SELECTED PREVIOUS EVENTS 2006

Results - November 29th, 2006



'KING OF THE RING' - (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) November 26th, 2006


Presented by Stan Peterec


Crippled by a huge and record snowfall around Victoria, this still could not keep the ticket holders away from Stan Peterec's 2006 King of the Ring Tournament. This year the athlete roster included some of the best talent in the tournament yet. The 8 man tournament was affected by the loss of 2 athletes (weather?) and it suddenly became a 6 man affair.

In the opening bout of the tournament, event favorite (having won the prior years event) and Victoria native Todd Steen squared off with Vancouver's Michael Defresne. For 3 rounds Steen stalked his opponent but could not land the big shot. Dufresne used good tiip's, the ropes and even kneed Steen in the face. Dufresne's plan was clear from the beginning and that was not to slug it out with Steen who appeared to be more powerful with the inside shots. Staying outside and placing well aimed shots, Dufresne used low inside and outside cut kicks to affect his foes balance and ability of Steen to set to punch. In the first round, it appeared that Steen may have wobbled Dufresne but the chance to follow it up never seemed to appear. Mike Defresne won a split decision over Todd Steen after 3 rounds.

John Laing, trained by Lee Mein from Lethbridge Alberta squared off against Victoria's Paul Beaulieau. Laing was the tournament favorite for this event. Beaulieau, the experienced veteran appeared to be the underdog in this elimination match. Beaulieau was to land the first big knockdown of the event with a nasty spinning backfist that dropped Laing to the mat near the end of the first round. Laing got up and in a big surprise, he dropped Beaulieau to the canvas with his own right as the Victoria native moved in. Entertainment does not get better than this. However, Laing was to fracture his right hand and was unable to follow up in the remainder of the bout with his right. The second round was close. In the third Paul Beaulieu delivered another spinning backfist punch that landed. The shot stunned Laing. Beaulieau then threw a strong tiip to the chin that turned Laing 180 degrees around. In the eyes of the judges this was enough for Paul Beaulieau to score an unanimous 3 round decision over his favored opponent Laing.

The final first round bout featured King of the Ring 2005 veteran Justin Jones against tournament newcomer, Jesse Miles. Miles played a smart game of hit and not be hit. The much taller Jones also used some good skills to make Miles miss in the opening round. But as the bout progressed Miles was to catch the kicks and outclinch Jones. Miles also used the most effective body shots of the night as well as going high and low with kicks and punches hammering into Jones. Miles would catch the leg and sweep his opponent at will or alternate catching the leg and punishing Jones's body with powerful punches. Early in the fight, Jones did fire off a right kick that whizzed over the head of Miles. It appeared to miss but in fact connected. Regardless Miles was methodical in his tearing down of Jones. Jesse Miles went on to win by unanimous decision over Jones.

The semi finals of the tournament were demolished by injuries. Winner of the first round elimination bout Mike Defresne could not continue as he had broken his foot. His first round opponent Todd Steen wanted to continue in his place but the doctor mentioned Steen had a concussion so he could not fight. John Laing who lost to Beaulieu had broken his hand.

With no semi final bouts in place Jesse Miles peered across the ring to see the Paul Beaulieau glaring back. Miles made Beaulieau miss with his shots and counter punched. During several clinches by the athletes, it became clear Miles was physically stronger at this range. Attacking and punishing his foe with knees to the body and throwing Beaulieau around ring with what appeared to be ease, Miles swept Beaulieau several times. As it became more apparent of the strength and infighting advantage, Miles clinched and threw his opponent into the corner. Beaulieau bounced off the ropes and was greeted with a right cross that sat him down. As he was falling he took a knee to the face to finish the process. Jesse Miles was to lay claim to the title of the 2006 edition of the King of the Ring at 2:29 of round one by KO.

The athletes in the tournament were all very talented and represented themselves, their coaches and the sport with honor and pride. With the athletes and coaches talking and shaking hands at the end of the event, here is looking forward to the 2007 tournament.

The event was professionally run and it is unfortunate that a freak snowstorm affected what was hoped to have been a sell out of 4000+ people. Excellent event Mr. Peterec.