control and stayed busy while Aramos was very busy jumping around. Aramos got tires and Rogers ended up wining the bout by unanimous decision. In bout 6 (150lbs) Juan Escunbar from Seaside, Ca fought (151lbs) Jones Tom from San Francisco, Ca for the IKF West Coast Welterweight Championship. Tom looked tiresome as the young Escunbar took control of the fight with great hands.
Tom was knocked down early in the second round and then Escunbar put the pressure on to land several unanswered shots. Referee Dan Stell saw that Tom was taking too much punishment from Escunbar and stopped the bout at 1:21 of the second round in a five round bout.
Escunbar has a bright career ahead of him and at only eighteen he has a long career. The Semi-Main event was for the IKF US Light Welterweight Full Contact rules Championship. This was a rematch between (135 lbs.) Billy "The Kid" Beech from Sacramento, Ca and (137lbs) Ton Saephan from Roseville, Ca. Great fight by both fighters as they were exchanging shot after shot in the first round. Beech came out after the first round and fought a very smart fight. Billy Beech won the IKF Full Contact Light Welterweight title by Majority decision.
	The main event was between two rising amateur stars. The #1 IKF ranked Super Lightweight (135lbs) Shawn Yacoubian out of Mark Parr House of Champions in Van Nuys, Ca took on (137lbs) Armondo Ramos the top amateur out of Fairtex in San Francisco, Ca. The bout was even in the first round till Ramos went to kick and slip.
When referee Dan Stell called it a knocked down the whole place was in shocked. A few seconds later Ramos attempted a flying knee but got caught with a right hand and slip to the canvas, but again the referee called it a knocked down. Ramos calmed down and with his lightening fast kicks started to keep Yacoubian to the outside. Yacoubian got mad that he couldn't get in and was not doing anything the rest of the fight. Ramos then went to work with the knees landing one after another. Yacoubian went to defend the knee by trying to block with his arms. Nevertheless Ramos got them in and was landing kicks and punches. Yacoubian was not doing anything but folding his arm and defending the knees. Ramos fought beautiful Muay Thai and dominated the last four rounds. When the announcer announced that Yacoubian had won, everyone was quite surprise. This was a classic case of "what fight were the judges watching". Alex Gong went on to say, " If the IKF wants to go anywhere with Muay Thai, a fighter can not win because his opponent slips." IKF President Steve Fossum responded by saying, " "I have yet to see the fight myself and when I do, If I feel the decision should be changed, I will as President of the IKF, change it. This is something the IKF can and will do." Great event by first times IKF Promoter Mr. Jack Glueck. Great job and I hope to see many more kickboxing events all over Oregon.

Event Results: Bout #1 (148lbs) Joel Colarec defeated (148lbs) James Taylor by split decision Bout #2 (166lbs) Dion Pamento defeated (165lbs) Shawn Moore by split decision Bout #3 (122lbs) Sarah Welborn defeated (118lbs) Esin Akpolat by TKO 1:48 of Round 1 Bout #4 (160lbs) Dominck Robles defeated (162lbs) Marc Chandler by TKO 1:14 Round 3 Bout #5 (162lbs) Adam Rogers defeated (162lbs) Kogi Aramos by Unanimous Decision. Bout #6 IKF West Coast Welterweight International Rules Championship (150lbs) Juan Escunbar defeated (151lbs) Jones Tom by TKO 1:21 Round 2 Bout #7 IKF US Full Contact Light Welterweight Championship (135lbs) Billy Beech defeated (137lbs) Ton Saephan by Majority decision Main Event IKF West Coast Super Lightweight Muay Thai Championship (135lbs) Shawn Yacoubian defeated (137lbs) Armondo Ramos by decision