Another successful weekend for Offaly based kickboxing club
Birr k-1 kickboxing returned from ISKA national kickboxing Championships with two national champions
BIRR k-1 kickboxing and self defence club travelled to Derry city for the ISKA national kickboxing Championships the weekend before last.
They picked a fight team of seven fighters and returned with two national champions, two silvers and a bronze. The team included Ross Bull Buckley, Jack Rocky Kirwan, Dean Real Deal Brummell, Cormac Machine Creamer, Alex Hitman Hough, Alan Magic Ginson and Filipe Bang Bang Nunes.
First up was Cormac Creamer in his k-1 quarter final and unfortunately he sustained an injury at the end of Round 1 and had to withdraw. This was a big disappointment for Cormac as he just returned from injury he received while competing in the final of the WKO All Ireland light contact final.
He hadn't much preparation for this tournament and it had a telling part to play in this fight.
Alan Ginson was next in the ring for his k-1 semi final. Alan trained hard for this Championships and completely won Round 1 and Round 2 but to Birr's astonishment his opponent won a split decision.
This meant Alan had to fight it out for a bronze medal place instead of a gold medal.
Unfortunately his opponent nicked a close fight and they had no problem with the result of this match. Young Ginson performed very well and can be proud of his big effort and display over the course of his two fights.
Ross Buckley made his way into the low kick final and delivered another big performance.
His opponent looked sharp, fast and game.
Ross soon put an end to that and gave his opponent an eight count within the first 20 seconds of the first round. His game opponent made the count and the fight continued. Ross had victory in his sights and finished off his opponent with a few more punches and won by TKO victory and became national low kick champion in round 1.
Ross is training very hard and has a couple of huge fights lined up over the next six weeks including a WKO Irish k-1 title Eliminator and then a semi Pro fight in Scotland for the WKA 5-nations title.
Up next was Dean Real Deal Brummell in the k-1 semi finals against a good opponent from Galway. Dean was edging ahead in a great opening round and stopped his opponent with a well timed spinning back kick to win by TKO in round 1.
It was a great result and meant Dean was in the final.
Dean entered the k-1 final and was against an opponent from Kilkenny. Dean won Round 1 and Round 2 but somehow the fight was declared a draw, another decision Birr weren't happy about at all.
An extra round was agreed to by both trainers.
This is where things got even worse. It was a close extra round untill Dean clearly dropped his opponent with a left hook and the referee never gave a count. This disappointed the Birr contingent, especially at the ISKA national Championships.
At the end of the fight it was declared a spilt decision loss for Dean and he was awarded a silver medal.
Jack Kirwan was fighting in the k-1 semi finals and produced a great display of smart kickboxing and is improving with every fight.
He was in against a real heavy hitter and Jack used his skill very well and fought fire with fire and was unlucky to miss out on reaching the final.
This is Jack's first loss and they had no complaints with the decision. The better man won a very close entertaining fight.
Jack has to be proud of very mature and rounded performance in the ring.
Filipe Bang Bang Nunes was up next in the k-1 semi finals. With what they saw earlier in the day Filipe had to dominate his opponent which he did.
His opponent was a big tall rangy fighter and had an awkward style about him. Filipe gave his opponent an eight count in round 2 and won a unanimous decision victory to reach the final.
Filipe entered the k-1 final full of confidence. Filipe was fighting good and showcasing his skill and hurt his opponent while dominating round 1.
Round 2 was more of the same with Filipe finishing his opponent in Round 2 and winning by TKO and becoming the new ISKA k-1 champion.
Alex Hough made it into the full contact finals and had an epic final.
This fight had everything speed power technique skill heart everything a coach wants to see in his fighters. It was a great fight and had the supporters of both sides highly entertained. A fantastic display of kickboxing was witnessed by all.
It was a very close contest and it could have gone either way. Alan's opponent's hand was raised after the two rounds of high octane action.
Alan won a well earned silver medal and this was his most impressive fight to date
Then they made the short trip to Strabane for Conor Hynes' headline fight in the town and every fighter and supporter that travelled to Derry came to support Conor.
They had a great fight in Strabane and the fight was declared a draw after three very entertaining rounds of high quality action.
Conor has two huge fights coming on the horizon.
He's challenging for the WKO k-1 title against a formidable opponent in Kevin Kehoe, who is the WKO k-1 Champ and also two time MMA champ and is undefeated. This is a huge fight. Then the same weekend that Ross fights semi Pro in Scotland, Conor travels to Belfast to face Dan Braniff for the WKN Semi Pro National title over 4x2 mins.
All eyes are firmly on the Battle of Birr 2 in the Marian Hall on May 24th. They have two National title fights which include Conor Curly Hynes and Filipe Bang Bang Nunes competing for the National belts in their respective weight classes, and then 2 k-1 national title Eliminators which includes their own Ross Bull Buckley.
They have 18 undercard fights confirmed on the day.
The best clubs from around the country will be attending with their best fighters - Top Pro Carlow, Wolfhound Muay Thai Cork, Next Generation MMA Dublin, Limerick Combat Gym, Nenagh Kickboxing Club, Billy's Emerald Kickboxing Gym Waterford, Budo kickboxing and self defence Dungarvan, Kombat kingdom k-1 kickboxing Kilkenny and TeamRyano Portloaise.
Contact any Birr fighter for tickets.