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One Of The Greatest Fights Ever!
Nawaz & Fowler Keep IKF Gold in Canada!

Article Taken from www.IKFKickboxing.com (the article has been slightly edited for space)

If there was any more "DRAMA" that shadowed over the dual IKF World title event in Burlington, Ontario, Canada this past weekend, we could all make a good "Reality Show" from it. Still, through it all, first time IKF Promoter Amer Mustafa of Kick Axe Promotions kept calm and managed to keep the promotional ship moving forward in one direction... SUCCESS!

When the smoke had cleared, Canada had two new IKF World Champions to be proud of! Brad Fowler London, Ontario, Canada took home the gold of the vacant IKF Pro Full Contact Rules Super Welterweight World Title and Muzammal 'Abu Zayd' Nawaz of Burlington, Ontario, Canada silenced the age critics and took the IKF Pro Full Contact Rules Light Middle World Title from previous Champion, Anthony "Powerhouse" Bartinelli of Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

The weigh-ins were held at the Bay Area Athletic Club ( www.bacboxing.com ) owned by Muzammal Nawaz. I must say that this was one of the most impressive clubs I have seen. It was well organized, clean and shined with professionalism. It had all that the serious fighters needed.

Nawaz is the president of a well-known Canadian organization called the Council of Amateur Sport Kickboxing (CASK - www.kickboxingcanada.org). CASK is the government recognized association for amateur kickboxing in Canada with over 70 member clubs across Canada with over 2000 registered athletes. The association has numerous programs and services they offer kickboxing/martial arts clubs from insurance coverage, providing coaching certification courses, sanctioning events to training and supporting National team athletes.

Forget the time Nawaz spends on training, his involvement in CASK is more than a full time job. But that's not all, he has a full time senior management career in the voluntary sector where he has worked for the past 10 years! Between juggling his career, his status as a professional athlete and his work in the amateurkickboxing industry, he considers his number 1 priority his family and raising his three young children. Yet despite all this activity, on this day, he had one goal in mind...Becoming the New IKF World Champion!

Nawaz stepped on the scale and it read 72.3... THE EXACT top weight for his IKF Light Middleweight World title bout challenge...(153.1 lbs. - 159 lbs. or 69.6 kg - 72.3 kg)

Next up was the Champion as Anthony "Powerhouse" Bartinelli stepped up on the scale... 73.8 kg, or 3.3 lbs over the weight limit of his IKF Light Middleweight World title weightclass he was to defend. "No Problem" right? Bartinelli was in a taxi and back to the hotel he went. Lets move on with the others to weigh...

Brad Fowler came to the weigh-ins looking ripped and lean as he topped the scale at 68.8 kg or 151.36 lbs., well under the 69.5kg or 153 lb weight limit. All was set as he stepped off the scale and made way for his opponent, fellow contender, Fernando Calleros of Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

So the stage was set as Calleros took off his shirt to step on the scale... And as he did, everyone stood silent ...The scale read, "78 Kilos!" that's 171.6 lbs to us Americans... Or, the more telling number, it was 20.3 lbs. heavier than Fowler and 18.6 lbs OVER the weight limit of 153 lbs for the vacant IKF Pro Full Contact Rules Super Welterweight World Title.

The verdict... Automatic win for Fowler since the weight was even far too much for Calleros to lose. Yes, Fowler won his long awaited world title without throwing a punch... A win NO True Fighter wants, and especially the warrior, Brad Fowler. There was nothing to say other than "Congratulations Brad, you're a new IKF World Champion."

As the 90 minutes past, Bartinelli was back and everyone awaited to see the numbers on the scale. Shoes, shorts and shirt off and he stepped on... 73.4 kg's... 161.48 lbs. He was still over weight and since this was the Ontario Commissions final weigh-in for him. This title was also decided by the scales.

Muzammal Nawaz of Burlington, Ontario, Canada suddenly becomes the new IKF Pro Full Contact Rules Light Middle World champion as did Fowler... Without a punch or kick thrown...

Still at least these two were within a legal weight spread, so they would still fight. For Nawaz there was the motivation to beat the past World Champion and for Bartinelli there was the need to prove he was the best of the two World Champions.

