New York Showdown 3!
Saturday, February 19, 2000

Once again, promoters Steve Ventura and David Ross and their "New York Showdown" event proved that an all amateur card can provide non-stop action and excitement and draw large crowds of spectators. Once again, the tickets were sold out well before the day of the event, the place was packed with those willing to stand just to see the action and unfortunately many were turned away at the door. Almost all of the trainers in attendance joked that it was time to find a bigger venue!

The New York Showdown series has rightfully earned an excellent reputation as a high quality event open to all amatuer fighters, which is fair and which is open to all rules styles. The eleven matches featured Full Contact (American rules), International kickboxing (leg kick), Modified Muay Thai, San Shou and even a Pancrase style match.

The event also featured a wide variety of New York area gyms including New York Kungfu and Kickboxing, Yee's Hung Ga, Ultimate Muay Thai Gym, Borodine's Muay Thai, Moti Horenstein's Survival Center and Jonas Nunez' America's Finest Academy.

RESULTS:

Full contact
Alex Alonso (America's Finest) DEF Chris John (NY Kung-Fu) by split decision.
This fight was not scheduled to happen but turned into a great fight! First, Chris John was filling in for a sick team mate and took the fight the night before. Then, unexpectedly, the other fighter also dropped out and Alex Alonso stepped into the ring with 10 minutes notice! For two last minute replacements, these guys fought a back and forth, action filled bout which brought the crowd to its feet on several occassions.

Modified Muay Thai
Lamont Pickney (Ultimate Gym) DEF Ray Cruz (Survival Center) by unanimous decision.
Rumor has it Lamont Pickney has been training seven days a week with Muay Thai world champion Coban and it showed as he fought brilliantly against a game and tough Cruz on way to this victory.

San Shou
Albert Pope (Boston San Shou) DEF Larry Lierman (Yee's Hung Ga) by unanimous decision.
Pope's wrestling background proved decisive here as he used many throws to dominate this match.

Full Contact
Michael Colon (America's Finest) DEF Norman Lattis (NY Kung-Fu) by unanimous decision.
In this match, Norman Lattis' inexperience did him in. He came out like a ball of fire in the first round, winning it on all three judges' cards. However, he tired himself out and a clever Colon capitalized to win the next two rounds and secure victory.

International/Leg Kick
Larry Norman (NY Kung-Fu) DEF Mark Camaj (Ultimate Gym) by split decision.
Larry Norman, the smaller of the two fighters but currently also fighting in the Golden Gloves tournament, used his superior boxing to win this bout. With the leg kicks about even, the overhand right and hook proved to be the decisive factor in this bout.

San Shou
Gree Dorsey (Baltimore San Shou) DEF Brian Klingborg (Yee's Hung Ga) by majority decision.
A close and very technical match.

International/Leg Kick
Adam Resnick (NY Kung-Fu) DEF Hassan Aziz (Aziz Muay Thai) by FORFEIT
Sadly, the only negative in the entire event was the attitude of the head trainer of Aziz Muay Thai. First he complained that the scale was wrong even when BOTH fighters were weighed in at the same time on the same scale! Second, he complained about a three pound weight difference? Third, despite agreeing to an international rules bout A MONTH before the event, he decided on the day of the event that they wanted to fight Modified Muay Thai. Obviously, Aziz was told this could not be done the day of an event! The final straw was refusing to put on their head gear once in the ring. Instead, they turned around and walked out of the ring, refusing to fight!

The other Muay Thai gyms in attendance felt that Aziz's conduct gave Muay Thai a bad name, especially as all 200 spectators in attendance booed and hissed!

Pancrase
Brad Pearce (Renzo Gracie BJJ) DEF Jimm Zabiegalski (Shuai Jiao) by collar choke from mount.

San Shou
David Whiltshire (Yee's Hung Ga) DEF Ray Neves (Boston San Shou) by TKO RD 3.
Ray's vision was not clear at the end of RD 2 and so his corner kept him on the stool at the beginning of RD 3. Whiltshire extends his record to 3-0 and is an up and coming local fighter.

Modified Muay Thai
Steven Berkolayko (Borodine's Muay Thai) DEF Misael Aponte (Ultimate Gym) by unanimous decision.
Berkolayko showed a wide variety of technique and a firece fighting spirit in this match, moving constantly forward and throwing many fierce combinations. Aponte was game and strong but simply outmatched this time around.