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By John D’Onofrio
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

LOCKPORT — Who is the next great Lockport fighter? Is it Joe Taylor? Brandon Freiburger? Matt Harrison?

We could find out tonight when the Lockport Kenan Center Arena hosts a well-rounded professional kickboxing card that features several Lockport and Western New York fighters, produced by local company Lace Up Promotions.

Only general admission tickets remain for the fights, which are slated to begin at about 7 p.m.

Four main events are on tap, including Taylor’s highly-anticipated return to the ring, following a first-round knockout victory by the Lockport semi-pro football running back last June in his kickboxing debut.

Taylor, who weighed in at 197 pounds on Friday, will take on Toronto’s Satbir Bassi of Ultimate Martial Arts. That fight will immediately precede the final main event of the evening, with MMA great Marc Stevens of Syracuse taking on Buffalo’s “KO Kid” Jay Bauman from Team Deleon.

“I don’t know too much about him, but I know he’s a kicker. It’s going to be a good fight — a much more difficult fight than my first one I think,” Taylor said Friday. “But I’m fighting in front of my mom, my sister, my nieces, my cousins, in front of my Lockport Little Loop football team. There’s a lot I’m fighting for.”

Taylor will be escorted to the ring tonight by his LLLF football team in jerseys waving LLLF flags. Among those attending the weigh-in was LLLF president Ritchie Blackburn.

Stevens said his vast UFC, Bellator, & Strikeforce experience will help him offset Bauman’s power.

“My goal is to get back and take another shot at a UFC title run,” Stevens said. “I know Jay’s a brawler and a tough guy, but I’ve fought a lot of tough guys before and I’ve beat up a lot of tough guys. He likes to brawl and swing for the fences, but I’m seasoned enough to go nine minutes with him. Being a tough guy will backfire on him.”

Tonight’s impressive card from top to bottom includes several local fighters and trainers, led by Corey Webster’s stable of Western New York MMA members that include Taylor, Harrison, Dan Dorfman, Quamaine Austin, Anthony Norton, Steve Horton, Scott Skinner and the Starpoint junior Freiburger.

United States Light Heavyweight Champion, Amer Abdallah and his team decided not to fight on this card due to the recent sale of Abdallah’s Lockport Athletic & Fitness club to the Jones family, who were also in attendance at Friday’s weigh-ins.

WKA World amateur Middleweight champion and longest reigning knockout king, Kevin VanNostrand makes his return to Lockport in his second professional fight against Buffalo’s Jeff “Captain Caveman” Denz.

In a heavyweight showdown, Lockport’s Ali Kimmons will fight for the final time when he takes on Rochester’s Chuck Jewell. Kimmons said he will retire following the match.

“I’m just going to go right in on him. I want to take him out,” Kimmons said. “It’s my last fight for sure and I want to go out on top.”

Webster’s stable includes Buffalo’s Quamaine Austin (174.2 pounds), just 18, who makes his debut against Mike “Hands of War” Moyer (173 pounds). Also making his debut is Starpoint junior Brandon Freiburger, who will take on Canadian Seir Aziz from Art of Muay Thai.

Middleweight Steve Horton from WNT MMA will take on Miguel Testa of Clinton Street Kickboxing in a rematch of a close fight earlier this year, won by Testa by split decision.

Among other fights, Lockport’s Harrison (149 pounds) will fight Mark Diryas of Toronto; and popular MMA and Muay Thai champion, Luay Ashkar of Team Andrello is making his professional debut against Canadian lightweight champion Jordan Graham.

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Locals Taylor, Kimmons and Freiburger Among Those on Card

Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

Not one, but four main event fights are on tap for this Saturday’s “The Next Generation” kickboxing event at the Kenan Arena. The event that is produced by local promotions company Lace Up Promotions will be the first of its kind and historic in its nature due to it also featuring five professional bouts.

United States Light Heavyweight Champion, Amer Abdallah and his team decided not to fight on this card due to the sale of Abdallah’s Lockport Athletic & Fitness club.

“Lockport is fortunate to have a community minded, family based owner to take our local health club to new heights. I wanted to give Greg (Jones) my complete focus to ensure he takes over the club with all the tools he needs to remain the best club in town,” he said.

To fill the main event slot, Abdallah reached out to the biggest names in the sport and bring them to the Lock City.

Four main events are on tap including UFC, Bellator, & Strikeforce veteran Mark Stevens taking on Buffalo’s KO Kid, Jason Bauman. “This fight has all the ingredients for an all out war” Abdallah said.

