INTER-CITY rivalries are fierce the world over and few are more tense than the ill will that exists between
Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
Rising stars Mosab Amrani and Hesdy Gerges made it a
2-0 win to the Dutch capital with unanimous points victories as the age-old animosity was played out inside the thai
boxing ring at Amsterdam Fightclub.
But a 1-1 draw in the co-main events would
have been a far more popular outcome at The Sand indoor beach sports and events centre near Sloterdijk train station - even
with the fanatical Amsterdam home crowd.
For while talented Amrani's defeat
of Abid Boudhan was hard fought but convincing, heavyweight Gerges lost some of his recent shine as he scraped past veteran
Ashwin Balrak in a controversial verdict that was whistled and jeered from the stands.
Standing stock still and with hands on hips after his ring entrance, youngster Amrani (Team Slamm/Mousid Gym) exuded confidence
and jumped on Boudhan from the off.
Amrani is already a former WMC champion with a stoppage
of Anuwat Kaewsamrit and one round knockout of Bovy Sor Udomsorn on his record, and another fast start saw him drop his docklands
opponent with a left middle kick followed by a left hook in the opening round.
But what
seemed destined to be an early finish turned into a real welterweight dogfight as courageous Boudhan upheld his city's
honour by giving as good as he got at times and battled for every inch of ring space despite being put under persistent pressure.
Dutch-Egyptian heavyweight Gerges has attracted some rave reviews of late thanks to wins over K-1
regional tournament winners Ruslan Karaev and Paul Slowinski.
But after watching the
first two rounds from ringside, Badr Hari will not be having any sleepless nights ahead of their scheduled match at the Amsterdam
ArenA in May on the evidence of his latest display as he struggled past tigerish Balrak.
Gerges won the opening round on workrate yet Balrak, wearing his customary flag of Surinam sarong over his shorts, clearly
took the second as he claimed ring centre and landed a peach of a short, straight right and some solid uppercuts through the
middle.
With it all to play for in the third and final session, Balrak looked
like he was trying to win the fight as he sucked in air and pushed the tempo again with the crowd right behind him.
But he stalked at times instead of throwing shots, and Gerges chipped away with scoring low kicks on
the back foot to claim an unpopular decision that resulted in the ring being showered with beer from a thrown plastic
cup, as well as catcalls.
Balrak labelled Gerges overrated in the show build-up.
That could turn out to be the case or he might have simply had an off night or underestimated a very capable
and savvy foe.
Whatever the truth may be, he will have to produce a drastically improved
performance to stand a chance of beating Hari and he gets an important sharpener in before their date when he faces
Attila Karacs in Milan later this month.
Balrak has never fought for K-1 in Japan
despite having his 27th heavyweight match since moving up against Gerges. Time for the fighting lawyer, 34, to get a
chance in the big league before he retires.
While Balrak showed that seasoning
can be a match for youth, another Dutch veteran proved there is life in the old dog yet as the rotund but tough Lloyd van
Dams won a supporting four-man heavyweight tournament.
This was not without a
slight touch of controversy either however as Van Dams, who turns 38 on March 5, outpointed Benjey Zimmerman in the final.
Zimmerman, who outscored Spaniard Frank Munoz earlier in the night to go through, used the boxing experience
he gathered in representing Curacao in the 2009 AIBA World Amateur Championships as he jabbed Van Dams off at times in
the first two rounds.
But as he began to reel forward through fatigue, Van Dams
- winner of a hard semi-final against Brian Douwes on points - stepped up a gear in the closing round behind looping
overhand punches to smuggle victory.
Spidery L'houcine 'Aussie' Ouzgni
predicted that his bout against Ali Gunyar would be the fight of the night and he backed up his some of his boasts with a
dramatic ending as he knocked out the former K-1 Max competitor in the second round.
Gunyar never got going as he was dropped on the seat of his trunks in his own blue corner in the first round and took the
full count after being decked again by a spearing straight right set up by a front kick.
What looked like a 50-50 fight on paper also turned out to be one-way traffic in reality for Murthel Groenhart
as he stopped Amir Zeyada on a cut in the first round of their European super middleweight title showdown.
Groenhart (Mike's Gym) floored Zeyada after catching him with an early flurry against the ropes, and although
the Chauriki man got up he was pulled out by the ringside doctor after being nicked in a follow-up onslaught, with his injury
deemed too severe for him to continue.
In a clash of K-1 Max hopefuls, Chris Ngimbi
edged Hafid el Boustati on points after an extra round, although El Boustati seemed a bit unfortunate not to win in regulation
time after being the aggressor.
Both were coming off wins over Chahid Oulad El
Hadj but Ngimbi looked out of sorts before his extra freshness pulled him through.
Robin
van Roosmalen had no such issues with a lack of form in the main programme however as he warmed up for the K-1 World Max West
Europe tournament in Utrecht on March 21 with a pulsating points win over Anthony Nekrui.
Van Roosmalen had the more powerful kicks and punches but also bled from the mouth after Nekrui stood tall
in a toe to toe encounter which the Fightclub Den Bosch man took on the scorecards.
Holland is the undisputed European capital of kick and thai boxing and is full of event promoters, but with their mix of
exciting fights, pumping music and beautiful dancers and ring card girls, Amsterdam Fightclub are a force to be reckoned with.
