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Billy Murray's Bash and Mash Results
February 24, 2024
What an extraordinary evening at the ProKick Bash & Mash held at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast! The night kicked off with an exquisite dinner prepared by the award-winning chef Jay Eisenstadt, followed by captivating performances by the emerging singing sensation, Rhea. Guiding us through the event were the charismatic hosts Joe Lindsay and Gary Gillespie, overseeing six formidable contenders from diverse nations as they entered the ring for an epic showdown. A special shout-out to the local champion and headliner, Jay Snoddon, for clinching his second WKN world title belt in style!
A special shout-out to the local champion and headliner, Jay Snoddon, for clinching his second WKN world title belt in style!
Report from the Bash & Mash 24th Feb 2024 - Stormont hotel:
After a fabulous feast of exquisite food, it was time for the final three courses; a trio of international titles on the line and kicking us off we had an all Mediterranean contest for the WKN K1 72kg World Title between Spain’s David Baros and France’s Jawed Bengheyati.
These two fighters had a stern face off at the weigh in and it was clear that this was going to be a barnstormer from beginning to end. Baros’ spinning kicks were a feast for the eyes and in round 2 he connected beautifully dropping Bengheyati. The French man quickly rose back to his feet and was ready to continue after the 8 count. At this point, many may have thought the fight wouldn’t go the distance, but Bengheyati had not come all the way to Belfast to lie down. He came back out in the third round and landed some of his own punishing kicks. However, Baros pulled away in the final two rounds landing more combinations and dictating the pace of the fight. After five championship rounds, the decision was left to the judges who declared Barcelona’s David Baros the NEW WKN K1 World Champion at 72kg.
The next course was billed as one of revenge. ProKick’s Swiss son Killian Emery was back in Belfast hoping to redeem his recent loss to Colombian Santiago Reyes in Canada. This was a doubly sanctioned fight by both WKN and ISKA for Reyes’ defence of the K1 Welterweight Intercontinental Titles. Emery had the crowd behind him and a tight first round made it clear that this would be another feast for fight fans. Emery was having success with counter shots to Reyes’ body, however the Colombian was landing more kicks both to the leg and the body. A close five rounds of action was once again left to the judges decision and it was the words that Reyes wanted to hear…”And still K1 Welterweight Intercontinental Champion…Santiago Reyes” that rang out through the Stormont Hotel.
Main Event: Now it was onto the main event, the pièce de résistance, the crème de la crème of the world featherweight Pro/Am kickboxing fight scene. WAKO World Full Contact Champion David Tkachuk from Ukraine came to spoil Belfast’s own WKN K1 World Champion Jay Snoddon record. What was on the line? The WKN Featherweight Low Kick World Title and the right to be crowned the best featherweight across kickboxing disciplines.
In a frenetic first round it was clear Tkachuk was here to cause an upset, his lightning fast speed and devastating half turning kick left ProKick’s Snoddon on the back foot and up against the ropes for much of the first round. However, he looked relaxed in the corner and jumped up to begin round 2 with the bit between his teeth.
Tkachuk continued to have some success with his boxing, but now Snoddon had found his range with his low kick and was clearly doing damage as the Ukrainian tried to block and evade as many as possible. As the bell rang for the end of the second round, Snoddon smiled and laughed as he returned to his corner. Whilst many of his fans in the audience might have been nervous, he was clearly now settled into his groove and enjoying every minute of it.
Tkachuk’s pace was demonstratively different in the third round and Snoddon capitalised upon this by beginning to work hard to the Ukrainian’s body which slowed him down even more. A series of five leg kicks in a short space of seconds ended with Tkachuk resorting to a southpaw stance in order to protect his lead leg and Snoddon finished the round strongly with well executed boxing leaving Tkachuk on the ropes.
Snoddon returned to the red corner with a wide smile whilst it was a different story in the blue corner and within a matter of seconds, Tkachuk’s coach stopped the fight and retired his fighter on the stool.
Cue rapturous applause and cheers from those in attendance as the now two time WKN Featherweight Champion, ProKick’s Jay Snoddon climbed onto the ropes and raised his arms aloft in victory!
A triple serving of these five star fights were a perfect finale to an incredible night for the ProKick gym all in aid of the PeaceFighters initiative to bring a group of Ukrainian teenagers to Belfast for a week’s respite this summer.
