Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/217686
22 Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2013 BOXING Another great night of boxing by Prize Boxing Promotions LOCAL Boxing Promoter Demis Tonna promoted his 4th show of the year tagged "Rumble in the Med – We Will Rock You" on Friday 22nd November 2013 at the Dolmen Hotel, Bugibba. In front of a packed out Oracle Arena which held no less than 950 local boxing fans, fighters from Fight Factory, Ying Yang, Dixon's School of Boxing, Brown's Boxing Club & Team Zahra made it a great success, ending the year 2013 with a loud bang. The Esteemed Promoter pulled out all the stops to ensure the fans in attendance, a night of boxing they are likely never to forget. bombs making the crowed go wild with cheers and chants. Shields fell to the canvas in the 1st round which made Vella more confident. Vella was more accurate of the two and thus won the rounds. Both fighters were applauded for fighting their hearts out in what was a great competitive and brutal fight. Fight 9 – Cruiserweight 4x3. Fight 1 – Female Light Bantamweight Contest 3x2 Many Cortis V Kelly Young PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN ZARB Female fighter Mandy Cortis of Fight Factory, Marsa, kick started the night as she faced the British fighter Kelly Young in a 3x2 minute round contest. Superior technic lasted the whole fight from Cortis while the Young boxed off the back foot and could not seem to take control of the fight. Mandy won on a judges score cards where all 3 judges scored the fight at 30-27 all in favour of local fighter Cortis. Fight 2 – Super Lightweight 4x2 Nico Sciberras Won by a judge's unanimous points decision over Christian Chafai Fight 3 – Welterweight 4x2 James Armond Borg won as Karlo Yates retired on his stool earning Borg his first TKO Win if his career. Fight 4 – Super Welterweight 4x2 The Referee stopped the contest in the 2nd round and awarded Garth "the Problem" Galea his first TKO win over Alex Boswell Fight 5 – Cruiserweight 6x2. Chris Debone also won by a judge's unanimous points decision over Jack O'Sullivan Fight 6 – Heavyweight Prize Fighter Semi Final 1 3x3. Darren Borg went through to final on the judge's score cards when he was faced Michael Carter. Fight 7 – Heavyweight Prize Fighter Semi Final 2 3x3. Defending Prize Fighter Champion Mark Cutajar found his place in the prize fighter final as he beat Melcolm Sciberras on split decision. Fight 8 – WBUv Middleweight Semi Professional National Title 6x2. Richard "The Viper" Vella V Dino Shields Richard "The Viper" Vella captured the WBUv National Semi Pro title sanctioned by the Malta Boxing Commission. Vella faced the tough unbeaten Dino Shields in a 6x2 the first National Semi Professional contest, making it his biggest win to date. From the sound of the first bell until the sounds of the last both fighters were in an all-out battle, throwing Tyrone "El Terrible" Borg stopped Steve "The Cobra" Aquilina at 2 minutes 28 seconds of the 3rd round. Tyrone who was stunned by a knock down in the opening seconds of the 1st round but came back to form and returned the favour twice in the 3rd round which saw the Maltese Fighting Veteran counted out by the referee after he fell to the canvas for the 3rd and last time. It was announced that Borg was signed "on the spot" and will now be licence as a professional boxer by the Malta Boxing Commission. Secretary General of the Commission, Marc James stated "It is with great please to present Tyrone with his Professional Licence and add him to our growing list of fighting members we have both in Malta and the United Kingdom". "The Malta Boxing Commission is convinced that Demis Tonna and his company have a bright future ahead of them and we are looking forward to working with Prize Boxing Promotions again in the near future" James added. "This is an exciting time for Tyrone and I am absolutely delighted for him. Tyrone is a superb fighter, he thrilled fans with his performances as a semiprofessional and it is now time for him to step up the top ranks where is deserves to be" stated Demis Tonna. Fight 10 – Heavyweight Prize Fighter Final 3x3. Darren Borg was crowned the new Prize Fighting Champion as faced defending champion Mark Cutajar in the final. Fight 11 – Light Welterweight Professional Contest 6x3. "Super" Steve Martin again proves that he is one of; if not, the best fighter on the boxing circuit as he was matched with Slaibi who is Lebanese born, fighting out of Germany in a Light Welterweight Professional contest sanctioned by the Malta Boxing Commission. Slaibi started the fight fast and seem to surprise the local fighter from Hamrun in the 1st round. The German was properly winning the first two rounds with his aggressiveness until Martin returned back to business in the 3rd round. Slaibi