Friday’s Event Exceeds Expectations

as posted on FridayNightFights.com

Friday’s Event Exceeds Expectations

Posted on March 3, 2014

By Sandy Hackenmueller

It was a power-packed evening of firsts, delivering a show like only Friday Night Fights can. With a brand new broadcast dedicated to quality, FNF headlined their first full-rules female fight that no one is soon to forget.

The Broad Street Ballroom was filled to capacity Friday night. The undercard warmed the crowd up, and by the co-main events, the crowd was on their feet.

Ashley Nichols and Angela Hill took center stage in the night’s finale, a highly anticipated match-up between Canada and the US. Hill entered the ring among roof-raising cheers of support, but by the end of the 5-round fight, the crowd was cheering on both fighters for an incredible show.

Hill’s trademark aggression and nonstop pushing the pace won the fight for her, maintaining her undefeated record. It was a split decision that gave Hill the WKA North American flyweight championship, which she described as her toughest fight yet. Nichols intended to get stronger as each round progressed, and regardless of loss, said it was a lot of fun to come out and compete again.

When the evening’s broadcast went live, the fighters were ready to rumble. Henry Lee and Nalton “NJ Mac” McLaughlin put on a seat gripping bout that resulted in a unanimous decision in McLaughlin’s favor. This was followed up by a solid match-up between heavyweights Simon Camaj and Karl Roberson, which was stopped in round 4 by TKO. Roberson walked away the victor.

A title was on the line in the next bout between Mike Trizano and Pawel Zawistowski. Trizano was the incoming champion, but in a five-round split decision, judges crowned Zawistowski the hard-earned junior middleweight champ.

Stepping in the ring next was a 45-4 Tarek Rached from the US, ready to face 5-0 Canadian Robert Thomas. What would appear an unbalanced match-up was anything but (Thomas’ amateur record consisted of well over 40 fights). Rached was experienced, but in Thomas’s short professional history he had defeated some notable fighters. At :59 seconds into the third round, following several second-round devastating knees, Thomas remained undefeated with a TKO.

Next up was a solid fight between by David Hayrikyan and Amin Almelik. Almelik secured the win by unanimous decision. It was an appropriate lead-in to the main event bout — full-rules, full contact, all female. It was groundbreaking and unforgettable.

“This past Friday’s event exceeded all expectations,” said FNF President Justin Blair. “Every person involved gave 100% and it showed. From the fighters to the coaches and the fans — the energy, enthusiasm and effort were off the charts. Our team did an exceptional job – incorporating live broadcasting into what is already a high pressure situation, with ease and making it look effortless. To everyone who was in the room and to the thousands that watched us at home, thank you.”