SELECTED EVENTS 2008






MALICIOUS INTENT (Calgary, Canada) - March 1st, 2008

Saturday March 1st saw Calgary's second Muay Thai event of 2008. The event was called 'MALICIOUS INTENT' and took place at the beautiful Deerfoot Inn & Casino. As has been the case for years now for promoters CAKMA, this event was sold out. A very respectable feat considering that again, the event took place on the same night as the UFC. "In January, we were up against the UFC and their British event but we still sold out! Then with the UFC's event featuring Muay Thai athlete Silva on this night, plus this event losing two marquee fighters, I was worried how the event would do", said Mike Miles. The loss of the two marquee athletes meant the event was not sold out in advance but the promoters were happy to have the event sold out come fight night.

The promoters, the Calgary Amateur Kickboxing & Muay Thai Association (CAKMA) and Mike Miles put on a highly competitive card. Thanks go to the professionalism of the coaches who attended this event including John Brown, Trevor Smandych, Medhi Pouroskoui, Sincy Outhaivong, Leo de Matos, Brad Wall, Daniel Hardy and Mike Miles. Thank you goes out to the Calgary Combative Sports Commission, the World Muay Thai Council, the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur and the Canadian Muay Thai Council Amateur.

MAIN EVENT
Coming into this card, there had been a somewhat game of 'musical chairs' for headliner Jesse 'Smiles' Miles. Originally, Miles had hoped to face American Muay Thai athlete James Martinez (the American participant in the recent reality show 'The Contender - Asia). On and off again communications between the promoters and the camp who were working on behalf of Mr. Martinez finally came to a screeching halt when Mr. Martinez 'could not be contacted'. The camp had a replacement in Mr. Kona Ke, an island Muay Thai favorite (he is from Hawaii), and a contract was sent to have Mr. Ke come and fight Miles in Calgary. Three weeks before the event in Calgary, Ke injured his ankle and had to step out of the bout. This left the promoters scrambling looking for an opponent who would take the bout on three weeks notice. "I have to thank the IKF for their assistance in this time of need", said Mike Miles. "I used their ratings and sent out approximately thirty e-mails to find an opponent who would be able to step up to the plate." Shawn Monday from the USA stepped up to the bat. Monday is rated at number 14 in the world on the IKF ratings. "I have to thank Shawn for taking the fight on short notice and filling in on the main event. That takes a lot of guts to do", said Mike Miles. Monday had a trainer in John Brown but also had spent some time with the highly respected Master Toddy.
The bout started at slow leisurely pace for about the first half of the first round. Both athlete probed at each other. Suddenly the two athletes fell in close to reach other and Miles landed a solid knee which. The leisurely pace was done and both athletes delivered some shots at each other. Towards the end of the first round a solid shot sent Monday towards the ropes and Miles followed with a brutally hard low kick to high kick. The resounding thud echoed in the venue while it stunned Monday who fell forward to the canvas. Monday beat the count and the ringing of the bell finished the first round. In the second round Miles came out much more aggressively. Miles faked a shot which had Monday retreat to the ropes and Miles suddenly spun and landed a very hard back elbow. This elbow connected and stunned the American who stumbled forward. Miles spun out of the way and landed a good knee to the face followed by a few quick elbows and Monday was down. Shook and unable to get up, the referee counted Monday out and Miles was to win the bout by 2nd round TKO.
Up next for Miles? He is fighting in Germany at the end of March and then on Friday April 18th in Calgary as the main event on 'Spring Skirmish', Miles has been tentatively set to fight a Dutch Muay Thai athlete. The athlete is from Bob Scrijber's Shima Gym. Schrijber is the former sparring partner and training mate of Rob Kaman. The Dutch are some of the strongest athletes in the Muay Thai world so Miles will have his mettle tested and them some.

SEMI-MAIN EVENT
Sandra 'Heart' Bastian stepped into the ring against California's Roxy 'Balboa' Richardson in a non-title bout. This turned out to be a very exciting and competitive bout. Richardson came to fight and Bastian was going to find this out first hand. From the opening bell of the first round to the final bell in the fourth round, these two athletes exchanged leather tit for tat. Richardson was using her straight punches while Bastian used her straight punches and roundhouse kicks. Richardson would land a right hand and the Bastian would do the same immediately after and vice versa. These two showed great desire and the bout was a nail-biter until the end. "I can be quite emotionally involved during the progress of a bout and sometimes it is hard to make a judgement as to who won the bout, but I honestly felt that if the bout was not a draw, that Roxy could have taken the bout by a slight margin," said Bastian's coach Mike Miles. Many believed Bastian did enough to win while others felt Richardson had won by a very close margin. "Richardson did a great job and since the bout was so close, we have promised her the first Title Defense for Bastian's WKA World Title in either September or October", said Coach Mike Miles. "She deserves it as she is a very good athlete!" Great bout!

