This past weekend I fought for the Denver Fury at the first WCL event this year in Denver Colorado. Mr. Steve Alley the coach of the Denver Fury is a pleasure to work with as well as all of the other fighters on the team. I fought Lawson Baker of the Texas Dragons. I came out throwing front kicks and sat down with a hand combonation. As I turned to throw a right hand Lawson caught me with a knee strike just under my heart. It was a heck of a strike and as soon as it hit I knew that my rib was broken. I circled out to my right and Lawson gave followed he hit me with a couple of more shots and referee Al Wichers stepped in and gave me a standing 8 count.
  After the count was feeling about %70. When we restarted I went to a strategy of kick and move. I landed a couple of good kicks but couldn't really throw and hard hand techniques. In the WCL anything besides and all out attack is considered passivity. I received two warnings for stalling and passivity. With about 30 seconds left in the round Al Wichers stepped in and called the bout. Awarding the win to Lawson Baker 15-0. At the time I did not know why it was stopped since I never left me feet. In the hotel lobby after the event I asked Al why he had stopped the bout and he said that I was turning and running out and I he could tell that I was hurting. ( I assumed that I was disqualified for not fighting "Full throttle"! I apologize to my fans for my performance. As it was pointed out on the IKF proganda page it was my third loss in the WCL. No one hates this more than me. The WCL is a totally different type of fighting and one that I am on a learning curve with. "Sprint Fighting" is a new concept and totally different that kickboxing.
 

Greene Street Kickboxing
A Great Success!

The Greene Street Club in Historic downtown Greensboro, North Carolina was the venue for a great night of kickboxing
action! Greene Street Club is known for the national band acts it brings to Greensboro but no expected the kind of kickboxing action that Greene Street had in store for everyone! The fight was emceed by kick-boxer and winner of 2 tough man competitions, Jonathan "Roadhouse" Riffey. Jonathan did and excellent job of keeping the crowd throughout the action packed evening. In the first fight of the night Joseph "Evil Knievel" Cornerol, trained by Ray Thompson from Simpsonville, South Carolina squared off against Matthew Boney, trained by former WAKO World Semi contact Champion Jay Bell. This bout was a mini tournament to qualify one of these athletes for a Southeast Regional title shot. The winner of this bout would move on an face Robert Swain of Wilmington, North Carolina. In round one Boney who has an extensive background in point karate came out working his movement scoring and moving while Joseph "Evil Knievel" Cornerol was the aggressive stalker. Judges Jeff Burch and Michael Foye saw the round the same 10-9 Cornerol and judge John Fleming called the round 1 10-9 Boney. In the second round Cornerol stepped up the pressure and cut the ring off and knocked Boney down with a hard right hand. Referee Lee Branham called the bout with 30 seconds left in the round. Winner "Evil Knievel" Cornerol by TKO!
  Match #2 pitted Bitton "Little Diesel" Black of Team Copeland against Anthony Flowers of the Iron Eagles from Alexander City, Alabama. In round one both fighters came out hard going right at each other. The first half of the round was very close with both fighters landing clean shots. Towards the end of the round Black started to land his left head kick. All three judges saw the first round the same 10-9 Black. Round two flowers picked up the pace becoming more aggressive landing a hard left hook to black's chin along the ropes. After the hook Black got on his bike and start moving taking angles and landing a lot of left jabs and head kicks. All three judges saw the round the same 10-9 Black. In the third round it was Black moving and Flowers Stalking about a minute into the bout Black found a home for his right upper cut knocking Flowers down. Referee Lee Branham called a halt to the bout at 1:10 of the third round giving Black the third round TKO victory.
In bout number three Simon Buettner from Team Z, in Chicago, Illinois against Will Fagan of the Iron Eagles Team, Alexander City, Alabama. The bout start with Fagan moving and taking angles and Buettner stalking and throwing bombs! All three judges called the round 10-9 Buettner. Round two started out with the same strategy from both fighters with Fagan being more effective than in the previous round. But the pressure was too much and 24 seconds into the round Buettner scored a big upper cut on Fagan's chin that knocked Fagan down. Fagan made the count but was still wobbling. Referee Lee Branham called  a halt to the bout at 24 seconds into the first round!
Fight number four was one of the most anticipated match ups and a featured bout of the evening. The fight was Dallas "Wild Thang" Crow against Dee Jay "Kid Dynamite" Jones.

