FIGHTERS GLOVE UP FOR MATE
It will be an emotional night for DF Gym at the King of the North, writes Jake Garland
A DF GYM fighter will be out to make the ultimate tribute when he battles for the King of the North title.
Ryan McDonald will step in the ring for the first time since the death of close mate Ben O’Connor at the beginning of the year.
McDonald said he knows his late mate will be in his corner with him Saturday night.
“I am wearing his fight shorts, so he will be with me,” McDonald said
“You have to have some reason to fight for and mine will be for Ben.
“I have noticed a few things that just keep reminding me of him especially recently, it is like he knows we have this fight coming up.”
McDonald will be part of a fourway challenge billed as the King of the North, facing off against the likes of Quinton Smith from Athlete Muaythai, Oliver Hanson (Full Boar Thai boxing, Cooktown) and the owner of Mackay’s Muscle Muay Thai Tyson Faulkner.
The four men will fight their first fights early on the card, with the winners to face off in the main event.
Smith’s coach Clayton Cook said the man known as “Da Hitman” has prepared for this challenge better than ever before.
“We have stuck to the usual plan but he has just stepped it up because he could be fighting twice in the one night,” Cook said. “We are ready for whoever is in front of us, he has trained his guts out ... for this.”
The four fighters won’t know who they are fighting in their first fights until the weigh-in on Friday, adding to the challenge. But Hanson’s coach Vince Parkes said it doesn’t really matter who you get first up. “Oliver’s preparation for this challenge has been his best ever,” Parkes said.
“He (Oliver Hanson) did an eightweek fight camp to prepare him for all different types of challengers.
“Usually we don’t prepare until about a month out but over the Christmas break he knew he had King of the North coming up.
“He became obsessed with it and in that we have built in a whole new set of weapons and artillery.”
Names will be drawn out to find out who will face who in the first challenge with the winner of each of the two matches to face off in the main event at the end of the night.
The semi-main event will be a rematch between Josh West from Nukzu Muay Thai and Tristan Picton from DF Gym. Both fighters have agreed to wear mixed martial arts sized gloves instead of boxing gloves.
Picton stepped up for the fight after fellow DF Gym fighter Luca Lanigan broke his foot in his most recent title fight earlier this month.
“We fought in December 2021 and Josh (West) got the better of me after the five rounds,” Picton said.
“With Luca going down due to injury, I was approached to do the fight and was more than happy to accept it.
“I know in some way Ben (O’Connor) will be there with me, it won’t change the way I fight but I know he will be in my corner.
“It will be my first professional fight in 4oz gloves and the only thing that really changes will just need to make sure I keep a stronger guard.”
The night will also feature the Elite Title fight between Kai Matsuda from Nukzu Muay Thai and Jesse Clark from DF Gym.
James Lowe from Power up MMA will battle Chris Obodin from SMT Gym for the Elite Fight Series Title.