"MARCH MAYHEM" - (Calgary, Canada) March 24th, 2001
On Saturday March 25th, Mike Miles promoted 'March Mayhem' at his Northwest
training facility in Calgary. The bout was a small ‘smoker’ but was well attended, and in fact sold out to 450
people. The audience was treated to some fantastic bouts. The athletes, most falling into the green
category (representing their experience) demonstrated great heart and desire to be in the ring.
The Main Event featured John Phommerath (Winnipeg - Jerrick Hodge) battling against Kim Morris
(newly arrived in Calgary, now calling it his home - Mike Miles). With a little over a month of training at
his new Muay Thai school, Morris did his best to try and defeat Phommerath for the vacant WKA
Western Canadian Superfeatherweight Muay Thai Title (modified rules). Though he did catch
Phommerath with a few punches that shook the Winnipeg native, Morris did not capitalize. On the other
hand, Phommerath came and gave it his best showing pure heart and desire in this match. Phommerath
did a very good job of switching from punch and kick attacks to the clinch. The shorter Morris had a
difficult time adjusting. Phommerath won the scheduled five round bout by a third round TKO. "Kim is
coming along making adjustments in his style. This was a good learning experience for him! He’ll be
back. He did some very good things in this fight that he has only recently acquired. John looked very, very
good in this bout. He is getting better all of the time. Jerrick has done a wonderful job with him. I predict
bigger things for John in the near future. His star is starting to shine now," said promoter Mike Miles.
In the Semi-Main Event, the crowd was treated to a scorcher of a Muay Thai bout. It featured Trish
Kingsford (Calgary - Mike Miles) against the highly respected an undefeated Jade Irwin (Dawson Creek -
Wade Irwin). This bout was a toe to toe slugfest with each exchanging quite evenly. The edge went to
Kingsford in the first 2 rounds with superior and effective knee tactics. But by no means was Irwin out of
the fight, demonstrating the heart of a lion, the drive of a tiger and the desire of a future champion. In the
third round, Kingsford managed to put herself into full gear and outscored Irwin. "What a fight! Jade
(Irwin) is a very talented athlete. Wow, I was very impressed. Her husband Wade has done a very good job
with her. She has a bright future ahead of her", said Mike Miles. It is great to see Wade Irwin back on the
Kickboxing/Muay Thai scene in Canada. Welcome back Wade, we missed you!
In an all out war, Pemberton’s Darrin Cave (Sasha Smirnoff) threw everything he had to try and finish his
bout against Adam Gorski (Calgary - Mike Miles) in a Kickboxing bout. Cave came out fully intent on
trying to knock Gorski out who did a good job of moving around Cave in the beginning. The problem was
that Gorski held his hands low and he was tagged with a shot that dropped him to the canvas. He made
the count and though on wobbly legs, he managed to straighten Cave out with a few shots in return.
However, Gorski got careless again and Cave threw a right hand bomb that had only one intention and
that was to drop Gorski. The punch worked and Gorski could not beat the 10 count. Smirnoff’s athletes
can hit, and hit h-a-r-d! Cave moves up in the Canadian ratings.
Shelley Evans (Calgary - Mike Miles) stepped into the ring against the highly capable Judy Pereira
(Winnipeg - Jerrick Hodge). As soon as the bell sounded, Evans was all over Pereira landing solid lefts
and rights. Pereira, a very smart and capable counter fighter, never had a chance in this match to settle
into her game plan of move and counterpunch. Evans, looked markedly improved in this bout, looking for
the openings, and when seeing them launching solid kicks and punches. The referee finally stopped the
match towards the end of the round with Evans winning by the Referee Stopping the Contest in the first
round.
