Tag Archives: boxing

Adams and Taylor Win Historic Golds in Women’s Boxing

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Great Britain’s Nicola Adams made history as she became the first ever women to win an Olympic gold boxing medal. Adams boxed superbly throughout the tournament. She defeated Indian legend and five time world champion Mary Kom in the semi finals.

Adams then crushed her Chinese opponent Ren Cancan in the final bout.  This despite Cancan having beaten Adams twice in previous contests. At one point Adams floored her opponent with a brilliant right hook and she went on to win comfortably by 16 points to 7.

The boxer from Leeds who’s idol is Muhammad Ali was ecstatic at the win and took team GBs to 24 gold medals.

Minutes later Katie Taylor followed Adams and became the second women to win a gold in boxing as she won a closely fought contest beating Sofya Ochigava 10 points to 8. Taylor had been behind by a point after the second round but battled back bravely and dominated thereafter. Taylor, a four time world champion, was carrying the hopes and dreams of Ireland who had yet to win a gold medal until the fight. Taylor had been the flag bearer for Ireland at the opening ceremony and the excel arena was packed with Irish fans.

Taylor delivered and sank to her knees in joy as the final result was read out.

Muay Thai International Match of England v Thailand

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On Saturday 22nd October 2011 six incredible fights will take place in Oxford with the final two bouts being an International Match of England v Thailand
The fight is organised by Oxford Martial Arts Academy (OMAA) which is the UK’s leading martial arts academy with over 6,500 square foot of dedicated matted area, over 60 martial arts classes per week, the only Olympic size Boxing ring in Oxford and the only 28ft Cage in the UK!
Muay Thai is one of the oldest and most exciting Martial Arts known for being a favourite in Jean Claude Van Damme Films such as Kickboxer and popularised through games such as Street-fighter and Tekken.  Muay Thai is full contact with no protective head gear or clothing is worn and fighters can use punches, kicks, knees and even their elbows to win bouts.
The final two fights are both for England v Thailand but spilt into Adult & Junior categories. The England Junior representative Daniel Mc Gowan is just 15 years old and the youngest person ever in history to have a Thai National flow over to contend him.
This is the first time such a high level fight has been brought to Oxfordshire with the founders of OMAA, Vahram Papazyan & Tihomir Lalic spending over £25,000 on producing the evening.
“We started out with a little room just for us to train in – now we’re hosting International fights! These fighters are ones to watch out for” said Vahram, a keen wrestler and sportsman.
The family friendly evening will host six fights, starting with British fighters battling it out for Southern Area fights, moving onto to European Titles from Denmark, Sweden, England & Ireland with the Ultimate World Title Fight of Thailand v England – which is split into Adult and Junior bouts.
Tihomir Lalic, co-founder of OMAA said “Since we first set up OMAA in 2000 this has been our dream, to hold such an exciting and exclusive event – we plan to combine the very best service, food and drink with the most exciting live entertainment ever to be seen in Oxford!”
The event will be held at the picturesque Regal on Cowley Road, Oxford. Doors open at 4.30pm, with the fight card commencing 5.30pm.
Tickets are limited and selling fast.
Ticket Prices:
£25.00 Standard Ticket
£35.00 Stage Ticket
£75.00 VIP – including Champagne, Dinner & Event Programme.
Box Office:
Oxford Martial Arts Academy
21 Templar’s Square, Oxford, OX4 3XQ
Tel: 01865 774 998

The Fighter {Film Review}

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I’m going to be very honest with you. Before I watched the trailer for this film, I said to myself: “What could you possibly bring to us that we haven’t seen before?” It’s the same rags-to-riches, triumph-over-odds tale that we have seen countless times. Well, it turns out quite a bit, and who doesn’t love an inspiring story about a boxer?

Rocky was nominated for 10 Oscars, including two for Sylvester Stallone with Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay (left with three for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Film Editing). Then you have one of Martin Scorsese’s best work, Raging Bull, which was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Director for Scorsese and Best Picture (won two with Best Actor for Robert De Niro and Best Film Editing). The reasons why these two films worked is because the actors and the film itself were authentic and felt real rather than a fairy tale.

In The Fighter, Mark Wahlberg plays our real life protagonist, Micky Ward, the younger brother to Dickie Eckland, played by Christian Bale.

Dickie used to be a boxing legend, until his career collapsed when he developed a crack addiction and now trains his brother. But Dickie is still the leading man, while Micky is overshadowed by his brother’s former success and  just a stepping stone for other fighters to beat the shit out of him. Conflicted by everyone telling him what to do, it is more of a fight to stand up for himself and even stand up his own two feet than it is to fight in the ring.

The performances from this film are really good. Wahlberg finally shows us how good an actor he can be after the awful performances from The Happening and Max Payne. Amy Adams continues to be exceptional and stands out amongst the crowd, but it’s Christian Bale who steals the spotlight in making his best performance of his career. He has reportedly lost weight to portray the drug addicted ex-boxer – something he has done before in The Machinist (and he again has to bring back the muscle to play Bruce Wayne/Batman for The Dark Knight Rises) which shows the talent he has and the respect for his work to fully immerse himself in the character.

You can see the expression in his eyes, and the energy that Bale’s Eckland always gets a kick out of the sport. Although it is heart-breaking when he thinks HBO are documenting his comeback, while in actual fact he’s a subject of a failed sportsman succumbed to drug addiction and further brings humiliation to the family.

The setting and the overall film looks authentic. You could feel the urban hard-working town of Lowell, Massachusetts. To the local bars and diners, down to the streets and neighbourhood, you feel it’s a community. Ever since the success of The Departed, Massachusetts (especially Boston) seems more popular with film locations. To be honest, I love MA and it brings back memories of staying in the States (granted I didn’t notice or see the bad side of it during that time). And it’s a nice change since most of these films would be set either in L.A. or New York.

Darren Aronofsky was originally signed on to direct the film, until he left to work on Black Swan. The Fighter and Aronofsky’s previous film, The Wrestler, have a similar feel – going for a rough look rather than to be soft and safe, especially with the fights needing to look and feel realistic.  It was reported that 1990’s era cameras were used for the fights. Either way, they’re very well choreographed, and even made me want to stand up and shout: “Come on, Mark! Kick his fucking ass!”

Verdict: A great film that really does make you root for Wahlberg. Stellar performances from Bale and Adams, and well deserved for their award recognition. Looks like we needed another inspiring boxer after all!

4/5