Once an intermission past some time, it was time for the nights main event. A non title bout between who was now the New IKF World Light middleweight Champion, Muzammal 'Abu Zayd' Nawaz of Burlington, Ontario, Canada and Former Champion, Anthony "Powerhouse" Bartinelli of Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Despite it being a non-title bout, I don't believe the crowd cared they just wanted to see a Great Fight, which was what they were about to see...

Now before I begin to outline this fight, lets get something straight. Yes Bartinelli was over the weight limit. Yes, he tried to lose weight, both the night before and the day of. Some may want to say that he tired himself out because of the needed last minute weight loss. Well, sorry but I'm not buying any such excuse. I like Anthony a lot as well as his trainer Clement Vierra, but the reality here is simple, and as much as I hate the phrase, "It is what it is", I'm using it here as Bartinelli knew about his fight months back. He knew what he had to weigh, he's done it before and was surly capable of doing it again. There was talk about a partly torn ACL of his knee, which kept him from running to keep his weight down. Was it true? Maybe... Did I hear the event physician say anything about it? No. However, the doctor cleared him, and that was good enough for me, as it would be for anyone.

ROUND 1: Not much to talk about here other than the surprise of how slow Bartinelli came out. I'd like to say he was pacing himself but for those who know what Bartinelli looked like when he won his title against a 32-0 Mike Nagy years back, you would all agree, Bartinelli does not "Pace" himself. He comes out explosive! However, certainly not this time. Nawaz on the other hand appeared to have a game plan. "Stay busy!" and staying busy he did. At the end of the round he had out kicked Anthony 17-8 and outpointed him as well for an easy round win.

Rounds 2 and 3 were pretty much the same way on my private card with Muzammal averaging 12-15 kicks to Anthony's 8 and 9. It wasn't until round 4 that the crowd got into the fight though this was the round that Muzammal caught Anthony with a perfect head kick to Anthony's temple that dropped him to the canvas. Anthony beat the count, but at the end of the round, the cards read 10-8, Muzammal.

Round 5 saw Anthony getting his composure back and waking him up because he actually made some progress in rounds 6 and 7, winning them both on the judges cards. Rounds 7, 8 9 and 10 all seemed to be mixed among the judges. Some saw Anthony ahead while the others saw Muzammal. After 7, Muzammal held a good lead on the cards of 68-65, 68-64 and 69-63.

Judges Bobbie Bell and judge Kelly Zolnierczyk both gave Anthony rounds 8 and 9, Bell even gave him round 10, while judge Dave Dunbar gave 8, 9 and 10 to Muzammal. After 10 the judge’s cards read 95-95, 98-91 and 97-92.

It was round 11 though where everyone could tell that Muzammal was starting to hit a wall. Although he kept busy, he was allowing Anthony to score more. However it became evident that Muzammal was very durable and was determined to push the last few rounds and not simply rely on his lead. Anthony had his best performances in the last two rounds. However it was evident that he was desperate and was relying on a knock out win. In the last round Anthony did not even attempt any kicks and therefore lost the round with the judges.

Muzammal had worked a perfect game plan all the way to the end. He kept far more busy than Anthony did throughout the fight averaging 12 kicks a round to Anthony's 9. In the end, Anthony had hit a wall as well. Although Muzammal had let his guard down now, Anthony had no power to land his much needed decisive blow to change an ending that all saw coming.

When the cheering stopped, the ring announcer announced the obvious, the winner, by unanimous decision, 115-113, 117-110 and 116-111, out of the red corner, Muzammal 'Abu Zayd' Nawaz of Burlington, Ontario, Canada! He had won the bout, and had also won the right to place around his waste with pride, the IKF Pro Full Contact Rules Light Middle World Title belt.

Muzammal now goes back to his everyday life, tending to business at his Bay Area Athletic Club as well as business with the Council of Amateur Sport Kickboxing and as a full time senior management career in the voluntary sector. But lets not forget his number 1 priority... his family and raising his three young children.

Hopefully somewhere in there, he will remember the night he silenced the age critics and walked out of the ring with pride as the new IKF World Champion!

Sincerely
Steve Fossum
IKF World President

DVD's of the bout are now available for $40 USD plus shipping.
A must see for any kickboxing Fan!
Contact IKF Promoter Amer Mustafa at elitecp@yahoo.com

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