Erin Linley (Calgary - Mike Miles) squared off with Trisha Featherstone (Red Deer - Lyle Cheney) in a 3
round Kickboxing bout. This bout showed great heart and desire from Featherstone, but it also had Linley
shine in the hit and evade department. Linley would land solid strikes and when Featherstone would try
and counter, Linley would provide angles and move out of range or into a position that would nullify
Featherstone’s blows. Featherstone was the athlete who had the stronger strikes but Linley strategy to hit
and move frustrated her opponent. Linley won the bout when Featherstone’s corner finally threw the towel
in late in the second round.
Mike Bell (Edmonton - Steve Bergeron) delivered some excellent low line kicks which resulted in an
injury forcing Fabian Cortez (Calgary - Mike Miles) to finally quit because he could no longer continue.
Cortez was firing on the inside with heavy punches but Bell was smart and noticed that Cortez would
maintain a wide stance. As Cortez would prepare to launch a punch attack, Bell would smoothly take out
Cortez’s back leg. One attack had Cortez turn his ankle over and he could no longer continue. Bell looked
very good and performed smartly during this bout. Bell won the bout by first round TKO.
Robin Finley (Calgary - Mike Miles) faced Jay Johnston (Winnipeg - Bill Bell). Both athletes had their
opponents pull out on them leading into the event. Both agreed to meet each other with Finley having a
weight advantage. Johnston started off the bout briskly, forcing the pressure and landing some good shots.
Finley remained calm and shelled trying to corner his foe. Johnston was forced to the ropes and he
decided to try and exchange with Finley. As he came off the ropes he walked into a right uppercut he did
not see and he went down and was unable to make the ten count. Finley won the bout by first round TKO.
Dallas Johnson (Calgary - Mike Miles) stepped into the ring against the ‘little tiger’ from B.C., Amanda
Faulks (Pemberton - Sasha Smirnoff). What a war this turned out to be. Both athletes showed spunk and
desire during this bout. In round one each would land evenly on each other but the smaller Faulks kept
forcing Johnson backwards. In the second round, Faulks came alive and really started landing her
punches. In the third round Johnson came back with some very nice punches and kicks but towards the
end of the round Faulks had recuperated and started forcing the tiring Johnson back into the ropes. The
audience loved this bout with Faulks winning by unanimous decision.
Audience participation was at it’s max when Irene Miles-Nemeth (Calgary - Mike Miles), the sister of
Mike Miles made her ring debut against Brie Westley (Winnipeg - Bill Bell), an athlete who had one win
under her belt. In this Kickboxing bout and at the sound of the bell, Westley rushed out and caught
Nemeth with some very strong straight punches and a few strong cut kicks. Nemeth’s nose was a bright
red from being whacked. But as the bout progressed Nemeth settled down and shelled up and started to
find her bearings by the end of the round. In the second round, Nemeth came out with a nice artillery of
straight punches, front kicks and roundhouse kicks that took Westley by surprise. Nemeth continued her
pressure even after connecting catching Westley from many different angles with punches to the head and
the body. Towards the end of the round, Westley had been outgunned and the referee decided to stop the
bout with Nemeth winning by a TKO. The turn around in the bout was one of the most surprising of the
evening.
Jennifer Cutbill (Calgary - Mike Miles) took a fight on 2 days notice and ended up in the ring against
Kathleen O’Donovan (Dawson Creek - Wade Irwin). Cutbill had an 11 pound weight disadvantage but she
showed her true fighting heart and overcame this handicap. O’Donovan employed excellent technique to
keep Cutbill at bay, but the ever pressing Calgarian kept managing to break through with hand
combinations and strong inside and outside cut kicks. Both athletes showed exceptional heart and drive to
win. Cutbill took the bout by unanimous decision though O’Donovan proved she is an athlete to be
respected.
Kevin McKay (Saskatoon - Don Ouelette) stepped into the ring against Chris Carson (Pemberton - Sasha
Smirnoff). The shorter McKay kept pressing the bout and managed to frustrate Carson at times. Carson
kept looking for a knock out but McKay wisely would place his head in positions that nullified the heavy
shots that Carson would throw. Carson won the bout by unanimous decision.