I have yet to be disappointed with a Roy Englebrecht Event. So when I got the opportunity to cover the Worlds Collide fight night on April 18, 2009 I knew I would not be disappointed…and I wasn’t. I have never been to an event such as this. Where you have a mixture of boxing and mixed martial arts. Gladiators from two sides of the same coin giving their all in the ring, and the audience a show to remember.

The first fight of the evening was a boxing match that was not destined to go far. Manuel Delgado slips to 1-3 as he is TKO’d 1:12 in round number one by Arquimedez Garcia who remains undefeated at 3-0-1. Some may argue that the fight was stopped early (like Delgado who expressed his disapproval of the decision by referee Jay Nady to stop the fight), but seeing as though Delgado went down on the what seemed like the first real landed punch of the fight it was clear Delgado simply was outmatched in this fight.

The next bout of the evening featured the mixed martial arts skills of Martin Bautista and Tommy Vargas. Vargas looking to remain undefeated made quick work of Bautista. Some are forced to submit, but making this opponent submit by means of a choke or arm bar was not in the game plan on this night. If Vargas was going to make his opponent submit it was going to be by pounding him into submission. Which is exactly what happened. Vargas wins by TKO 2:31 into the first round. Vargas improves to 3-0, Bautista drops to 6-7.

If I had to vote on which fight was the most intense of the night it would have to be this boxing match between Johnny Frazier and Rynell Griffin both of these young men fighting out of Las Vegas, NV. These two warriors went toe –to- toe blow for blow against each other with neither man giving or gaining any ground. This bout went all 4 rounds and ended in a draw. Frazier moves to 2-0-1 and Griffin moves to 3-1-1.

The fourth fight of the evening featured Ignacio Garcia fighting out of the blue corner versus Isauro Tapia fighting out of the red corner. This was a pretty intense fight with each man in my opinion giving what the audience came to see; a great fight. In the end however Ignacio Garcia turned out to more hungry. Even though this fight went the distance Garcia gets the unanimous decision in the end to improve to 2-1-1, while Isauro Tapia moves to 1-1-1.

The next mixed martial arts fight of the evening featured Chad Dietmeyers against Leonardo Soares. This was a pretty good fight all the way through. Barring the accidental kick to the growing Sores delivered to Dietmeyers both men fought a clean fight mostly on the ground where Soares looked to be trying to take the fight. Dietmeyers ability to successfully defend on the ground and his ability to effectively land strikes when they were not on the ground was the key to his unanimous win improving his record to a convincing 6-0, while Soares drops to 3-4.

Out of all the fights of the evening this was probably the shocker. Not because an underdog won, but because it was decided at the very last second of the very last round. In this boxing match Paul Mendez and Victor Medina both came prepared to do battle, and there was no shortage of punches from neither of these fighters. Clearly however Medez was the better fighter on this night. It looked as if Victor Medina may actually make this fight go to the cards, but at 2:59 in the fourth round he was caught be a devastating right that sent him to the ground…and kept him there till referee Jay Nady counted him out. Paul Mendez improves to 2-0. Victor loses his debut and now has a record of 0-1.

The final bout of the evening sadly was the least entertaining. This mixed martial art bout featured Jamie Fletcher and his opponent Walter Roberto. With in my opinion one of the greatest technical mixed martial art fighters Josh Barnett in his corner, I can see why Fletcher was playing it safe the entire fight. Roberto however was not making Fletcher job easy. While it Fletcher seemed to want to stand and exchange strikes with Roberto. His opponent came with an arsenal of different counterstrikes and takedowns to try and throw Fletcher out of whatever game plan he may have had. Fletcher however showed a calmness mirroring, that which is displayed by Josh Barnett during his fights. This focus and control may be what won over the judges in his split decision win. Jamie Fletcher improves to 8-4, and Walter Roberto moves to 6-5.

By: James T. Stuckey
President
B&K Arts and Entertainment

Photo by Richard Klein