UNDERCARD

After the intermission, the first bout up was Calgary's Sean McKinnon against Montreal's Michel Travaglini. This was a great fight featuring two different fighting styles. McKinnon kept very busy throwing shots that coach Trevor Smandych told him to (like a European athlete) while Travaglini took his time and picked his shots (a little more like a Thai athlete). McKinnon left too much space between himself and Travaglini during the clinch and thus this territory scored well for the Montreal native. On the outside both traded with effective shots. This bout was very close and heading into the final round, the bout could have went either way. The beginning of the round had the boys exchanging one for one but as the round was coming near to the end, McKinnon cornered Travaglini and started unloading heavy leather. To show how close the bout was, the decision was split for McKinnon. A very exciting and good battle between these two warriors. Possible rematch?

The Bout of the Night was arranged literally 4 days before the event. Five days leading into the event, two important bouts fell through. Two Americans from Hawaii had not completed their medical requirements and suddenly the promoters found themselves less two bouts, and these were bouts of significance. Suddenly marquee athletes Darren Snell and Mike Musto found themselves out of the mix on this event. Both were obviously very disappointed.
The promoters scrambled to find at least one bout where the athletes had all of the requirements filled to take the bout on short notice. Calgary's Chase Arkossy stepped into the ring against Manitoba's Anson Pops. While Arkossy was at the bottom end of the weight division, Pops was at the top end. These two athletes squared off with each other and showed incredible heart and desire in a modified Muay Thai rules match. As the bout opened Pops ran across the ring and forced Arkossy backwards into the corner. Arkossy who is a strong athlete saw his shots at first bouncing off of Pops head like flies off of a bull. Pops would grab Arkossy and manhandle him, almost tossing the Calgarian around like a rag doll. This was to take a toll on Arkossy but also surprisingly on Pops as well. In the second round the audience was treated to more of the same with Pops throwing Arkossy around the ring. Midway through the round, Arkossy spun Pops who went flying through the ropes and onto a judges table. Pops was angry and once he got back into the ring he ran and jumped throwing punches and kicks. Arkossy was landing good clean shots in the second and scoring effectively. In the third round Pops was slowing down and Arkossy was to find his timing and range and he delivered very good punches that were scoring heavily on his foe. Though not as technical of a bout as say Bastian - Richardson, it was chock full of everything being thrown except the kitchen sink. The audience loved this bout. These two athletes fought their hearts out and Arkossy was given the decision.

In another exciting bout Calgary's Peter Arbeau stepped into the ring against the very competent and respected Colin Silver (KB-One / North Vancouver) in a modified Muay Thai rules bout in the supermiddleweight division. As the bout opened Arbeau was to use his kicks and long range punches to keep Silver at bay. "Colin is a strong and dangerous puncher and I knew that he wanted to catch Peter with his punches so I worked with Peter for this bout to stay on the outside and kick and if Colin got past the kicks for Peter to clinch and knee", said Mike Miles. The strategy worked quite well in the first two rounds Arbeau looked to be ahead going into the third round. In the third round Silver stepped up the work pace and landed a few more shots but Arbeau was to fight back and land his own. The decision was given to Peter Arbeau. A very competitive bout.

Calgary's Alana Dunbrack battled Manitoba's C.J. Stewart. Finding Canadian female athletes in the female flyweight division is almost impossible. As the bout started in this full Muay Thai rules bout, Stewart seemed to have difficulty pulling the trigger to catch Dunbrack. The Calgarian kept delivering punch combinations and kicks on the outside to stop the advancing Stewart. "In this bout, I wanted Dunbrack to work her clinch and knee", said Mike Miles. The dynamics of this bout gave her the opportunity to try and work this strategy. Dunbrack was racking up the points on the outside but when she fell into the clinch, she was beaten to the knee by Stewart. But this changed in the last round, when Dunbrack pulled the trigger first and delivered knees before Stewart had a chance. Dunbrack was to win the decision and increased her record to 3 wins and 2 losses.

The opening bout of the card featured Calgary's Jason Meller (Mike Miles Muay Thai) in a bout against Dan Rodriguez (Progressive Fighting Academy). These two superlightweights put on a highly spirited bout under modified Muay Thai rules. Meller tried to use his teep to keep Rodriguez at bay, while Rodriguez was to use many techniques including spinning back kicks to score on the Calgarian. Meller kept lifting his chin when he was punching and this was a mistake as Rodriguez would catch him with solid shots. The two athletes warred but with Rodriguez taking the edge in the scoring department. Rodriguez caught Meller with a beautiful jumping back kick to the body which knocked the wind out of his foe. Meller almost went down but was saved by the bell. An exciting bout with the decision going to Rodriguez.

The Best Out of Town Athlete Trophy went to Roxy Richardson. The Best In Town Athlete Trophy went to Sean McKinnon.

Calgary prepares for 'SPRING SKIRMISH' which takes place on Friday April 18th. This is an international event featuring members of Team Canada (Scott Clark, Brad Wall, and Sandra Bastian) battling against members of Team Thailand. Other members of Team Canada (Jesse Miles and Misty Sutherland) battle against members of Team Holland. Tickets are already half sold out for this event taking place at the Telus Convention Center. For tickets or more information call (403) 244-8424.