Previous Story
Great fight
|
Posted on May 28 2009
It was a great privilege to see my old friend, Kelvin Fitial, proudly representing the CNMI in China the other night. At the last minute, a group of us decided to go to see the 12th Art of War Fighting Championships, the latest edition of Beijing’s regular mixed martial arts fights. I was pleasantly surprised to see Kelvin’s picture in the program.
Fitial fought an incredible fight, hurting Koji Kanechika with heavy hands and big elbows in the preliminary, 10-minute round. He came out strong in the beginning of the second and final round, throwing roundhouses and uppercuts that staggered Kanechika. Uncharacteristically, the crowd was on their feet as Kelvin pummeled Kanechika with shot after shot.
Unfortunately, the unreasonably long first round took a lot off of the punches and Kelvin ran out of gas before he could knock Kanechika out. Winded, Fitial couldn’t resist the armbar that the Japanese fighter executed after taking him to the ground and he was forced to tap-out in the last round.
Regardless of the outcome of the fight, Kelvin Fitial was an outstanding representative of the Commonwealth and a premier fighter. On a card that included Rolles Gracie, from the royal family of Brazilian Jin Jitsu, Fitial’s fight was definitely the highlight of the evening. Congratulations, Kelvin. I hope to see you again soon, this time with your hand raised in victory.
[B]Matt Wertz [/B] [I]Beijing, China[/I]