These fighters have meet twice before. Once in at the 2004 KICK International United States Championships and the at the 2006 WAKO U.S. Open Championships. In both bouts Dallas gat the victory. Dee Jay has improved a lot since then fighting and winning the 2007 WAKO/KICK Nationals and the 2007 ikf World Classic Championships. By winning the 2007 WAKO/KICK Nationals Dee Jay qualified for the United States Kickboxing Team fighting in the WAKO World Championships in Combria, Portugal November 26th thru December 2nd. The WAKO World Championships is the largest and most prestigious championship in the world with over 120 countries competing. In round one Jones came out of the gate like an animal throwing hard hand combos and following up with Thai style round kicks while Dallas worked his signature movement and crisp kicks. Judges Michael Foye and Jeff Burch saw the round 10-9 for Crow while judge Fleming called the bout 10-9 for Jones. In round #2 Crow picked up the pace throwing a lot of lead right hands knocking Jones back a couple of times. All three judges called this round the same 10-9 Crowe. In the third the action was at it's climax with both fighters tasting the victory. Crowe throwing the crisp kicks and Jones staking throwing bombs. At the end the bout judges Michael Foye and Jeff Burch both saw the very close round 10-9 Crowe while judge John Fleming called the round 10-9 Jones. The bout was a split decision victory for Crowe. The was a close fight where many thought the bout went Jones' way. I would not be surprised if we a fourth battle between these gentlemen.
The next bout was a part of our many qualifying tournament with the winner of the first bout Joseph Cornerol and Rob " The Aligator" Swain.  The Alligator came out of the corner throwing some hard front kicks and round kicks. However, Cornerol weathered the Alligator's storm and worked his way to the inside. When Cornerol got close and started to work combinations the Alligator started to turn his head. Midway through the round Swain turned his head away from a right hand coming in giving his opponent the back of his head. When Swain got hit behind the ear his equilibrium was gone and he could not make the count. Winner Cornerol by 1st round knock out!
The main event of the evening pitted Ron "Daddy Rabbit" Hilton a High Point Fireman of Team Copeland against Lawrence "Expo" Vincent. The bout started of fast and furious with the crowd of High Point Fireman going crazy. The Expo ran across the ring landing two BIG over hand rights on Hilton's chin. Hilton did not take a back ward step landing a couple of punches of his own. About 40 seconds into the round round landed a front kick to the stomach of the Expo knocking him down. The Expo got right back up and resumed his attack. This fight could have gone on in a telephone booth with both fighters banging toe to toe. With only a few seconds left in the round Hilton lands a big right hands busting the Expo's nose. Referee Lee Branham stepped in giving an 8 count to ensure the fighter's safety. Referee Branham gave the mandatory 8 count an asked the Expo if  he wanted to continue. The Expo did not answer so Referee Branham called a halt to the bout at 1:54 of the first round. Winner Ron "Daddy Rabbit" Hilton by TKO! Both of these gentlemen put up a great crowd pleasing fight. Both should be proud of their performance. On another note this was Ron Hilton's retirement bout. At ago 42 Ron plans to move on to training of the younger fighters coming up and hopes to work as a referee in the future.

 

Thanks to GoTriad.com for taking such great pictures. Please go to the News & Record Photo Gallery to view them all.

BRAVE HEART AWARD
Awarded to Warrior Ron Hilton! 

  It has just been announced Mr. Steve Shepherd of Ringstar Shoes is awarding the Ringstar Brave Heart Award to Ron Hilton. Mr. Shepherd said " I like to give the award to the fighter who displays not only the heart of a champion but also the mental toughness to endure anything to become victorious. It doesn't matter if the fighter wins the fight, it is the character displayed and the warrior attitude!)
Ron Hilton is a career Fireman from High Point, North Carolina. He stands 6'6 ,weighs 255lbs, and at age 42 wants to win one more National Title before he retires. In 2004 Ron won the KICK International U.S. Championship Tournament and in 2006 won the W.K.A. North American Championship. For those of you that were in attendance you may remember when Ron fought the huge 298lb fighter from Benny Voyles' camp named Dave Sharpe. These guys were going at each other hard with neither fighter taking a backward step. During the fight Ron and his opponent traded shots but Dave Sharpe landed the harder blows that echoed throughout the arena. Ron absorbed a tremendous amount of punishment and actually got dropped in the second round. Going into the third Ron started to gain a little momentum when Dave Sharpe was disqualified for only boxing and not kicking as the rules required. After the fight both Ron's eyes were nearly swollen shut. He had to ice his face all night to keep the swelling minimal so he could compete in the championship bout on Sunday. Ron kept the swelling down but his eyes were still black and blue. A lesser man would have pulled out and gone home but Ron wanted to be the WAKO/KICK National Champion! Ron faced 21 year old Hiram Harris in the championship match. Hiram trains with Bob Schermer of Combat do. Hiram Harris is a very skilled fighter with good kicks and smooth boxing. Hiram won the first keeping Ron away and out pointing him. After the first round Ron's face began to swell again. In the second it was a better round for Ron he pressured Hiram and the younger fighter made a mental error by hitting Ron on the back of the head. Referee Scott Fischer deducted a point for the foul. On my unofficial card I had that round even because of the point deduction. Ron through caution to the wind and tried to make it a street fight in the third. Hilton's eyes continued to swell and with only a minute left in the round Ron got cut over his left eye. The referee was brought in to look at the cut and for Ron's safety the doctor stopped the fight. Ron was yelling to the doctor as he walked away " come on doctor we only got a minute left! Let me finish!" Ron exemplifies courage, heart and determination. If I am ever in a burning building I would definitely want to see Big Ron's face coming through the door to pull me out! Congratulations Big Ron! You may not have won a title but you won the hearts of all the spectators in Chicago.

A special thank to Andrea Romer for the photos. Please go to www.andrearomer.com and order your photos. Visit www.ringstaradvantage.com and check out their equipment.