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ARCHIVED STORY FALL 2017
Dutch super middleweight retains title at Lion Fight 38;
Original main bout cancelled
Matous Kohout, left, throws a kick at Regian Eersel during the main event at Lion Fight 38.
Photo by John Fulcher
By Brian Woodman Jr.
(September 29 -- Mashantucket, CT) Regian Eersel (47-4) of Amsterdam retained his super middleweight belt durng the main event of Lion Fight 38 -- a Muay Thai event held in the Fox Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino. He defeated Matous Kohout (38-10) by knockout at 1:01 in the fifth round, avenging a previous loss to his opponent. He secured nine consecutive knockout victories going into that evening’s fight, according to Lion Fight spokespersons.
Lion Fight canceled the original main event when fighters Tong Anucha and Saemapetch Fairtex were denied travel visas.
“Recent changes to the statutes regarding travel visas from Thailand to the United States caught everyone off-guard, and unfortunately the process now takes much longer than it previously did,” said Lion Fight president and CEO Scott Kent in a prepared statement.
Kohout, who fights out of Prague in the Czech Republic, sustained a kick to the cup early in the first round, prompting a brief stoppage by the referee. But Although Eerse; appeared to push the pace of the fight, it avoided becoming one-sided. Eersel became visibly more aggressive in the second round, landing hard punching combinations to Kohout’s head around the middle of the round and appearing to go for a knockout, but toned down his energy as the round progressed. Eersel became more aggressive with his striking in the third round and by the fourth round nearly knocked out Kohout with body punches and a knee. Both fighters were punching each other from short range as the fourth round ended.
Eersel knocked Kohout down again during the fifth round, prompting another ten-count from the referee. But Eersel scored a shot to the liver with punches and a knee, knocking Kohout down again and this time ending the fight.
The organization scratched a women’s flyweight fight between Silvia La Notte (61-13-4) of Milan, Italy and English fighter DanI Fall (10-1) from the card. Spokespersons attributed it to an incomplete medical examination, offering no further details due to stated privacy restrictions other than neither the fighters nor Lion Fight were at fault. Stamp Fairtex, who was to participate in the women’s fight and is also from Thailand, was denied a travel visa as well.
The main card opened with a super cruiserweight bout between Steve Walker (2-0) and Robert Morrow in his professional debut. Walker floored Morrow with a punch to the jaw at an estimated two minutes into the first round and generally dominated the fight. He eventually ended the fight at 2:49 in the third round, knockout Morrow out with a punching/elbow combination.
Jonathan George (2-2-1) put Jafar “the cookie monster” Toshev (2-0) on the canvas early in the next fight. But Toshev got the last laugh, ending the lightweight bout at 1:47 in the first round with a jumping roundhouse kick to the face that rendered George unconscious.
The next bout, a cruiserweight fight between Brett Hlavacek (18-5) and Timothy Woods (8-2), went to a decision. Hlavacek threw lots of elbows while Woods leaned toward kicking and a southpaw stance. Woods was bleeding from a head wound early in the bout but demonstrated aggression to the end with the fight concluding in mid-clinch. However, Hlavacek clearly dominated the fight and at one point responded to an attempted high kick from Woods by kicking him in mid-air. Two judges scored the fight 49-46 for Hlavacek while one scored it 50-45.
The last fight prior to the main event was a light heavyweight bout between Juan Jackson (9-2) and Elijah Clarke (7-1). The first three rounds went back and forth -- retired U.S. Army Sergeant Jackson caught and threw Carter after he attempted a kick during the third round as the two exchanged high kicks. Bt Carter retained an edge during the exchanges and won by unanimous decision -- two judges scored it 50-45 and the third scored it 49-46.
The preliminary card included two professional five-round bouts.
Yeison Berdugo (2-4) won the first bout by TKO at 1:46 in the fourth round after fellow super lightweight Jessi Hackett, who was making his professional debut, verbally indicated to the referee that he could not continue. The fight went back and forth in the early round despite a brief referee stoppage after Hackett sustained a kick to the cup. But Berdugo ended it in the fourth round with a punching combination followed by a kick to the stomach.
The second fight was a super middleweight bout between Cris Mims and Brian Bogue, who were both making their professional debuts. Mims won the fight at :25 in the second round by knockout, landing an elbow after eating a shot from Bogue, who out-pointed Mims in the first round -- both fighters fell simultaneously, Mims apparently more from losing his balance, and the referee waved the fight off.
Jessi Hackett, left, versus Yeison Berdugo at Lion Fight 38 on September 29 at Foxwoods.
Photo by John Fulcher
Three amateur bouts preceded the professional bouts, each lasting for three rounds. The results were:
Middleweight Bout -- Miguel Cadiz defeats Michael Shubert by unanimous decision. (30-27)
Middleweight Bout -- Shawn Ellis defeats Nalton McLuaghlin by unanimous decision (two judges 30-27; one judge 29-28)
Light Heavyweight Bout -- J. Luck Henry defeats Hector Andres Acosta by unanimous decision (30-26).
Editor's Note: We would like to thank Mark Karmelowicz for contributing to this story.
Editor's Note: Please read the Clarification for Coverage on Lion Fight 38 in our blog before reading the article below.
Nutmegmma.com regrets any misunderstanding caused by our article.
