Local fighter crowned national champ in night of bad intentions
THE posters said ‘ Bad Intentions’ and, when the action began, it was every man, and woman, for themselves. But when it was all over, when arms had been raised and belts handed out, there was nothing but respect between all those who had taken part.
‘All the fighters sat with one another in the lobby of the hotel until six in the morning afterwards,’ said Billy Murphy of Wexford Academy of Martial Arts ( WAMA), who put on Saturday evening’s kickboxing and K1 show at the Clayton Whites Hotel. ‘One of our fighters, Jack Browne (18), was in the last bout of the night and that was something special.’
Fighting for the 60kg national title, Jack was put on the canvas in the first round, his dreams of winning a belt in his first senior contest seemingly in ruins. However, Jack quicly overcame this setback battling his way to a narrow decision on the judge’s scorecard, thrilling his audience in the process. And in a show of mutual respect and admiration, Jack and his opponent, Carlow’s Lee Walsh, embraced warmly at the final bell, spending the rest of the evening deep in conversation, a friendship formed in the most unlikely of circumstances.
And that was merely the conclusion of a night which, according to Billy, was amateur in ‘name only’. ‘ There was only one stoppage on the night, that’s how well-matched the fights were, they went to the wire. We had knockdowns, guys getting up off the ground and winning,’ Billy said.
And with eight local fighters on the bill, the Chief Instructor at WAMA was happy to report that only one of those lost their contest on the night: ‘WAMA is not just the best club in Ireland, it’s one of the best in Europe,’ Billy said.
Underlining the club’s prowess and the overall quality of its fighters, Wayne Hendrick also ended the night as a national champion, capturing the Irish Middleweight title after narrowly defeating Shannon’s Bohdan Stek in a fight that once more went to the scorecards. Alice Power, a world kickboxing champion, put on what Billy described as an ‘exhibition’, and Jack Shalloe, another Wexford fighter, won his bout in a contender for fight of the night.
Promising that the next instalment of Bad Intentions is already being planned, Billy said that his priority, as always, is the safety of the fighters. ‘We take every precaution to ensure they’re looked after, we have paramedics, ambulances on standby, I notify the hospitals on the day of the fight. I don’t enjoy the show on the night, I’m concerned with everyone’s safety, I enjoy it on the Sunday when I know everyone’s okay.’