Stevens, who is prepping himself for a return to the big stage and a UFC title shot is taking a stand up fight to help improve his striking ability.

Lockport’s “Son of a Legend” Joe Taylor, coming off of a brutal first round knockout victory last June, is making his highly-anticipated comeback against heavy handed Sabir Bassi of Ultimate Martial Arts in Toronto.

“Bassi is heavy handed and dangerous” Abdallah said. “We’re going to answer a lot of the hype and find out how good Joe Taylor is next Saturday.”

WKA World amateur Middleweight champion and longest reigning knockout king, Kevin VanNostrand makes his return to Lockport in his second professional fight against Buffalo’s Jeff Denz.

“Kevin is by far the most exciting fighter I’ve witnessed in the last decade of promoting fights. Each fight is another indication of why he is the world’s top middleweight.”

Denz, who travelled to Syracuse to scope out VanNostrand’s last fight in September, was happy to finally get a chance at fighting him.
The most noise is coming from the heavyweight showdown between Lockport’s Ali Kimmons and Rochester’s Chuck Jewell.

“These guys simply don’t like each other” Abdallah added. “We couldn’t get them in a room together without a fight almost breaking out.” Kimmons is looking to make this his retirement fight and intends to end the fight early. “First, second, round…it doesn’t matter. Chuck is going out on his back,” Kimmons said.

Popular MMA and Muay Thai champion, Luay Ashkar of Team Andrello is making his professional debut against Canadian lightweight champion Jordan Graham. Ashkar is coming off of a brilliant first round knockout in a recent mixed martial arts event and has several scouts looking at his talent for the big stage.

“Luay is fast, explosive and hits hard for his weight.” Abdallah added. “I can’t wait to watch him in the professional ranks.”

Other locals on the card are US Army veteran Matt Harrison, who takes on Mark Diryas of Toronto.

Starpoint junior Brandon Freiburger makes his debut against Canadian Seiar Aziz and Mike “Handz of War” Moyer makes his comeback against tough Buffalo native Quamaine Austin.

Community sponsors for the event are Local Edge, All Metal Works, KJ Motorsports, Mulvey Construction and Executive Landscaping. “These companies are the reason we have such great shows in Lockport,” Abdallah said.

The weigh-ins will be free and open to the public at 6 p.m. Friday at the Lockport Athletic & Fitness Club.

Only general admission tickets remain and are available at the Lockport Athletic & Fitness Club or at the door Saturday night.

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Amer Abdallah wants to bring the World Kickboxing Association’s world light heavyweight championship home to Lockport.

by Jonah Bronstein
The Buffalo News

Amer Abdallah has an ambition to become a world champion kickboxer, and he is determined to bring Western New York along for the ride.

In his first fight since entering the World Kickboxing Association’s top 10 rankings, Abdallah defended his U.S. light heavyweight championship June 8 with a first-round technical knockout of Robert Katzfey in front of a crowd of 2,200 at Kenan Arena in Lockport.

Abdallah, 35, is now 14-0 as a professional. He spent 10 weeks in Las Vegas training under Jeff Mayweather, the uncle of Floyd Mayweather Jr., for his most recent fight, and believes he will soon be in position to challenge for the WKA world light heavyweight championship. His title shot could come sooner if he were willing to go to Germany to face the current champion, Pietro Vecchio. Yet, Abdallah is insistent upon bringing the bout to the community that has long been in his corner.

“I feel like I would be a traitor doing that,” Abdallah said. “Why fight for a title overseas when I could, if I work hard enough, keep it in Western New York and give back to the community that has given through my whole career, through the ups and downs.”

Abdallah spent the majority of his childhood living in Lockport, where his father owned eight McDonald’s restaurants. He began studying martial arts here before attending college in his native Jordan on a kickboxing scholarship and competing for the national team. In 1999, he returned to the Lock City.

“I had the ability to come back anywhere in the United States and start fresh,” he said. “This is home to me. It’s a very neighborly community.”

Since then, Abdallah has promoted and performed on 12 fight cards in Lockport. He started at the Montgomery Ward, moved up to selling out the 2,500-seat Kenan Arena several times and drew twice as many spectators to a 2009 outdoor show at the Ulrich City Centre. That event came after Abdallah served two years in prison for his role in an identity-theft ring, and he is grateful to the fans and sponsors who embraced his return to the boxing ring.

