Kickboxers duke it out at fight night

Well-executed kicks and strong punches paved the way to victory for kick-boxers from all over the Lowveld at the annual Fight Night last Saturday. Members of White River Kickboxing Club, Middelburg XKT, Habibs Boxing Club, Highlands Boxing Club, Rio Grappling Club Lowveld and MMA and Barberton Extreme Kickboxing made their appearance in the ring. Referees Pieter de Klerk and Pierre de Villiers enforced the rules.

Budding kick-boxers, Zelrie Viljoen and Matthew van der Merwe, were up first in a pre-match bout and had the punches and kicks raining down on each other. At the end of the match, they each received a medal for participation.

Several other semi-, light- and full-contact matches followed, with Eugene Landman and Jaco Cornelius of the White River Kickboxing Club winning their matches.

The exhibition match between White River Kickboxing Club’s Linda van Staden and tag team Marlize Spreeth and Lizelle Viljoen was one of the highlights of the evening. The effortless teamwork between the tag team and Linda’s skilful moves showcased these fighters’ expertise.

Jade Karam of Habibs Boxing Club in Johannesburg and Wesley Gibson of Highlands Boxing Club were up next in an exhibition boxing match. Although Karam was the first to tire, he remained light on his feet and ducked under quite a few punches. Gibson, however, kept the upper hand and let the punches fly hard and fast to emerge the victor.

Although this was a tough act to follow, Nico Joubert of Rio Grappling Club Lowveld and Junior de Beer of White River Kickboxing, showed the audience some superb skills. Their match was deemed the highlight of the evening by officials at the prize-giving ceremony.

In the main event of the evening, Anthony Tope of Rio Grappling Club Lowveld had a tough time against Wimpy van der Merwe of Barberton Extreme Kickboxing. Tope landed on his back a few times, thanks to some hard hits from Van der Merwe and despite a valiant struggle, he ended up the loser.

Each fighter received a medal at the end of a match and was handed a gift bag at the prize-giving. The crowd wasn’t left out and during the event could catch a variety of interesting prizes tossed from the ring.

The organisers would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of the event, including sponsors Refresshh, Squeeza, Lumia Events, Tindlovu, Rejuvinate @ Tipz & Toes and Mpumalanga AV & Sound.

See a gallery of photos here.