One of the best fight cards Vancouver Island has ever seen.

That was the assessment of a happy Comox Valley Boxing Club owner and promoter Jonny Mac after Full Throttle Fight Night entertained some 1,400 spectators at Saratoga Speedway on Friday night.

The CVBC celebrated their 25th year anniversary with a bang as boxers, kickerboxers and MMA competitors demonstrated their skills in a covered ring. “It is very hard to say in words how exciting and well put together this was,” said Mac. “I have had nothing but compliments and businesses have been sending me e-mails and calling me looking to get involved in the next card, if I choose to do one.”

After months of planning, Mac said he was biting his nails earlier in the week as the big event approached. “The weather turned out to be perfect for the North Island’s first and biggest mixed fight card,” Mac said.

The event started with great buzz as local 14-year-old kickboxer phenom Philip Romanov fought Alex Zieske from Kelowna. Peppering his opponent with kicks and punches, Romanov danced his way around the squared circle with spinning kicks that got the crowd set for the evening. “The match went the distance but there was no doubt who the better fighter was. Philip won by unanimous decision to improve his record to 3-0,” Mac said.

Not to be upstaged, CVBC kickboxer “Rocking” Robbie Espenberg fought an aggressive match to get the crowd roaring. Scoring vicious blows throughout the fight, Espenberg knocked his opponent Chris Jones from Island MMA in Victoria to the ground in the third round to improve his record two 2-1 with two KOs.

The third fight was the first MMA match of the night and featured Kris Stewart from CVBC against a much taller Matt Dwyer from Kelowna. Early in the match the ref had to stop the fight due to an accidental blow to the back of the head that left a cut. “Kris shook it off and went back at him with no fear,” Mac said.

“After a struggle on the ground, the ref stood them up, where Matt caught Kris stepping in for a shot just over the eye that had left a cut. For the safety of the fighter ref Lance Cunningham called it and awarded the fight to Matt. Kris was happy to get his first fight out of the way and after the stitches heal you will find him banging it out down at the gym,” Mac said.

Fight four featured Oren Hanscom from Campbell River against Chris Day of Kelowna. After a back-and-forth battle Day managed to sneak out an arm bar to finish the match.

Fight five featured the only female kickboxing match of the night. “This was an epic battle between two warriors,” Mac said as Rebecca Mullock from CVBC fought a strong opponent from Avatar, Sarah Marshal.

“They scored many kicks and punches, leaving both fighters black and blue. After going the distance, and against the crowd’s choice, Marshal pulled off a unanimous decision,” said Mac. “This did not dampen Mullock’s night as she was happy that she had given her all in the ring. We will see her again in the ring after she gets back from Thailand where she will be training at Tiger Muay Thai with a few of her teammates.”

Fight six had local Patrick Kitto up against Robert Derkson from Curtis Lee’s gym in Victoria. It was an even battle going into the third round until Kitto cranked it up a notch and scored a number of unanswered blows to win by unanimous decision. “His footwork and speed was the key to success in bringing his record to 2-0,” Mac said.

After the intermission the crowd was treated to one of the most fast-paced fights of the night. CVBC’s Myles Lohman put on a clinic showing an aggressive kickboxing style that his  opponent Kevin Penner from Victoria could not keep up with. With speed and accuracy, Lohman scored at will to win by unanimous decision.

Fight eight was a battle of the Valley match-up where Nathan Swayze from CVBC fought Landon Rose from House of Kenpo in Comox. Mac said this MMA tilt seemed to be a chess match of strikes and blocks until the fight went to the ground, where Swayze caught Rose in an Anaconda choke. “Landon had no choice but to tap out. This move awarded Nathan with submission of the night,” Mac said.

Next up was the war of Campbell River’s 185-pound division as Ray Wilconson (Island Warriors) took on Spence Shaw (Pure Self Defense). “The fight went back and forth, leaving welts and bruises all over both fighters’ bodies. After controlling Shaw’s ground game, Wilconson went on to win by unanimous decision,” Mac said.

Fight 10 was the co-main event featuring CVBC’s Scott Judson fighting Kelowna’s Stephan Lemercier. “There wasn’t a person sitting in their seat during this kickboxing match due to the intense series of precision strikes from both fighters. You could hear the kicks and punches landing over the crowd’s roars in the parking lot,” Mac said. Throwing many newfound combination’s and footwork techniques, Judson went on to win by unanimous decision. “Both men found themselves winning fight of the night. Both fighters showed a lot of class smiling and shaking hands after the match. A great fight all around,” Mac said.

The main event pitted Cody Heatherington from CVBC against Dia Grant from Avatar. “This MMA match proved to be a test of wills. After throwing a few kicks and punches  the fight went to the ground where both fighters took turns receiving and giving out punishment,” Mac said.

“Dia fought his way to Cody’s back a couple of times trying to sink in the rear naked choke but found out that Cody had a never-say-never attitude. Cody had reversed the move but the damage was done and could not win back the points in the time that was left in the fight. Dia went on to win by unanimous decision.”

Mac said the event could not have been done without the support of the community, sponsors and volunteers. “I would also like to thank the ISKA for the great job sanctioning this event and local pro boxer Kevin Reynolds for flying over from Vancouver and taking time out of his schedule to judge the fights.

“I would like to thank Olympic beach volleyball player Martin Reader of Comox and Canadian and North American Junior Middleweight kickboxing champion Chase Ingals for giving us a chance to interview them while we ironed out the bumps in the back dressing room that you get when throwing your first event.”

Mac said that following on the great success of Friday’s show, the CVBC plans to put on a yearly card at Saratoga Speedway and possibly an indoor event if they can find a location that can accommodate a large crowd in the near future.

“Thanks to all for coming out and supporting our sport!” Mac said.

sports@comoxvalleyrecord.com