SELECTED PREVIOUS EVENTS 2002

"OKANAGAN RUMBLE" - (Vernon, British Columbia, Canada) March 9th, 2002
Promoter Jason Dara hosted another very successful fight card in Vernon B.C. on this night. The event featured No Holds Barred bouts, Grappling bouts, a Boxing bout and a full Muay Thai rules bout. The event was sold out and all watching were very impressed with the show.

The Muay Thai bout was to feature Brad Wall (Progressive Fighting Acadmey) against an athlete who pulled out leading into the event. Wall, a Lethbridge native was to contest for the vacant WKA Canadian Superwelterweight Muay Thai Title. On short notice (2 weeks before the event) Calgary’s Mike Miles found a replacement in the name of Bryan Campbell (Mike Miles Muay Thai). Campbell was only stepping into the ring for the second time in his competitive career whereas Wall possessed a fight record with almost 10 times the experience. As such, the bout could no longer be for a title and the full Muay Thai rules bout (allowing elbows) was reduced to 3 rounds of 2 minutes. Campbell weighed in at 161 lbs. and Wall weighed in at 164 lbs.

Campbell had only had one bout prior to this match and ironically it was also against Wall in the elimination rounds of the 2001 WKA Canadian Golden Gloves. Campbell had given Wall a hard time in the ring but lost an unanimous decision in that match. Tonight was going to be a ‘revenge match’. In the first round, Wall came out a little slower as he always needs a round to start off. Campbell was landing his punches, kicks, elbows, and knees with more intensity and frequency than Wall. The first round went firmly to Campbell. In the second round, Campbell turned it down a notch while Wall himself, picked it up one. Campbell caught Wall with a jumping elbow and he cut his foe on the top of the head. In this round, two of the judges gave it to Campbell and one felt that Wall won it. In the final round, Campbell was extremely tired and wall started pressuring. Though Campbell was tired he was still delivering very heavy kicks. The judges unanimously gave the round to Wall. The decision at the end of the bout was split for Campbell. Two of the judges scored it 29 to 28 for Campbell and the third judge scored it 29 to 28 for Wall. Based on the action and intensity of the final round (in which Wall overwhelmingly won the round), the audience did not agree with the decision. "The audience was ecstatic about the fight and the use of the elbows. I think this one one of the best fights of the night", said Campbell’s cornerman for this bout.