There was the odd spectator who thought it was the same bloke in consecutive fights at Saturday night's Spirit of Muay Thai Four kickboxing event in Napier.
They were close. Shaun Rankin of Dannevirke's Bulldogs Gym followed his twin brother Steve Rankin of Napier's Highlanders Gym into the ring.
It was a memorable night for the pair, with both recording wins. Steve beat Aucklander Brendon Holding when the referee stopped the fight in the first round after realising one of Holding's teeth had gone through his lip and Shaun beat Rotorua's Tipene Boy in a unanimous points decision.
"Shaun was inspired by me," claimed Steve afterwards.
They pointed out their victories were an early birthday present for the pair who turn 25 on July 15. It was the first time the pair had fought together on the same night, both were coming off losses and both were fighting for the third time.
A father of four, Steve, intends taking a break for a while to allow his wife, Natasha Bevin, to train and fight more. Although Shaun, a father of one, trains and fights out of Dannevirke he lives in Napier and works as a chef at the Crab Farm Winery in Bay View.
"I get the best of both worlds. There's a great chef out at the Crab Farm and Ben is the best trainer," said Shaun referring to his trainer Ben Ahipene.
Shaun also plays lock for the Dannevirke Tigers rugby league team.
Just two of the four title fights scheduled for the night were completed. The main bout saw Pani Haraki of Napier's Zero Tolerance Gym lose his national WMC heavyweight 94.9kg title in a unanimous points decision to Aucklander Ben Ale.
During the fifth and final round of their entertaining battle the pair forced each other out of the ring and on to the announcer's table.
Aucklander Chris Wells beat Wairoa's Willy Rewi in a split decision to win the national WMC light welterweight 63.5kg title which Rewi held.
Aucklander Joey Baylon retained his national WMC lightweight 61.2kg title after his fight with Geoff Ahipene of the Bulldogs Gym in Dannevirke was ruled a no contest when Ahipene failed to recover from a kick to the groin.
The bout between Aucklander Tiki Bishop, the titleholder, and Ian Menzies of the Zero Tolerance Gym in Napier for the North Island WMC light middleweight 69.8kg title was cancelled.
Along with the Rankins, other Hawke's Bay fighters to win support bouts included the Highlanders Gym pair of Daniel Gempton and Lance Smith, Jamie Boulter of Dannevirke's Bulldogs Gym and the promising Wairoa duo of Jack Marshall and James Vanderkuijl.
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