“I have an allegiance to this area,” said Abdallah, who has operated the Lockport Athletic & Fitness Club inside the Flips Gymnastics complex since 2003. “I have an obligation to continue to fulfill and solidify all of the loyalty that was shown to me and I have to reciprocate that. I can never leave this place because I feel indebted. It’s a tight-knit community, and everybody allows us to put these shows on a pedestal and give it the spotlight that it deserves because of our affiliation with the community.”

In order to bring a world championship fight here, Abdallah said he needs to increase his visibility outside of Niagara County and find a venue that seats 5,000 people. To do that, he has partnered with Joe Mesi, the Town of Tonawanda boxer who a decade ago drew 12,000 fans to HSBC Arena, and his father, Jack Mesi.

“Jack has the blueprint of how to be successful in a combative sport in Western New York,” Abdallah said.

Abdallah and Joe Mesi shared the same trainer, Juan DeLeon, in the early 2000s, and Abdallah said he regarded Mesi as a big brother at that time.

“I was in awe of everything he did,” Abdallah said. “I loved watching him train. I loved watching him perform. I loved watching the media get behind him and the community get behind him. Joe made me proud, and he was an inspiration to me in that he proved that a Buffalo-based guy can do it.”

The fans themselves also left an impression on Abdallah. “I remember going to the fight at HSBC Arena and the line was so crazy, they couldn’t even get Joe in the building,” Abdallah said. “Buffalo guys were tailgating before the fight. I said, ‘This is nuts.’ If you ever go to a fight, it’s never like that. Ever.”

Team Mesi will also relieve Abdallah of most of the matchmaking and promoting duties he has handled in the past, leaving him more time to focus on training. The team has begun working on finding a European fighter to face Abdallah for a Nov. 16 card at Kenan Arena.

“I can’t track tickets, track sponsors, market, manage, make appearances, promote, match-make and fight in the main event,” Abdallah said. “I’m giving up responsibilities in order to go up in the size of the show.”

Jack Mesi said he was impressed with Abdallah’s fighting ability, business acumen and the fan base he has built in Lockport. “If the people of Western New York get to know him, this odyssey that he has been on, and if they adopt him as they did Joe, I think we can bring the fans,” he said. “We’re going to get him a world title shot. And we’re going to bring it to Buffalo.”

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WKA-Sanctioned Main Event Lasts Just 117 Seconds

By John D’Onofrio
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

Robert Katzfey put up a better fight at the weigh-in.

Lockport’s Amer Abdallah earned a technical knockout victory over the listless Wisconsonian in 1:57 of the first round of their World Kickboxing Association-sanctioned United States light heavyweight title match before another large and raucous crowd at the Kenan Center Arena.

Making up for a somewhat disappointing main event, fellow Lock City fighters Joe Taylor and Dominic Esposito earned impressive victories in Saturday night’s international card that drew one of the largest crowds ever to see such an event in this city’s history.

Three, first-round knockdowns via a leg kick to the head, right hand to the head and leg kick to the stomach ended the full-contact title match prematurely as referee Joe Pagan stopped the fight seconds before the bell sounded to end the first of what was a scheduled eight-round affair.

Katzfey was timid and overwhelmed from the start as Abdallah moved in for the kill just seconds after Lockport businessman Pete Robinson crooned the Canadian and U.S. national anthems.

It was an extremely disappointing performance by Katzfey, who exchanged words and shoves with Abdallah — nearly starting a fist fight — 24 hours earlier at the card’s official weigh-in at Lock 34 downtown. Locals hoping for a brawl, as Katzfey (10-3) had promised, saw little from the unimpressive former Denver gym owner, as Abdallah improved to 14-0 while barely breaking a sweat.

“Going into the fight, we thought from all the hype from the videos he sent us criticizing us, from his MMA style and his tactics — plus his demeanor at the weigh-in — that he would come out brawling,” Abdallah said.

“Our game plan was as soon as the fight started, hit him hard to throw him off and show him exactly what he was up against. (But) I hit him hard the first time and he had no heart. I’m grateful for the win — don’t get me wrong — and glad that I came out of the fight unscathed, but I’m disappointed that he didn’t even challenge me

“We were looking for a higher quality opponent and I trained hard for this fight — 10 weeks, and traveled across the country, hired the best trainers —so I was very discouraged he did not put up a better fight. After the second knockdown, his cornerman put up his hands as if to say ‘please take it easy on him.’ I’m human and I have emotions so I concentrated on just knocking him down again nicely and getting him out of there with the three knockdown rule,” Abdallah said.

