Right: Stephan Friedrich had Brad Harrop in a headlock during a mixed martial arts fight.
By Mara Pattison-Sowden
COLDSTREAM boxer Leon Johns is set for a rematch after the mid-year Fight Night’s title match was stopped for safety concerns.
Johns, the Victorian heavyweight kickboxing champion, was fighting Ryan McIntosh to claim the Victorian cruiserweight kickboxing title, but the pair will now have a rematch in September.
The crowd-pleasing night saw boxers from across Melbourne take on 11 fights from Muay Thai to mixed martial arts and kickboxing at the Lilydale Youth Club on Saturday 2 July.
Johns and McIntosh flipped out of the ring twice, causing referees to pull the pin on the fight.
Lilydale’s Fight ‘n’ Fitness trainer and World Kickboxing Champion Nick Lundh said fighters were not supposed to flip out of the ring.
“That will be fixed for the next time, but despite the problems it still made it exciting for the crowd,” he said.
Mr Lundh said it was an exciting night with all of his boxers claiming wins.
“The guys from the Lilydale Gym went fantastic – three wins out of the three fights,” he said.
Stephan Friedrich from Launching place defeated Brad Harrop in an MMA contest on unanimous points.
Bentley Shefford from Yarra Junction won his MMA contest against Adrian Jenkins.
Mr Lundh said it was “a little controversial as Bentley had knocked out Adrian in the first round”, but through mix-ups with the refereeing the fight continued.
“However, Bentley was too strong and won a unanimous points decision anyway,” he said.
The semi main event saw Lilydale boxer Rachael Phillips win by a technical knock-out in the second round against Kat Cusworth to win the Australian featherweight Muay Thai title.
“Rachael was far too strong for Kat, dominating from the outset,” Mr Lundh said.
