After eight years the Box Hill Town Hall once again became the venue for fight fans last Friday night. In what was anticipated to be quite an exciting card featuring George “The Iron Lion” Longinidis the World Heavyweight kickboxing Champion against the Fijian Super Heavyweight champion Oscar “WMD” Tamara was indeed a great night of kickboxing in suburban Melbourne.
The promoter , Peter Maniatis endeavored to bring the best fights to the undercard and I can only assume that circumstances not under his control took over and the promised program apart from the Victorian Heavyweight title and the Main Event was altered from the advertised.
The evening commenced at 7.00 pm to a packed audience. An array of entertainment was on show from Belly Dancers, memorabilia auctions, displays, dancers, martial arts and kickboxing exhibitions, as well as a stunning performance by the fabulous Michael “Spartan” Faba the National bodybuilding and Dance Flex Champion. How the film producers of 300 overlooked this guy I don’t know! In amongst the great ex champions and promoters,
I was fortunate enough to be given a premium seat at a ringside table which included the provision of food. The fights’ were of good standard.
The women’s kickboxing bout between Dianne Prazak and Kay Hodgson was a cracker, with both fighters turning their lives around in shedding 45 kilos to become competitive fighters.
Although Dianne was the quicker opponent and won, the ladies put on a gutsy show that had the crowd on their feet.
The patched up undercard was providing excitement with the Victorian Heavyweight Championship going to Dane Campbell by beating the veteran Nick Lantouris for the vacant title.
The main event though was something else, the music got louder , the house lights went down as the spots came up and it was finally showtime. The combatants’ entrance was spectacular, with the Fijian fighter Oscar ‘WMD’ Tamara holding a ceremonial flag entered the ring first.
Then came by Greek acolytes in full ancient regalia with swords drawn surrounding the ring and escorting a group of young ladies dressed in traditional ancient Greek costumes displaying the Longinidis championship belts.
Following the spectacular introduction, George “the ‘Iron Lion’ then entered the auditorium with authority, stepping into the square ring to thunderous applause from the capacity crowd. With brother and trainer Stan ‘The Man’ in attendance, George came out fighting from the blue corner.
The first round started slowly for a brief period as both fighters sized up, then in true world championship fashion, George lashed out with three telling kicks that connected to the upper legs of his opponent.
The second round saw the ‘Iron Lion’ worry Oscar with his speed, power and agility and it was only a matter of time when Longinidis was going to deliver the winning kick. Round three and the hard kicks by George to the hamstrings of Oscar eventually took their toll.
Oscar “WMD” went down holding his leg. The Super Heavyweight from Fiji tried to get up from the canvas but it was to no avail resulting in a decisive knockout win to George Longinidis. Amongst the wild cheers from the fight fans, it was all together a great night’s entertainment!