Meanwhile, Taylor’s muay thai heavyweight debut was electrifying as he recorded the evening’s only pure knockout, pummeling Steven Wilson quickly into submission in their scheduled three-round amateur fight.

The partisan Kenan crown welcomed Taylor, the son of the late Lockport pro boxer Johnny Taylor, with a large ovation. The two fighters exchanged punches and kicks with Taylor, who was trained by Lockport’s Corey Webster at Western New York MMA in Buffalo, landing the more telling blows.

With 10 seconds left in the opening round, Taylor moved in quickly and nailed Wilson with a combination of left and right hands. One final, wicked right hand landed squarely on Wilson’s jaw and the Syracuse resident went down like a sack of potatoes as referee Bill Keifer counted him out. The official time was 2:00.

“I feel great,” Taylor said while being mobbed by family, friends and complete strangers as he made his way back to the locker room. “I got great advice from the people who trained me. They told me to relax and take my time out there and don’t go for the knockout right away. When I heard the 10-second signal, I don’t know, my hands just released. I heard one of my men in the corner, Kendrick Huston, tell me to let the hands fly.”

Webster was extremely happy with Taylor’s performance and hopes to get him back into the ring within weeks.

“I’m at a loss for words. I couldn’t be more impressed,” Webster said. “I was more impressed with his patience than anything else. He took his time and when the kill shot was there, he pulled the trigger.”

Esposito, 52, capped off a Lock City ring sweep with a three-round, unanimous-decision boxing victory over a man 22 years his junior, David Kitchkart, 30, who represented the Clinton Street Kickboxing Gym in Syracuse.

Esposito, who garnered an equally loud, long ovation from the Kenan crowd and was escorted to the ring by Lockport’s legendary retired pro heavyweight Tony Ventura, dominated in the first round, capping off his first 120 seconds in the ring in three decades with a thunderous right hand that stunned Kitchkart.

Lockport’s long time city worker Esposito stole the second as well with another late solid right hand. The third round could have went either way with Kitchkart settling down to make a better fight of it, but judges gave the fight to Esposito 29-28, 30-27, 29-28.

Other fight night winners — all muay thai style (hands, feet, knees, elbows) — were Tyler Toomey of Baldwinsville, Erin Morris of Buffalo, Hamburg’s Anthony Norton, Miguel Testa of Syracuse and three impressive siblings from Liverpool’s Team Andrello, Leith, Luay and Audey Ashkar.

Toomey earned a TKO win over Syracuse’s Dylan Pardi at 20 seconds of the third round in their 130-pound bout, Leith Ashkar posted a unanimous (40-35, 40-36, 40-36) four-round, 145-pound win over Dan Dorfman of Buffalo, Morris won by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27) over Syracuse’s Donalea Maloney in their 140-pound, three-round match; Norton earned a three-round, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) win over Syracuse’s Ben Horton in a 155-pound, three-round bout; Luay Ashkar improved to 17-1 with a five-round, 50-45, 50-45, 50-45 unanimous decision win over Toronto’s Louie Loresco at 135 pounds; Testa won a 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 majority decision three-round, 155-pound win over North Tonawanda’s Steve Horton; and Audey Ashkar bounced back from a first-round knockdown by Wolfie Steel to beat the Cincinnati resident by majority decision, 49-46, 48-46, 48-47, in their five-round, 125-pound fight.

Abdallah said another Kenan fight card is currently in the works for Saturday, Nov. 16.
“We’re going to start looking for an opponent early, because we don’t want another main event opponent like this one,” Abdallah said.

“It was still a great card. I thought Joe and Dominic did a phenominal job. It was another full house and this was a victory for the whole community.”

Among the many proud sponsors of the June 8 pro fight card were Local Edge (Jeff Folckemer), Mulvey Construction (Tim Mulvey), All Metal Works (Dominic Ciliberto), JS Motorsports (Kyle Brent), Executive Landscaping (Tony Butera), Niagara Gutter (Brad Cline) and Cain, Witlin & Dry Accountants (Scott Cain). Papa Leo’s handled concessions.

FIGHT NOTES: Among many local celebrities present included Lockport Community Television broadcasters Jim Slowey and Danny Sheehan, via producer Phil Czarnecki and his outstanding LCTV volunteer crew … Jack Mesi, the father of retired Buffalo heavyweight, Baby Joe Mesi, was also in attendance, as were Steve and Lynn Harrington, organizers of the annual Erie Canal Fishing Derby … Among those working security were two of Lockport’s finest, Dennis Sobieraski and Mike Stover, … Besides Pagan and Keifer, the other rotating fight night referee was Tom Jenkins … The ring physician was Lockport’s Dr. Margaret Libby … Serving as ring ladies once again were the stunning Carcione siblings, Danielle, Nicole and Marissa.

