WARNERS SPORTS CENTRE, HULL - SUNDAY 21st SEPTEMBER

Spartan's young amateur talent, Craig Carter took on Tornado Kickboxing's Jamie Owen, in the home fighter's back yard of Hull. The pair had already met at the EFC 3 event in South Shields back in June, where they drew in an action packed crowd pleaser.

This contest was more then just a re-match though and this time the pair were to fight over 5 x 2 min. rounds for the ISKA Northern Area amateur title. They did not disapoint the crowd, with a high pace, plenty of power and technical ability and a lot of heart. It was a very close contest with Carter, quite rightly, winning by the narrowest of margins. At just 17, he is already showing class and maturity well beyond his age.

Spartan's Liam "Del Boy" Trotter was also in action at the same event, taking his tally up to 10 wins with only 1 defeat, in a brutal 4 round pro-am contest. Del Boy had his Newark opponent down twice during the contest and the referee was forced to stop the bout, with just 8 seconds of the 4th round remaining.

Well done to both lads

Just so you all know, the academy is closed from tonight (31st July) until 10th August, as just about every instructor is away on holiday.

We will resume business as usual on Monday 11th August.

Thanks

Paul Grieves

EFC 3 will take place on June 28th 2008. Once again we are back at Temple Park leisure centre, South Shields. Tickets will go on sale this week and in anticipation of EFC being our biggest event yet, we are arranging additional bleacher seating.

World champion Andy "Attitude" Burton will be hosting a seminar on Sunday 8th June at the Mortimer Community Association, South Shields.

If you would like to come along and learn some world class kickboxing techniques then contact Steve East on 07946389945 to book your place.

On Saturday 1st March, for the first time in history, a professional WORLD kickboxing title fight will take place in the city of Sunderland. And it is being recorded for TWCfight Channel, a part of the Sky Sports network!!!!

Spartan's own Andy "Attitude" Burton will be making his 2nd defence of the WUMA Pro World welterweight title. His opponent is the European EFK kickboxing champion Shawn "Boom Boom" Burton.

Kuei Ling Kickboxing's Jamie Moore from South Shields will also defend his WUMA Pro European super heavyweight title for the 2nd time. His opponent is non other then Rob Gledhill, the UK's officially ranked number 1 super heavyweight kickboxer.

Another Spartan fighter, Michael "Robbie" Johnson, who is the current WUMA Pro light middle weight world champion will be taking on the up-and-coming Aaron Robinson, in a non-title pro fight.

Martin "The Spartan" Scrafton will meet Kris Ord for the vacant WUMA Pro British light heavyweight title, while Dean Petty takes on Steve Moffat, with the WUMA Pro North East welterweight title at stake, as well as a shot at Cleveland Gym's Andy Mann the following week for the EFK North East title.

The event also features a strong amateur under card, with many of the region's favorite fighters battling it out.

SPONSORSHIP

EFC are looking to secure more sponsorship for this event. Small businesses wishing to sponsor a bout and advertise in the program can do so for a small fee. We are also open to more serious corporate sponsorship for this TELEVISED TOP CLASS EVENT!!!.

Tickets will be going on sale soon @ £40 for VIP and £25 for standard tickets. Please contact either:

Paul Grieves 07971 467989 paul-grieves@orange.net

Or

Steve East 07946 389945 kuei_ling1@yahoo.co.uk

On Saturday 8^th December Martin “The Spartan” Scrafton took on Karl Merry for the vacant welterweight title at Legends Sports bar in Sunderland. The match was set over two five min. rounds.

Scrafton started the contest well by rocking the Middlesbrough Ju-Jitsu Club fighter with a boxing combination before taking his opponent to the ground with a double leg and attempting to set up a triangle choke from the mount position. Merry who proved to be an excellent grappler, soon reversed the position and pinned Scrafton for the majority of the 1^st round and got busy with body shots.

The second round was even more action packed. Scafton rocked his opponent again with powerful punching combinations and Merry showed real stand-up fighting class of his own with a perfect long range side kick to the mid section. The Middlesbrough fighter again maintained top position during the majority of the ground fighting and at one stage took Scrafton’s back and applied a rear naked choke which Scrafton did well to escape from. The Spartan fighter utilised the guard position well and from there set up a tight triangle choke but strong man Merry simply picked him up and slammed him to break the choke.

After two hard fought rounds, the judges had a tough job on their hands to separate these two contestants. Scafton had outgunned his man in the stand up striking stakes and had scored more take downs. The pair were pretty even on submission attempts but Merry had been very strong and slick on the ground, had held top position for the majority of the ground fight and was busy with body shot. The judges scored a win to Martin Scrafton by a split decision but this could have gone either way.

Scrafton said “Karl was my toughest opponent yet. He was incredibly strong, durable and had excellent grappling skills. I’m not happy with my performance but I don’t say that to take anything away from him. It is to his credit that I couldn’t impose myself on the ground the way I wanted to. Obviously I’m delighted to have got the win and the title but it wasn’t a conclusive win and in all honesty, I couldn’t have complained too loudly if it had gone Karl’s way. It was that close. So, top respect to him and his team. I want the first defence of the title to be a re-match with Karl”

FightZone promoter Dave Wilson has already made inroads toward making the rematch happen and it will take place at the next FightZone event, probably in April next year.

WUMA World kickboxing champion Andy "Attitude" Burton will meet Diego Bianco in his home town of Lecce, Italy on 10th November. The pair will be fighting for the vacant WKF World title.

Anyone who would like to come to Italy to support Andy will be most welcome. Flights can be booked at  ryanair.com. There is a flight from London Stansted (STN) at 17:15 on Friday 9th November, arriving at Bari (BRI) at 21:05. The return flight is on Sunday 11th November, departing from Bari (BRI) at 21:30 arriving at Stansted (STN) 23:30. These are the flights that Andy and his corner team will be on.

If you do want to come, contact Paul Grieves (07971 467989) for hotel information.

“Handsome” Dan Kennedy V Chris Roper

Spartan’s Dan Kennedy lifted the Fight Zone Semi-Pro middleweight MMA title, on Friday 31^st August at the Ellison Social Club in Jarrow.

After controlling a hard fought 1^st round, Dan submitted Darlington Freestyle’s Chris Roper with an arm bar from the guard, in 1 min. 21 seconds of the 2nd round, taking his MMA record to 4-0.