was knocked down twice in the 3rd round and the now well settled Martin came out for 4th and brought down Slaibi for the third time in the fight after a well-placed body shot, seeing the referee wave off the fight. With this impressive victory Steve Martin improved his Professional boxing record to 12 competitive fights. (7 Wins, 4 Loses and 1 Draw). Prize Boxing Promotions on the behalf of its fighters would like to express their sincere appreciation for the support of the efforts shown by the Independent Boxing Association President Mr. Alan Morlock and especially Team Manager Darren Mairs as well as the Malta Boxing Commission and the World Boxing Union V. "All of this could not have been possible without the cooperation and all out support of our valued partners like the IBA & the MBC. We want to express our gratitude to all our sponsors for their continued support with special thanks to our main sponsors 'Eat Me I'm Famous' & '77 Great Estates' as well as Badass Burgers, Continental Cars and Stay Gold Ink Studio for their contributions to Prize Boxing Promotions" Stated Demis Tonna. MOTORSPORTS ON Sunday 24th November 'Assocjazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi' organized the 4th race of the ASMK Pasta Poiatti 2013/14 National Championship for Autocross for Maltese and Gozitan drivers among 28 registered drivers. The track was very wet in some areas during the first Heats of the day following the rain showers through the night. This resulted in good grip by many drivers following After some initial race laps the track offered good grip to all drivers who took advantage of faster cornering speeds and better vehicle control. The Gozo drivers also displayed their driving skills while racing in between the Maltese drivers heats. Only Melo Zammit on his Escort Mk3 won the three qualifying Heats on the day. Thus he secured his place on the Class 'A' Starting Grid. Kurt Sammut on a Ford Ka, Josef Grech on a Ford Fiesta, Christian Galea on a Fiat Ritmo, Josef Abela on an Opel Nova and Gordon Johnson on his Peugeot 205 also won enough qualifying points during the Heats to secure their Class A post as well. For some unknown reason the tension was high on the Class A drivers which resulted in four False Starts performed by Grech, Sammut and Abela. Abela was eliminated following his 2nd False Start according to the Standard rules. After the 5th start, Galea, PHOTOGRAPHY BY DV PHOTOGRAPHY Melo Zammit wins his second race of the season Melo Zammit in his Ford Escort Zammit and Sammut raced almost abreast to the first right corner where Galea took the lead but in a while Zammit succeeded in overtaking Galea with Sammut still in 3rd place. Zammit kept his position to the Finish Flag as Galea was forced to retire due to a mechanical failure thus now it was Grech who took 2nd place followed by Johnson and Sammut right to the Finish Line. Zammit won his 2nd Final Class 'A' race ahead of Grech on a Fiesta and Johnson on his Peugeot 205. Class 'B' finalists were Vince Farrugia on a VW Polo, Matthew Borg and Andrew Pisani both on an Opel Nova, Godfrey Gauci and Duncan Delia each on a Ford Fiesta and Guzi Pace on a Ford Escort. As the Red Lights turned Off all six racers raced abreast each other but Farrugia and Pisani reached the 1st corner ahead of all but Pisani took the lead right to the Finish Flag. Few overtaking occurred during this 9 Laps race but all performed very well on the gravel track surface. Farrugia held his 2nd place throughout the race while Pace managed to overtake Godfrey Gauci only in the last few meters ahead of the Finish Line. The Gozo drivers also crossed the channel to perform their races on the same tracks as the Malese drivers. The Gozo Autocross start line was filled by Joseph Agius on a Ford Fiesta, Marvin Grima on an Opel Corsa, Domenic Zammit on an Alfa Sud, Christian Apap on a Ford Escort and Joseph Vella on a Ford Fiesta. In the 3rd and Final Race Zammit, Grima and Apap made a very good start to the first Right hander where Zammit took the lead ahead of Apap, Grima, Agius and Vella. During the rest of the 7 Lap race Zammit held his lead ahead of Apap while the other 3 drivers grouped together for the rest of the race laps. Earlier on in the day these drivers joined the Maltese drivers on the track respective Flag Marshal points to get their first hands-on practical sessions. Presentation of the 3 race winners took place on site by ASMK President. Next event at Ta Qali is scheduled for next Sunday 1st December. Racing will include Autocross and Motocross Championship racing from 11.00am till about 5.00pm. Official Practice and Testing sessions will be held next Saturday 30th November from 2.00pm onwards. Entrance to all paddocks is free on Saturday. More information, race results and race photos can be viewed at www.asmk.org.mt