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Main Event Combatants Nearly Start Title Fight Day Early

By John D’Onofrio
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

You can cut the anticipation with a knife for tonight’s professional mixed martial arts fight card at the Lockport Kenan Center Arena.

“Road to Glory” main event combatants Amer Abdallah of Lockport and Roert Katzfey of Wisconsin don’t like each other and that was evident moments after both light heavyweights weighed in at Lock 34 on Friday night for tonight’s main event at the Kenan Center Arena.

Abdallah, 13-0, weighed in at 187 pounds for tonight’s defense of his World Kickboxing Association United States Light Heavyweight championship. Katzfey, 10-2 in muay thai fighting and 3-3 in MMA competition, weighed in at 177 pounds.

The two fighters started pushing and shoving, then had to be forcefully separated while posing for post weigh-in photos, adding fuel to the blazing fire started last week when Katzfey sent a video tape to Abdallah criticizing his Lockport gym, staff and abilities in general.

Accompanied by his manager, Jay Ellis, Katzfey is making his first visit to Lockport, weighing in at 177 pounds.

“I don’t know too much about Abdallah, other than he’s got an undefeated record and he’s the champion. He’ll be a tough opponent, but I’m not afraid. I’m going to be inside a lot, brawling,” Katzfey said.

When asked what he thought his chances were tonight, Katzfey said, “One hundred percent. I’ve been fighting my whole life. I started when I was five years old. I started out competing in tough man contests and worked my way up from there. I’m kind of winding down in my career now, training others more. I used to own a gym in Colorado and am hoping to someday start up another one.”

Abdallah, who earned his first WKA top-10 ranking earlier this year, is hoping tonight’s contest precludes a WKA world light heavyweight title shot sometime this fall.

Surrounded by perhaps the largest entourage of the evening was popular Lockport streets department worker Dominic Esposito, 52, who’s making his first return to the ring in about three decades. Looking fit and trim and in the best shape of his life, Esposito, who weighed in at 209 pounds, will fight in the heavyweight division against Steven Wilson of Syracuse in a three-round amateur bout.

“I feel good. I’ve been training hard,” Esposito said. “I’m doing this because I just wanted my family see me be an athlete again. My new wife, Renee, and my stepsons Noah and Kalyn and my daughters Jordan and Justine and sons Johnny and Joey, they’ve never seen me in the ring. It’s my dream to do it just one more time. Thank God I can still do it.”

Among those present to support Esposito were his wife and daughter Jordan, cornermen Corey Webster, Joe Fazzolari and Nicky Fazzolari; Lockport Bowling Hall of Famer Dave Poole, Mike Ficarra, Jimmy Kane; and from Lockport Community Television, retired streets department employee and LCTV colorman Danny Sheehan, along with tonight’s LCTV play-by-play announcer Jim Slowey.

Arriving with his three sons in tow, heavyweight kickboxer Joe Taylor of Lockport weighed in at 202 pounds. Tayor, the star running back of the Lockport Rampage semi-pro football team, will make his amateur heavyweight kickboxing debut tonight against Jay Boyd of Syracuse in a three-round amateur bout.

“I’m feeling good right now and ready to fight. I plan to get plenty of rest and I’ll be ready for tomorrow,” said Taylor, the son of the late Johnny Taylor, a former Lockport professional boxer. “I won’t be playing football for obvious reasons,” he said when asked about the Rampage’s home opener this afternoon against the Buffalo Chargers. “I think the Rampage can take care of things without me for now.”

Others weighing in Friday included Western New York MMA fighters Erin Morris (141 pounds) and Dan Dorfman (149 pounds).

Among the many others present at Friday night’s weigh-in were Corey Webster’s biggest fan, his father Paul, along with Team Abdallah coordinator Liz Bouchard, manager Ahmed Imamovic and strength and conditioning coach Gina Nowak from Abdallah’s Lockport Athletic & Fitness Center, “Road to Glory” sponsor Jeff Folckemer of Local Edge; and world reknown boxing trainer Jeff Mayweather of Las Vegas, the uncle of pro boxing’s biggest name today, Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Imamovic served as Master of Ceremonies for Friday night’s weigh-in.

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