Aberdeen Muay Thai organised an event in Liquid Night club, Aberdeen last weekend (04/06/11) with a mixture of C, B and A class fights on the card. The main event was Jamie MacRae vs Stuart Crichton for MacRae's UKMF Superwelterweight Scottish Title but one of the best fights on the card for me was this remarkably close 66kg bout between Chris Moir (AMAG) and Wozciech Oleksyk (SMTC Fight Team). P4TV filmed the event and have put the whole card up for free but this bout is embedded below. Hit 'read more' to read my take on the fight round by round, explaining the action and scoring. (I've taken out the embedding because it played automatically).
Chris Moir vs Wozciech Oleksyk video link
This was Moir's 2nd A-class (full Thai rules) bout and he carried himself well although his hesitancy at times probably cost him the fight. I'm not too sure how many fights Oleksyk has under his belt but his experience was demonstrated in this fight by the way he cut the ring off and backed Moir into the ropes and by setting up his right body kick, which was his main weapon, in a number of ways. In the first round, while this is generally scored a 10-10 because the boxers will use it to size up their opponents, I felt that Moir had an edge in technical ability, although Oleksyk's kicks were clearly landing with effect, judging by the reddening on Moir back which may have seen the judges give the edge overall to Oleksyk. This is usually just a star or a tick beside the fighter's name on the score card, so that in the event of a very close bout, the fight can be judged based on the first round.
The second round seen Oleksyk starting strong but Moir utilised his excellent teep to keep him at bay until Oleksyk outmanoeuvred the long legs of Moir with clever footwork and landed a kick to the head. The two fighters then traded kicks, with Oleksyk's feints and movement winning this round for him.
By the third round, both fighters had found their rhythm and started to really hunt for scoring opportunities. Both scored well with body kicks from the fringes of their respective ranges. Perhaps realising the other had found their range, clinch work came into play a lot more in this round, which Moir gained the edge in. Oleksyk didn't look to comfortable in the clinch at all, choosing instead to body lock and bury his head to avoid elbows until the referee stepped in. Despite this, his right body kick continued to score effectively resulting in another round in the bag for Oleksyk.
I feel Moir actually edged the 4th round. Oleksyk upped the pace, attacking much more however this suited the naturally slower paced Moir who was able to counter effectively, meaning he did not move backwards as much as in previous rounds. Of note in the fourth, Moir scored with a really clean straight right, backing up Oleksyk which probably sealed the round for him. This is noteworthy because it is one of the very few punches which had scored at this point a fight where both fighters preferred to trade kicks.
According to my scoring, Oleksyk won rounds two and three, with Moir earning round four and the first being a draw. Both fighters knew they needed to win this round and came out with intent. Moir threw a flying elbow and in one clinch exchange they ended up hurling each other over the ropes. Moir was definitely scoring more with his counter attacking and used his movement to greater effect, which I feel gave him this round.
The end result was a split decision for Wozciech Oleksyk, which I feel most likely came down to the notable damage his kicks did to Moir's side and back and his stronger performance in the first round. Moir started too slow and was too hesitant to pick up the win although a different set of judges may well have given him this fight on a different night.
A very entertaining fight in terms of scoring and a good demonstration of the up and coming talent in Scotland.
No comments:
Post a Comment