Cape Town — Fight fans were treated to a premier display of Muay Thai at Grand West Casino and Entertainment World on Saturday night.
In a first for Cape Town combat sport since the lockdown, more than 300 guests and Muay Thai enthusiasts were allowed to attend the Thaiholics Fight Promotions: Continental Collision event which took place at the Market Hall of the popular establishment.
The event, which saw a contingent of German athletes come over, catered for an 11-fight international card that included a couple of national titles bouts.
The main event saw South African Kickboxing Association’s cruiserweight champion Karl Bergemann (now 23-8), take on Germany's Enrico Rogge (now 32-4) in a much-anticipated five-round professional catchweight bout.
They were set to face each other on a Get In The Ring card in Europe prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, so they finally had the opportunity to handle their business on Saturday night.
In the first round, the popular South African athlete - also known as Baywatch in fight halls and gyms across the globe - seemed to have the upper hand.
At one stage he dropped his opponent with a leg kick feint sequence which led to Bergemann releasing a well-timed and well-aimed spinning back fist which rocked Rogge.
Noticing his opponent was hurt, Bergemann then unleashed a series of punches which had the German against the ropes before dropping to the canvas.
Upon reset, Bergemann went in for the finish, landing a combination of kicks and flurry of head shots that seemed to penetrate the defences of Rogge, the German endured the blows before closing the space and getting into a clinch as the time ticked down for the end of the first round.
The second round saw Bergemann attack the right side of Rogge’s rib cage, which was followed up by what looked like a fight-ending knee to the stomach area. Rogge dropped to the canvas only for those in attendance to realise that it was an illegal shot to the groin.
Upon restart, during a quick exchange, the German seemed to rock Bergemann a bit with a sharp left hook to the chin, the fighters then engaged in a clinch before losing their balance and dropping to the canvas. Bergemann then upped the tempo with a flurry of shots to the torso and head of his opponent, who did well to protect himself with high hands.
After a few more exchanges, the Boxtempel Berlin fighter - a highly experienced Kyokushin athlete with more than 170 fights - landed (what looked like) a vicious spinning heel kick to the liver area of his South African counterpart which dropped the 1.95cm tall Bergemann, who was left grimacing in pain, forcing the referee to call the fight due to knockout.
The entire event can still be live-streamed on the Thaiholics Fight Promotions YouTube page.
The next Thaiholics Fight Promotion takes place on May 14 at Grand West Casino and will see African and multi-time champion, Nedo Gomba face Italy’s Pasquale Amoroso.
Here are your results from Thaiholics Fight Promotions: Continental Collision.
Amateurs
Lightweight division (61kg): Brian Ncube (Thaiholics) beat Nabeel Varachia (Top Gym) via unanimous decision.
Pro-am SA title eliminator
Super Welterweight division (69,5kg): Jean Luc Adendorff (Scorpions) beat Dyllan Dutton (Atlantic Thaiboxing) via split decision.
Pro-am
Super Lightweight division (63.5kg): Michael Bezuidenhout (Iron Tiger) beat Heinrich Jacobs (Fighterz inc.) via unanimous decision.
Pro-am SA title eliminator
Middleweight division (72.5kg): Paul Kombol (Nakaeng) beat Luan Venter (Scorpions) via split decision.
Pro-am SA title defence
Super Welterweight division (69.5): Shane Deacon (Thaiholics) defends his belt against Chester Kruger (PFA) via unanimous decision.
Pro SA title
Featherweight division (57.15kg): Devin Rae Gouws (Camp Fight) beat Yolandi Botha (Nakaeng) via unanimous decision.
Pro fight
Welterweight division (66.67kg): Nkazimulo Zulu (Domination) knocked out Crispin Ramis (Thaiholics Hamburg) in the second round.
Pro fight
Light heavyweight division (79.387kg): Evans Witte (Thaiholics Hamburg) knocked out Iron Tiger’s Lamin Souayah.
Pro fight
Catchweight division (83kg): Adrian van Wyk (Thaiholics) beat Florian Kruger (Gladiators Gym, Hamburg).
Pro fight
Super lightweight (63.5kg): division: Nedo Gomba (Iron Tiger) beat Kevin Burmester (Gladiators Gym, Hamburg) via unanimous decision.
Pro fight
Catchweight division (88kg): Enrico Rogge (Boxtempel Berlin) knocked out Karl Bergemann (Thaiholics) in round two.
IOL Sport