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Lockport’s Brian Irr Makes his Amateur Kickboxing Debut May 14 at the Kenan Arena.
By John D’Onofrio
LOCKPORT — With several junior championships under his belt in the sport of karate, Lockport’s Brian Irr is no ordinary amateur.
Irr, one of the greatest athletes ever to come out of Lockport’s Seishin Kan Karate School on Pine Street, will make his amateur kickboxing debut on May 14 at the historic Kenan Center Arena.
Lockport fight fans eager for a look at one of this city’s most promising young fighters will get their chance when Irr, 23, steps into the ring as part of the fight night undercard. In the main event, Lockport’s undefeated professional kickboxing champion Amer Abdallah (9-0) will take on fellow light-heavyweight unbeaten “Terrible” Trei Scott (11-0) of Fort Lauderdale Fla.
Irr’s veteran trainer, Seishin Kan owner Eric Hill, said his fighter had been mulling a run at kickboxing for a long time.
“Abdallah approached us last fall about it. After wrapping up last year’s karate season, we thought we’d give it a shot this spring,” said Hill, a Gasport native and a 1993 graduate of Royalton-Hartland High School.
“Brian has a very unique fighting style. He’s real tall (6-feet, 3-inches) and lean, and he can be really evasive. His movement in the ring is his best asset. He went 10 straight rounds Friday night with Amer and couple of other local guys and he’s looking great.”
Irr will fight at 175 pounds. The list of his potential opponents next month has been narrowed down to two.
No matter who he fights in three weeks, the lanky Irr said he’ll try to use his height to his advantage.
“I’ll use some of the techniques from my karate background. I’ll use my long reach and try to stay on the outside, rather than fight inside. I’m most confident fighting like that,” said Irr, a four time national karate champion at Seishin Kan.
“The biggest difference between karate and boxing-kickboxing is that in karate, when a punch is landed and a point is scored, the match stops and the players reset. In boxing and kickboxing, you keep going. That’s the biggest obstacle I have to overcome.”
Irr competed in karate at Seishin Kan since he was five years old, along with his brother Adam Irr, now at RIT studying computer science and running track and cross country.
Besides his national championships, Brian Irr has earned a silver medal in the Pan American Games in Uruguay, a bronze medal at the Pan American Games in Ecuador and finished fourth in the world championships in Cyprus.
“I just wanted to try something new,” Irr said of his decision to become a kickboxer.
“Right now, I’m just getting a feel for it. I’ll take it for as long as we can and as long as I still like what I’m doing.”
Abdallah said he’s excited about getting Irr on the May 14 fight card.
“It’s great to be able to give someone like Adam this opportunity to showcase his talents and skills in front of the hometown crowd,” Abdallah said.
“He’s so well accomplished in martial arts. I’ve been eagerly anticipating his debut.”
