Another great night of fights. The venue (although relocated at the last minute due to fire at the original location) was awesome. It was a huge night club with a great sound system, lights, the whole nine yards. Mr. Colin Payne also organized one of the best fight cards I have ever seen. Lots of very close, competitive fights and several IKF title fights.

I was part of a very exciting battle with the #1 contender in the amateur Light Middleweight division, Ryan Lyall from Scotland. It was an excellent back and forth battle, but in the end the judges couldn’t pick a winner. One judge had it 47-48 Lyall, the second had it 49-47 Cichon, and the third had it 48-48 even. Personally, I know it was a good close fight, but I thought I edged Ryan with more effective shots landed. To his credit though he probably had the edge in ringmanship as I think I played the counter fighter a bit too much and let Ryan be more the aggressor. I’ll be very curious to see the DVD as the scorecards were all over the place and I was a bit shocked to hear it was ruled a draw. Ryan and I both traveled a long way to be here and we fought our hearts out, it’s a shame that a winner couldn’t be chosen.

The other Amateur World Title fight included Travis Mason of Utah, USA and Ashley Collins of Kent, England. Mason pulled out the upset in the finals of the 2009 IKF World Classic, but today would be all Collins. Keep an eye out for Mason, he’s going to be a force to reckon with in the future, but his youth was evident in the ring this evening. Mason started the first round wild and reckless. To his credit he landed some strong kicks and punches on Collins, but his feet were never settled and his hands were all over the place. The veteran Collins found his opportunity and capitalized dropping Mason at :34 of the first round and knocking him out cold for several seconds. Shortly after the ref had waived the fight off Mason popped back up, but was in no shape to continue. A big congratulations to the TKO camp and Ashley Collins, he fought a great fight. It was Mason’s first loss, but as I told him, he will learn more from this defeat than he ever would in a victory. Once again he’s going to be a handful for many unfortunate fighters in the near future.

All in all it was a great night of fights and a great trip. A bit thank you goes out to Mr. Colin Payne. He’s done more than enough to take care of us over here and we are forever grateful. Mr. Payne also promotes one of the greatest shows around, it was an honor to be a part of it.