Night of Kick and Punch 16, from Barbosa to Cimpeanu, what a show in the ring!

Night of Kick and Punch 16, from Carlos Barbosa to Georgian Cimpeanu, show in the ring at the Reggia di Veneria

Great show at the Night of Kick and Punch 16 – Black Tie Edition 3 held on Saturday 8 June, at the Reggia di Venaria. Organized by Angelo and Marianna Valente in collaboration with the Sap Fighting Style of the lawyer Michele Briamonte and in partnership with AB Consulting, Sicurjob Srl and H-Onelab Srl, the event was hosted inside the beautiful Citroniera of the Reggia di Venaria and presented from The Donatella (Silvia and Giulia Provvedi) with Valerio Lamanna, the voice of combat sports in Italy. The athletes gave their all, producing spectacular matches that entertained the public and VIP guests alike the top model Chiara Scelsi (who trains with maestro Angelo Valente at the Kick and Punch Downtown Milan gym) and the journalist Giuseppe Cruciani (host of the program La Zanzara on Radio 24). The president of Sap Fighting Style General of the Carabinieri Francesco Caffaro (RO) was also there.

In the final of the tournament for 70 kg athletes with the rules of the K-1 style (punches, kicks and knees) the Spaniard Carlos Barbosa once again demonstrated the extraordinary power of his punches by knocking Amin Ettayeb to the canvas twice (once in the first round and the final one in the second) and therefore winning before the limit. Barbosa had already demonstrated his worth last March 2nd at the historic Principe theater in Milan by knocking out Francesco Maggio in the second round (again with his fists). “I have never practiced boxing competitively – commented Carlos Barbosa – but my coach always gave a lot of importance to the pugilistic part of kickboxing and therefore I became good at throwing punches”. In these two matches played in Italy Carlos Barbosa demonstrated that he has the power to knock down his opponent with a single punch and that he has the character to get up after being knocked down (as happened against Francesco Maggio) and do what is necessary to win. Ultimately, he is a champion who could become one of the leading athletes of the new circuit created by Angelo Valente and the lawyer Michele Briamonte: Revolt.

During the evening, the lawyer Michele Briamonte presented the Revolt belt and the check that will go to the winner: 100 thousand euros! A figure that certainly no kickboxing champion has ever earned in Italy and perhaps not even in Europe. “Revolt was born from an idea by Angelo Valente – explained the lawyer Michele Briamonte – which I immediately approved. The time has come for Italy to live up to the European and Asian nations where kickboxing is much more popular such as Holland and Japan. Revolt will be a tournament with at least two stages: semi-finals and final. The athletes we will select will be the best internationally available at that time. Whoever wins the tournament will have to feel they have arrived, they will have to be convinced that they have accomplished a historic feat. Therefore, every aspect of the tournament must be organized with the utmost care as is the case in the One Championship, K-1 Grand Prix and Rizin tournaments. The public, athletes and journalists must consider Revolt not only a top-level tournament, but a great sporting event.”

On Saturday 8 June, at the Reggia di Venaria the former Wako-Pro featherweight world champion Luca Grusovin beat Alessandro Bellini on points at the end of three spectacular rounds, always with the rules of the K-1 style. The match was more spectacular than Grusovin expected: after winning the first two rounds, in the third Grusovin was hit on the chin by a hook from Bellini and ended up on the canvas. Grusovin got up, but it was clear that he had suffered considerably from the punch. Guided by his considerable experience, Grusovin did what was necessary to no longer be hit by Bellini and reach the end of the last round. Grusovin did not dramatize what happened: “I took a good beating – said Luca Grusovin – but not such that he can’t stay in the ring for the last minute. I won for keeping my wits about me. Generally, when they hit you so hard that they not only knock you out but knock you out, you don’t notice anything. Others will tell you what happened when you wake up.”

In one of the most anticipated matches of the eveningformer Wako-Pro super welterweight world champion Georgian Cimpeanu he easily overtook the Frenchman Ayoub Rebbouha on points. This match was also on the distance of 3 rounds of 3 minutes each with the rules of the K-1 style.

The athlete of Team Kick and Punch Lorenzo Mal winter he challenged the Italian champion Andrea Orsini (64.5 kg category) over the distance of 4 rounds of 3 minutes each with the rules of the low kick style: punches above the waist and full body kicks. The contest was clearly in favor of Andrea Orsini who retained the champion belt. The reference federation was FederKombat-Lega Pro Italia, the only one recognized by CONI. At the Reggia di Venaria the president of FederKombat Donato Milano was at ringside who wanted to comment on the evening and the state of kickboxing in Italy: “High-level events such as the Night of Kick and Punch 16 – Black Tie Edition 3 are the icing on the cake of our movement which is experiencing a golden period: FederKombat has 40 thousand members, a number never reached before, and is recognized by CONI, many events are organized throughout the national territory and almost always fill the sports halls. If we also consider the practitioners who do not join our federation because they have no competitive ambitions, but who just want to learn to punch and kick to achieve and maintain physical fitness, in my opinion, the actual number of people that kickboxing manages to involve in Italy it is over 200 thousand”.

Another athlete from Team Kick and Punch arrived from London: the Milanese from the Barona neighborhood Amro Ghanem. He showed why in England he became one of the leading fighters on the Muay Thai Grand Prix circuit by winning the titles of British super-lightweight and intercontinental welterweight champion. At the palace Amro beat the Frenchman Mohand Arkat to win the title of European champion of the prestigious Thai Fight circuit. In muay thai it is allowed to hit the opponent with punches, kicks, knees, elbows and to throw him to the ground but when he is down the action must be stopped.

“I am very satisfied with this edition of the Night of Kick and Punch – concludes Angelo Valente – because all the athletes gave 100% and therefore all the fights were exciting. In particular the one between Luca Grusovin and Alessandro Bellini with the latter coming close to winning before the limit in the third and final round after having tasted the mat in the first (due to a punch from Grusovin). Considering all the events I have organized, not just the Kick and Punch series, the Black Tie Edition 3 was one of the best if not the best.”