NEWS
RELEASE
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Full
Rules Muay Thai in New York, Alex Berrios vs. Ben Case
headline Friday Night Fights Muay Thai January 20th,
2012
Muay Thai
in the state of New York has been under fire from fans
and fighters alike for not having full rules Muay
Thai. Well, the longest running Muay Thai promotion in
New York is about to change that. Friday Night Fights
Muay Thai will feature the first full rules Muay Thai
event in the state of New York on January 20th, 2012,
with the evening’s main event featuring a bout between
Florida's Alex Berrios and New Jersey's Ben Case.
While the state of New Jersey implemented full
rules Muay Thai in July of this year, it seemed that
this would be the closest full rules Muay Thai would
come to the big Apple, the East Coast’s Muay Thai
epicenter. We caught up with the President of Friday
Night Fights Muay Thai, Justin Blair to discuss the
recent development of full rules in New York and his
organization being the first to do it:
"Nathan,
first of all, thank you for taking the time to talk
with me about this. I am really excited about our
January 20th event for a number of reasons, but
obviously, the greatest reason is that it will be the
first ever full rules Muay Thai event in New York’s
history! As the longest running Muay Thai fight series
in the US, we have always appreciated the opportunity
to participate in ground breaking events and moments
in US Muay Thai History. Additionally, as someone that
is born and raised in New York and…..as the president
of a promotional organization based out of New York,
we obviously have a sense of loyalty to our city and
the fans and community that have supported us over the
years. While New York may have not been the first to
permit full rules in the region, regardless of what
style of fighting we are talking about – New York is a
historic place for the fight game – so, when the
chance to produce the first full rules Muay Thai match
presented itself, there was really no choice but to
seize the opportunity with both hands and make it
happen.
Bringing full rules Muay Thai events to
New York is something many in our community have
wanted for a long time so, producing a full rules Muay
Thai event somewhere else just for the sake of doing
it didn’t have the same excitement or appeal for us.
The excitement for us is that we are able to produce a
ground breaking event for our fans in New York City. I
also have to thank WKA President,
Brian Crenshaw for giving us the opportunity to
produce such an event. Brian has managed to be both
forward thinking and true to the sport’s tradition. He
has consistently found a way to balance the needs
required to allow Muay Thai to grow while maintaining
the sport’s integrity. He and I have had several
discussions about it [producing a full rules Muay Thai
event] and it was important to the WKA that these
matches be of a standard and with competitors at the
highest level of skill as well as respect for the
sport. There are many organizations that do things
simply for the sake of doing them – but something such
as this has genuine context that fans in our region
can relate to. For that, I’m honored to be granted the
opportunity to produce such an event"
As
mentioned, the night’s main event will feature Ben
Case and Alex Berrios, both have a good amount of full
rules experience. Case and Berrios are young and
talented fighters that will undoubtedly look to not
only make the historic night memorable for the fans,
but entertaining as well. Case will bring a record of
9-1 into his fight with Berrios, with his only loss
coming to young dynamo Joseph Valtellini. As expected,
Case is honored for the opportunity to fight on a
historic event, such as the first full rules Muay Thai
event in New York. Case released the following
statement regarding the upcoming January event and the
fight with Berrios.
"I am absolutely honored to
be part of the inaugural full Thai rules event in New
York State, and to do it with a talented and classy
fighter like Alex Berrios is particularly special. I
think the more professional Muay Thai fighters are
competing under full Thai rules, the better the sport
will get, because these are really the rules, so being
able to do it in New York is a huge step forward. It's
not to take anything away from guys who have fought in
NYC under modified rules - until now it's all we've
had. But the legality of elbows shouldn't be looked at
as a bonus, it should be the standard. It makes the
fight so much more dynamic. Allowing elbows into the
arsenal isn't just side note; it fundamentally changes
the choreography of the fight. In other words, it’s
not like the fight is the same, just there will be
some elbows in there on top of the same kicks and
knees and punches; putting elbows in the mix changes
the pace of the fight and the ways you can use the
other weapons. It's exponential, not additional. All
of my professional fights save for my last one have
been full rules, and I know Berrios has had a chunk of
his fights in Thailand as well, so I think the fans
can look forward to a fantastic show."
Berrios
has professional record of 6-2 with his only two
defeats coming to highly regarded Stephen Richards and
Joseph Valtellini. Like Case, he also feels it an
honor to be fighting in the main event at the first
full rules Muay Thai event in New York. Berrios
expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to be a
part of history with the following statement.
“I just want to say that I feel honored that I'm
chosen to fight on this historic event for Muay Thai
in America. It is a milestone and a sign of progress
that one of the most important and vibrant states in
the U.S. is embracing the sport. A part of me feels
proud to see America catch up and hope that more North
American fighters will be household names for Muay
Thai enthusiasts around the world. As for my opponent,
I met him at my previous two fights and he seems like
a stand up guy. I'm a little embarrassed to say that I
haven't done my homework on him as a fighter. And in
any case, no pun intended, material on opponents are
few and hard to find. So as usual, I have to focus
more on myself, which is the biggest part of the fight
for me.”
Full rules Muay Thai in New York, you
can’t end the year with any bigger news than that as
far as Muay Thai in North America goes. This is a
victory not only for Friday Night Fights Muay Thai,
but for the fighters and fans.
