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ARCHIVED STORY FALL 2015
Hollenbeck wins main event at Lion Fight 24
Live Muay Thai event at Foxwoods includes two title fights
Richard Abraham, left, and Ky Hollenbeck at Lion Fight 24 on September 25.
Photo by John Fulcher
By Brian Woodman Jr.
(Editor’s note: Each professional bout featured five three-minute rounds and each amateur bout featured three two-minute rounds.)
During the main event on September 25 at Lion Fight 24, the bleeding over Ky Hollenbeck’s eye following a head butt caused officials to stop his Muay Thai match in the fourth round. Despite the ringside physician’s stoppage, judges awarded Hollenbeck an unanimous decision over fellow middleweight Richard Abraham.
Ognjen Topic of North Jersey Muay Thai defeated Stephen Meleady during the co-main event, securing Lion Fight’s lightweight championship belt.
Reigning super welterweight champion Jo Nattawut of Bangkok Boxing in Atlanta retained his title during a featured bout against Charlie Peters, who trains out of the Double K gym in London,. England.
Abraham, who trains at Chicago’s Maximus Muay Thai, won the first round of the main bout following several energetic exchanges. But Hollenbeck, who trains at Combat Sports Academy in California, won the second and third round.
Hollenbeck clinched with Abraham during the third round and attempted to set up some knees to his face. By the end of the round, both fighters’ faces were visibly bleeding.
Hollenbeck appeared dominant in the next round. But the fight was stopped with about one minute left and the doctor examined him. The referee subsequently waved the fight off.
Meleady, who trains out of Bad Company in the United Kingdom, seemed to favor punching combinations and periodically landed shots throughout the fight. Both fighters nearly spilled out of the ring during a fast-moving fourth round.
But Topic, who seemed to lean more toward kicks, outperformed Meleady in all the stages of fighting and dominated all five rounds. During the second round, Topic brought Meleady to the ground in what resembled a Judo throw. The judges awarded Topic an unanimous victory.
Stephen Meleady, left, and Ognjen Topic at Lion Fight 24 at Foxwoods.
Photo by John Fulcher
The first two rounds of the super welterweight bout featured lots of kicks and a smattering of punching exchanges. Most of the clinching occurred toward the end of the rounds, during which Nattawut appeared more dominant.
During the third round, Nattawut clinched with Peters and appeared to be trying to set up knee attacks. Nattawut suddenly switched gears and rained elbows on his head, securing a TKO victory with about one minute left in the round.
Jo Nattawut, left, and Charlie Peters in battle at Lion Fight 24.
Photo by John Fulcher
Gaston Bolanos, who also trains at Combat Sports Academy, secured a TKO victory over Ben Yelle during a welterweight bout preceding the main card. There was a stoppage during the first round after Yelle, who trains at Al’s Boxing Club in Minnesota, sustained a strike to the groin. During the second round, Yelle was bleeding from the top of his head as repeated elbow strikes from Bolanos took their toll. The referee waved the fight off with about a minute left in the round as a dazed Yelle stumbled backwards against the ropes during the fight.
The professional portion of the card opened with a lightweight bout between Julio Pena of Hard Knocks Muay Thai in Boston and Yeison Berdugo of Tri Force MMA in Providence, Rhode Island. During the fifth round, the referee waved the fight off about 30 seconds after Pena sent a visibly exhausted Berdugo to the ground with a lower leg kick.
C hris Mauceri of Stockade Martial Arts in Kingston, New York knocked out Nicholas Parlanti of Brooklyn’s Team Read Planet at about one minute into the third round of their welterweight bout. Mauceri dominated all three rounds, appearing to nearly finish Parlanti with a high kick to the face in the third round.
When Parlanti attempted to land an elbow, Mauceri countered with a spinning elbow that ended the fight. Parlanti left the ring on a stretcher, at one point lifting his hand to show the crowd he was okay as he was being carried out.
During the final bout, which was delayed until after the main event for scheduling reasons, P.J. Sweda of Philadelphia’s Stay Fly Muay Thai defeated Danny Millet of New York’s King’s Thai Boxing by TKO. The fight was stopped at :41 by the ringside doctor after Millet began bleeding over his eye.
Further information on Lion Fight 24, including the amateur results, will be posted on our blog.
