TOWN OF LOCKPORT — A packed house watched Saturday night as Lockport’s own Amer Abdallah won his 15th World Kickboxing Association match, winning with it the title of Intercontinental Champion.
Abdallah’s main event bout with James Wallis (19-6) of Swansea, Wales went the distance, to the surprise of many in the crowd, especially after Wallis missed weight as of Friday night’s weigh-in.
The European light heavyweight champ weighed in at 195 for the Cruiserweight bout, six pounds over the upper limit, while Abdallah, the U.S. light heavyweight champ representing WNY MMA and the Mayweather Boxing Club, had weighed in at 184 and was visibly in better shape.
The bout got off to a moderate start, with Abdallah chasing Wallis around the ring in the first round, peppering him with right and left kicks to the stomach. Things started to heat up in the third round, when sweat started flying with every kick — and there were a lot of them and Wallis seemed to slow down after a blow to the head.
After what appeared to be an evenly matched fourth round, Abdallah landed several kicks in a row in the fifth. Wallis missed what would have been a thunderous roundhouse to the head — had he landed it — in the sixth. Abdallah got a significant cut on his left eye in the seventh round.
In the ninth round, the referee took a point from Wallis for a hit in the back. Abdallah showed no animosity over the illegal hit, however, as the fighters joked and hugged going into the 10th and final round.
Abdallah knocked Wallis into the ropes in the 10th and seemed to have found something when he did. From that point, Abdallah owned Wallis and the judges rewarded him with the win.
Earlier bouts
Fight 1 – Quamaine Austin of Buffalo was declared the winner over Toronto, Ontario’s Kenrick Kamil by split decision in a fight sponsored by ADPRO Sports.
Fight 2 – Lockport High School’s Tyler Rodier lost to Paton Campbell of Whitby, Ontario by unanimous decision despite a third-round attack by Rodier. The crowd cheered loudly when after the fight ended, Abdallah came to the ring and lifted Rodier’s arm in congratulation. The judges disagreed and Campbell was pronounced the victor in the Dominic Saraceno-sponsored fight.
Fight 3 – Scott Skinner of Buffalo won a unanimous decision over Craig Diego of Auburn thank largely to his aggressiveness from the first bell, kicking from a few seconds into the match. Diego took a tumble at Skinner’s hands about half way through the first round and nearly took a second as the bell ending the first round neared. The second round was considerably more even and Skinner was essentially out of steam by the end of the third round. Sponsored by ADPRO Sports.
Fight 4 – Ian Niblett of Whitby, Ontario lost by unanimous decision to Timothy Allen of Auburn in a bout was sponsored by Pizza Oven.
Fight 5 – Michael Nicholson of Kitchener, Ontario took a split decision over Mueyaid Ashkar or Liverpool. Both fighters came out with energy, using that energy to kick the other, each landing their fair share in the first round. In the third round, Nicholson responded to his coach’s words of encouragement and was rewarded with the win. The bout was sponsored by KJMotorsports.com.
Fight 6 – Lockport’s Erick Plumeri won over Aleks Trajeski of Toronto, Ontario by unanimous decision with each of the three judged giving Plumeri the victory by a score of 27-30. Off the opening bell, Plumeri was on the offense and kept Trajeski on the ropes for most of the first round. Trajeski found some life in the intermission between the first and second rounds, but Plumeri didn’t let him keep it for long, taking control of the match again quickly. It was all Plumeri all the time in the third, leaving little doubt of the unanimous decision in the All Metal Works sponsored fight.
Plumeri was named the fighter of the night in a poll done of the crowd by text message.
Fight 7 – After a brief intermission, Amenzee Omozuwa of Toronto, Ontario vs. Damiana Adrello of Liverpool fought like girls — the kind of girls you would never want to fight. Omozuwa’s flower-draped entrance was hardly a good indication of the ferocity she showed during the bout, backing Adrello into the corner on numerous occasions. Omozuwa won the victory for her efforts by unanimous decision in the bout sponsored by ADPRO Sports.
Fight 8 – Kendrick Huston of Lockport won over the much larger Kory Howell of Auburn. The hometown boy had momentum in the first round but Howell took a nice stand, cornering Huston with about 15 seconds to go in the first round. Again in the second round, Howell took charge towards the end, dropping Huston with a sweeping leg kick. In the third round, Huston came out as a man on a mission finally overcoming Howell’s size with his own agility in a super heavyweight fight sponsored by Pizza Oven.
Fight 9 – Jordan Graham of Belleville, Ontario, couldn’t handle Luay Ashkar of Liverpool, losing the bout by unanimous decision. Following a fairly even first round, Ashkar took the offensive in the second round, landing some dangerous combinations to the Canadian’s head. In the fourth round, Ashkar worked Graham’s left leg, sending him to the mat in obvious agony on four occasions. Graham got in a few shots of his own in the fifth round, including an illegal elbow to the back of the head. In the end, Ashkar had landed too many combinations for Graham in the fight that was sponsored by KJMotorsports.com.
Fight 10 – Ed Rodgers of Buffalo came after Andre Carroll of Lockport with a speed and ferocity not shown by any other fighter on Saturday night’s card, landing blow after blow to Carroll’s head while the crowd chanted “Eddie!” After three rounds, Rodgers was the victor by majority decision. The bout was sponsored by Mulvey Construction.
Fight 11 – Joe Taylor of Lockport knocked out Fred Baldwin of Newfane less than a minute into the first round, much to the delight of the Lockport crowd. Sponsored by All Metal Works.