Meat Pies for All 12-May-2010

It's 10am on a Saturday. I'm making my usual Saturday morning ritual down to Powerplay gym but today, it isn't for training.

Marc Gelsi, Aaron Goodson, Aaron Hole and myself are making the hike up to Numerka (40k's past Shepparton) to witness the debut fights of Dylan Macdonnell (15ys), Moulay Bekkali (15yrs) and Joseph Assouni (16yrs).

After a very animated 2 & a half hour drive filled with several stops due to an overheated engine, several servo sunglass browsing and discussions of the ideal donut topping; we finally arrive at the small town that is Numerka.

As we drive through the streets looking for the venue, I happen to notice something on the side of the road that I don't generally see along the streets of Brunswick. Now I have seen people out walking many types of dogs before but this one had a very odd appearance, upon second glance, it struck me that it wasn't a dog at all. It was a goat.

We continue driving up the street to the one hall in town that is surrounded by cars. Destination reached.

We walk through the crowd, our noses leading the way to the room of fighters. Once the deep heat/ thai oil/ voltaren gel gets stronger, you know you're close.

Reaching the back room, we are greeted by a small entourage of Powerplayers. All hands are strapped & ready to go.

Fighting first for Team Powerplay is Dylan Macdonnell. Joe commences warming Dylan up. Out come the pads, the gloves and….the hair gel? For those of you who have not yet met Dylan, he is renowned for his stylish hair do.

Warm up commences, punches come out sharp, kicks are hard, hair is styled, we are good to go.

Paving the way through the crowd to the blue corner, an intimidating entourage of Powerplay go-ers follow Dylan to the rings edge. Protected by shin guards, 12oz gloves, chest protector, heard guard and mouth guard, the bell rings to kick start the first round.

Wowing the audience, Dylan busts out some impressive moves and lets go of some much anticipated power you could see he was just itching to unleash.

Overpowering his opponent in the first round, the bell rings again to start round 2.

Stalking his opponent around the ring, throwing a flurry of jabs, uppercuts, hooks, kicks, Dylan drops his competitor. Unable to recover after an 8 count, the reff calls the match. Dylan wins by TKO in the 2nd Round!

We all congratulate Dylan on a dynamite performance. Marc Gelsi then decides to present Dylan with a different style of trophy for all his hard work; a meat pie.

Next up, Moulay Bellaki aka "The Rockin Morroccan".

Enter ‘entourage de Powerplay'. At this point, I suddenly had flashbacks to Powerplay Promotions ‘Round 1' in which a 12 year old Moulay and Joseph first stepped foot in the ring together to display their amazing skills in a demonstration at the Croxton Park Hotel.

Now 15 years old, Moulay is noticeably on his way to towering over many of us and about to make his debut in the ring.

Goosebumps start covering my arms as I watch Moulay make history. The bell rings and again, I feel like I am watching a mini professional take to the stage. Moulay is what we call a ‘technician' – someone who throws clear, technical punches and kicks and lands them. His opponent is prepared for war and is not backing down an inch. Moulay gets him in the grapple and starts laying in the knees.

Halfway through the round, my head starts spinning at this amazing, electric powerhouse I see before me. Watching him in training, it's blindly clear that he's good but the time had arrived when he really got to express what he can do. The bell rings and the crowd is blown away by such an impressive fight, they erupt with applause.

Judges decision arrives and the winner by majority points decision is Moulay Bekkali.

Another meat pie trophy is awarded.

Last up for the Powerplay crew; the talented Mr Joseph Assouni. ……cue the entourage.

Every time we walk through the crowd, I can't help but giggle to myself the incredulous looks we continually receive from people, stunned by the quantity of supporters backing our teenage titans. It is as if we are dancing to the rhythm whilst Pied Piper Joey plays his tune.

Now Joey is no stranger to performances in the ring. He has done demo's, worked the pads with Coach Joe in centre ring on fight nights; and he has had 2 amateur boxing bouts. This was his first modified thai boxing fight.

Joseph looking relaxed and cool as always, he touches gloves; the goosebumps flare right back up.

Without hesitation, they head straight into it. Both sides are looking good, Joey's defense is so solid, I find it hard for anyone to get through it unscathed.

They tie up in the grapple and Joey manoeuvres his opponent so that he is ploughed flat on the floor.

Round 2 only brings out more of Joey's awesome power as he lands some big blows, the final one stopping his opponent's intentions of winning. The 8 count is given and the reff's hands are waved to signal another TKO. Just as Dylan and Moulay did, Joseph conducts himself in a professional manner and greets his opponent to congratulate him on a tough fight.

Clearing a path through the crowd, "the entourage" makes its way to the back room for celebration….Meat pies for all!

The drive home is a lot smoother than the prior trip up. Replaying the fights in my mind, I can't help but get excited as to where these young stars are going to take this sport to in the future. Dylan, Moulay, Joseph and Jacinta Paschalidis (who is set to make her debut the following week) all train 5 times a week at the ages of 15/16. They mimick the moves of the most seasoned professionals already, as clearly displayed on this show in Numerka. Unintentionally, they have already raised and set a new bar amongst their future competitors. It is exciting to imagine the level of entertainment they will display in the years to come……

Congratulations Dylan Macdonnell, Moulay Bekkali & Joseph Assouni!