In a rare Saturday night edition of The Clash at the Cascades amateur boxing series, the July 4 American holiday and stifling weather didn’t keep boxing fans away from the Coast Hotel ballroom.
The host club, Langley’s City Boxing, had a 50-50 night in the win/loss column.
The main event saw a much-anticipated B.C. lightweight championship match.
It was a clash for a vacant title between the best two lightweights (135 lbs) in the province – No. 1 ranked Tyler Nicholson of Titan Martial Arts and provincially second-ranked Mat Andreatta of City Boxing.
“Unlike some of the stage-managed pro fights we have been subject to in the last few months on cable and pay-per-view, this was a real fight with two high-end fighters at their best,†opined Clash matchmaker and promoter Dave Allison.
The bout started at a frenetic pace, with Andreatta taking the lead with fast combinations.
Nicholson fought back but either missed or just grazed Andreatta, and could not keep up with the accurate solid punches of his opponent, Allison noted.
Roughly midway through the round, Andreatta landed a solid shot that seemed to have the taller Nicholson in trouble.
Nicholson continued to fight back and weathered Andreatta’s onslaught.
Then, just after the 10 second call to end the round, one of Nicholson’s punches landed flush and Andreatta dropped to one knee, but he got to his feet and beat the count.
At the start of the second round both boxers went right after each other and Nicholson found his range again and again, but Andreatta got up and beat the count.
Although Andreatta was willing to continue, his corner stopped the contest and Nicholson was crowned the new B.C. lightweight champion.
The semi-main event saw another City boxing product, Scott Woodward, take on Carlson Gracie’s Jeremy Cooke in a very exciting and close contest.
Woodward who is usually a brawler, took on the role of the boxer, Allison said, adding “This left no option for Cooke who did not disappoint in bringing it on to Woodward.â€
Cooke was always dangerous, however, and Woodward used movement and ring geography to win a very close split decision.
“It was a crowd-pleasing fight and a very close one that will beg for a rematch,†Allison said.
Since Nicholson won the 135-lb. B.C. title, he will forfeit his 140-lb. City championship.
If Woodward and Cooke should rematch it would be a natural for the vacant 140-lb. title.
In other action, Langley City’s Chris Chiavacci weathered an early storm from Sage Balakrishnan of Carlson Gracie’s in a 140-lb. fight.
Chiavacci went on to drop Balakrishnan and go on to win a unanimous decision.
In the other match featuring a Langley City boxer, Cody Robertson of Surrey’s WKX won a unanimous decision over Langley’s Dan Hettes.
Surrey’s Port Kells Boxing Club boxers went two-for-two on the night, with Brandon Kim taking a unanimous decision over Reese Mensing of Richmond’s New Era Boxing in a 168-lb. tilt, and Jerome Serrano on the winning end of a very close match against Nikhilesh Nayar of Vancouver in the 140-lb. weight class.
Overall a crowd of between 250 and 300 fans saw 19 bouts that included a dramatic main event.
The next clash show is set for the weekend of the Langley Good Times Cruise-In, and will take place on Friday, Sept. 11.