AUSSIE RULES IN AMSTERDAM!

LHOUCINE OUZGNI knocked out Nieky Holzken in the first round of a shockingly one-sided main event at the Fighting Stars presents IT’S SHOWTIME kickboxing gala in Amsterdam.

The world kickboxing spotlight fell on the Dutch capital once again as 12 top class bouts had fight fans including soccer legend Ruud Gullit crammed into a near sold-out Sporthallen Zuid.

Considered one of the sport’s spiritual homes in the Netherlands, pioneers such as Rob Kaman, Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts and Ivan Hippolyte have all seen action over the years at the historic venue.

And the quartet would have approved of the quality on display on its return as Ouzgni’s rapid-fire victory provided one of four brutal knockouts on a high octane night which included a sensational upset win for teenager Mohamed Medhar.

What appeared a 50/50 fight on paper turned into a massacre in reality as ‘Aussie’ Ouzgni steamrolled Holzken in the opening 40 seconds of their clash of tall, sinewy super middleweights.

Holzken had put together a six-fight winning streak since suffering a July 2009 K-1 Max defeat to Buakaw Por Pramuk but was dropped heavily almost immediately as the equally in-form Ouzgni caught his middle kick and landed an instant right hand on the button.

Holzken got up on jelly legs and was chased straight to the opposite side of the ring by marauding Ouzgni, who snapped the Team Golden Glory fighter’s head way back with a jumping knee which left him on the canvas and out for the count.

Amsterdam’s Sergio Wielzen seized the It’s Showtime lightweight title on a technical decision when his fight against Michael Peynaud ended in the second round after an accidental clash of heads caused a diagonal cut over the Frenchman’s left eye.

Wielzen took the belt after being awarded the first round on all five judges’ scorecards but was being put under the cosh by a very game Peynaud – who was left to lick his wound and hope for a deserved rematch – at the time of the unfortunate conclusion.

While Wielzen’s contest supplied an anti-climactic ending, Medhar surpassed all expectations as the 19-year-old, eight A-Class fight novice claimed a breathless, deserved 4-1 judges decision win over K-1 Max die-hard Gago Drago.

Medhar – one of five Moroccan fighters to taste victory on the night – had a nothing to lose attitude and got stuck in from the start as ‘The Rock’ almost reduced Drago to rubble.

Drago lacked his usually intensity as he was pushed back but finally caught fire midway through the second round, only to go down in delayed action after being clipped by a counter right hook to the temple and he was saved by the bell as Medhar piled in for the kill.

The Armenian whirlwind rallied on pure heart and willpower in the final round but was sent reeling into a neutral corner by another strong Medhar flurry which almost caused referee Joop Ubeda to jump in.

Fighting for the first time since winning the It’s Showtime super heavyweight title from Badr Hari, Hesdy Gerges prepared for his K-1 Final Eliminations battle against Sem Schilt in October with a non-title, second round low kick stoppage of Rustemi Kreshnik.

Gerges started the damage with some stinging strikes to Kreshnik’s lead leg in a competitive first round, forcing the Albanian to come out for the second in the southpaw stance.

Kreshnik had his own joy with straight body punches and the odd solid shot through the middle, but grimaced and waved his right glove in surrender after being drilled with more hard low kicks on the ropes, leaving him to limp back to his corner.

Murthel Groenhart and middleweights Rachid Belaini and Robin van Roosmalen emulated Ouzgni by scoring devastating knockout wins.

‘The Predator’ Groenhart feasted on Joep Beerepoot early in the first round at super middleweight, flattening him with a nasty right high kick which followed a hard left hook to the liver.

Groenhart’s Mike’s Gym team-mate Belaini was just as clinical as he took out Kem Sitsongpeenong in the second round with a textbook counter left hook.

Belaini was caught with several snappy low kicks in the first round but began to find his range at the end of it and dropped the Thai face-first as he opened his guard while throwing a knee, leaving him floundering around on the ring floor with his senses scrambled.

Van Roosmalen condemned William Diender to a fifth straight defeat as he short-circuited ‘The Machine’ with a vicious third round left hook to the body.

The two pressure fighters met head-on in the centre of the ring as expected, with Van Roosmalen doing some eye-catching work with inside low kicks and right uppercuts.

Diender pressed forward in round three as he looked to tenderise Van Roosmalen’s ribs, but he was left doubled over in agony by a corking shot beneath the elbow and was counted out after slumping to both knees.

If prizes were being awarded for bravery, Ricardo van den Bos would have been first in line after showing a lion heart and granite chin as he lost a hard-fought unanimous decision in his battle of the giants with Rico Verhoeven.

Emerging heavyweight star Verhoeven began with a volley of countless heavy punches which all found the target, yet Van den Bos somehow took them all before eventually going down on one knee in his own corner.

Verhoeven looked set for an early shower but Van den Bos dug deep to stand right in front of him, firing in lead left uppercuts and straight rights before Verhoeven’s more diverse style and the knockdown got him over the line in a thrilling contest .

In an uninspiring match short on key moments, veteran German heavyweight Stefan Leko connected with one of his trademark spinning back kicks to the body and produced some accurate boxing to win on unanimous points against Turkey’s Volkan Duzgun.

Moroccan youngsters Mosab Amrani and Ramzi Tamaditi both impressed in recording worthy unanimous points wins over seasoned pros Chris van Venrooy and Imro Main in the opening part of the main programme.

Exciting former WMC super lightweight champion Amrani put Van Venrooy under steady pressure from start to finish but never looked like putting away the veteran ex-Superleague fighter, who kept his hands up and chin down and had a couple of good attacking spells of his own in the final round.

Also at middleweight, Tamaditi was too fast and sharp for the more static Main as he got through with classic straight one-twos and knees to build up an early lead.

Street-fighter Main got through with one of his famous overhand rights in the second round and closed the distance to blast away with knees from the clinch in the third, but Tamaditi had already done enough.

Mitchell de Ligny took the heavyweight show opener on points with a late burst but his opponent Raymond de Bonte can count himself unlucky after being the more active of the two overall.