COMMENTS OF NOTE: In his years involved in the sport, Darren's early years in the sport demonstrated spotty commitment. He then took 3 years off for his marriage. His involvement in the sport is approximately 14 years duration.

Recently Darren was called 'Canada's Best Kickboxer'. Compared to who? There are many other Calgarians like Trevor Smandych, Scott Clark, Jesse Miles, and Sandra Bastian who are technically superior in skill and knowledge and have achieved a lot more during a lesser time period than Darren. In Canada there are athletes like Brad Wall, Clifton Brown and Shane Campbell that have earned World Titles recently. With Darren competing in a weaker division (due to little competition as a featherweight), Darren did reasonably well and won a Canadian Title recently. But in reality the divisions to really consider as being active and highly competitive are the welterweight to lightheavyweight divisions.

Darren has been advertised as a 'Kickboxing Master'. So who gave Darren this title? To become a Master requires decades of global involvement and recognition. Most Masters have put in 30 plus years to achieve such a title. From personal experience, the title of Ajarn (Master) was bestowed on me by high ranking government officials in Thailand after 32 years of dedicated global involvement promoting the art and propagating the sport. This brings up the question as to 'who' gave Darren this title? As to Darren being 'Canada's Best Kickboxer' and being a 'Kickboxing Master'... Who is responsible for promoting these false, misleading and insulting titles?

Coaches Assessment: In the fight game, Darren is a classic example of an athlete who has been managed or handled correctly. Proper management and a weaker field of competition allowed Darren to achieve a respectable record. Proper Management - using a famous boxing trainers saying, Darren's "career tried to avoid those who could beat him and directed him toward those competitors lacking experience or demonstrating a downturn in their competitive careers."

Darren is an athlete cursed with a glass jaw and was known as a very hot/cold fighter. He could be either at the drop of a hat. Confronted with reasonable resistance, Darren could and often did give up. The glass jaw and the possibility of Darren giving up was a constant concern for the cornermen whenever he fought. In the majority of Darren's bouts, he was almost always dropped during the fight from a blow (many of Canada's Best Kickboxers do not even get hit while competing). Sometimes Darren could recover and at others he did not. Prime examples of being dropped included bouts against Gary Kroonen Jr. (Canada), Dave Odd (Canada), and Oscar Contreras (Mexico). Darren could be in the lead in a bout and then lose or almost lose the fight by taking a few solid shots. Bouts with Thomas (France), Vilarisco (USA), and Tavernini (Canada) are prime examples of this.

Fragile fighting heart - Darren's resolve to fight was tested in his fight against Stephen Strotmeyer (USA). Darren gave up after the first round and the fight was waved off (evidenced by the provided video clip). After a stern lecture from cornerman Trevor Smandych, Darren continued the bout. Darren eventually won the fight but a protest by American Coach Brian Crenshaw was not lodged with the sanctioning body and the win stood. The decision could have been protested and overturned.

As a cornerman with experience, one can tell if a fighter gives up by looking into their eyes. In Darren's bout against Omar Ahmed (USA), Darren did not even want to be in the ring during this fight. The opposing coach was so surprised and elated by Darren's poor performance that he was laughing during the complete bout. The video shows a complete outclassing of Darren during the bout.

Darren has recently stated he "did not fight for titles or awards". What a bogus excuse. In the opinion of many, this is a disgrace for an athlete who was presented with the opportunity and more so the responsibility from sponsorship to represent Canada during several World Championship Tournaments. Sponsorship is difficult to attain and this statement is a disappointment to those who presented the funds and opportunity for Darren to represent Canada. Sponsorship funds should have been and in the future will be used on those wanting to excel and represent Canada at the highest levels. In 2006 during a semi-final bout at the World Championships in Thailand, Darren pulled a repeat performance (a la Ahmed) in his bout against Australian Chris White. The cornerman for Darren in this bout gives the opinion that Darren gave up. Was Darren happy with a bronze medal? Darren had the background training to move on and excel in the 2006 World Championships, but instead disappointed his team mates and sponsors by accepting Bronze and not striving for the Gold.

Darren's implied 'impressive' fight record... to whom? 'Impressive' is a conjecture of perception. If Darren is Canada's Best Kickboxer, he sits on a record of 20 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw. That is approximately a 62.5% success rate. Fellow Calgarian Jesse Miles sits on a record of 28 wins, 1 loss (the loss was very controversial) and 1 draw. That is a 93.7% success rate. Scott Clark sits on 36 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw. That gives Clark a 88% success rate. As a coach looking at fight records and who they have faced, just the examples of Miles and Clark alone would give me the perception of 'impressive'.

It is interesting to note the exaggerating of a win against a Thai opponent in Thailand in 2004. During that year, due to a legal problem within Thailand, a proper team representing Thailand was not allowed to compete. A proper team refers to experienced medium class Thai athletes. So instead a nephew of an executive member on the organizing committee was allowed to compete as a member of the hastily arranged 'Thai' group. The Thai athlete, Chaiwrat was a 17 year old high school student who trained Muay Thai for fun. Darren had a win but only against a very low skilled Thai athlete.

Darren has made the statements that he was the only person under my tutelage who could hold pads for me when I trained to keep in shape. In fact, I was attempting to provide Darren the opportunity to earn more money due to his stressful financial position by suggesting he holds pads for me. Darren's physical stature disallowed effective resistance to speed and full power training. The best pad holders of athletes under my tutelage have been Kerry Dell, Patrick Bowsher, Jason Fenton and Trevor Smandych.

What remains for Darren are simple, clumsy, and unmerited attempts at embellishment.