Rumble in the Rapa V Results

Last weekend saw the latest installment of Wairarapa’s longest running fight series with Rumble in the Rapa V. The following fight report is from Kelly of Featherston Muay Thai.

Francis Governor Wiremu, 12, from Masterton opened the show for us, in his very first fight against his 14 year old opponent from Wanganui Thai Boxers, Luke Lambie. Francis fought with great technique, executing his nice head kick several times throughout his fight.

Masterton Teen, Melissa Hintz faced off against Palmerston North’s, Caitlin Pirie from The Fightshop. Melissa came down with Bronchitis a few days before her fight, but chose to still fight anyway. Melissa gave it everything she had in the first round, but couldn’t continue for the remaining 2 rounds.

Mel Birch (mother of 4) having her debut fight against Tess Haami Jones from Wanganui Warriors, both woman did really well, especially for their first time in the ring, both fighters gave as good as they got.

Ramona Sargent, mother of 2, making her debut fight also, Ramona has been training for about 7 months and was excited to get the opportunity to fight her opponent Bex Chapman from 4 Dragons in Upper Hutt. Ramona did an exceptional job, dominating the fight and securing female fighter of the night.

Frankie Leota, fought Sarah-Jane McCann from MTI in Wellington. It was a good fight with both woman exchanging blows and leaving nothing behind. Frankie only recently returned to training in the last month, after an 8 month break.

Moving on to the amateur fights (unpadded) Upper Hutt boy, Sean McKay had his first amateur fight against Brook Haami from MTI Wellington. Unfortunately Sean lost by TKO in the second round, after receiving several blows.

Wayne Birch, Mel’s husband, had an amateur fight against Eddy Remihana from Mana Muay Thai in Palmerston North. This was a very close fight with both men eagerly exchanging blows. Wayne lost by split decision.

Featherston local, Terry Cremen faced off against Jason McCabe from Wanganui Warriors. Terry’s original match fell through, leaving him unmatched the week before the fight night. Luckily enough Jason stepped up to the plate and offered to fight Terry. Terry started off hard and fast, stunning Jason with a jumping knee to face in the first round. Jason came back to throw a few blows back at Terry, before calling it quits after being knocked down a few more times in the second round.

Masterton local Barry Pickett also had a last minute change to his opponent, meaning Barry had to change from losing weight to meet his 62kg fight weight to giving away 3kgs to his new opponent, Phil Repelis. This was a hard fought contest with Barry starting fast and finishing strong, stalking his opponent around the ring. Barry’s dedication to training paid off, with him receiving his first win to his record.

Another Masterton local, Selina “Beany” Davis returned to the ring against Wanganui Warriors’ Astrid Hartnell. Selina was all over Astrid from the second the bell rang, overwhelming her opponent and causing her to give up the fight about 30 secs into the first round.

Main event for the night, was Featherston’s own, Kirk Davis, who is stepped up to fight for the TBA North Island Light Welterweight Title against his opponent, Leon Calver from Wanganui Warriors. Both boys paced themselves, building the fight up through each of the 5 rounds. It was a very technical fight, resulting in a very close, split result, in Kirk’s favour.

There were prizes for female and male fighters of the night, which went to Ramona Sargent for her amazing display of determination in her novice fight and Terry Cremen for dominating his fight by knocking his opponent down several times throughout.

All in all it was a fantastic night, with a great representation from Featherston Muay Thai.