Brendon Wallace kicks Hamilton's Rangi Haggie on the way to victory at the first Night of the Assassins show in March. He will challenge for the IKBF light middleweight belt on November 4.
Brendon Wallace kicks Hamilton's Rangi Haggie on the way to victory at the first Night of the Assassins show in March. He will challenge for the IKBF light middleweight belt on November 4.
The Night of Assassins 2 has fast become a stacked card with virtually every major Whanganui exponent available to fight and the number of championship bouts doubling from two to four.
Buoyed by the success of the inaugural event in March, Kyle Gallacher of Assassins Muay Thai Gym had found putting this event together on his cellphone to be almost "cruisy".
"It's definitely been a lot smoother this time and everyone's keen to get on the card.
"But I think it's because there's so many good fighters from Whanganui.
The last event consisted of 12 amateur and novice bouts.
There has been a change in the main event as Mike 'Tha Muss' Makatea-Leylander will now defend his IKBF light middleweight belt against aggressive Rene Rashka (Hybrid MMA), who is touted as a strong fighter with Muay Thai, MMA and Pro boxing experience.
Former champion Deej Edwards, who vacated the belt with an injury, was scheduled to face Makatea-Leylander but is currently stepping back from the sport, having left Jackals gym.
Rashka could be an intriguing opponent as the bout is a rematch from around a year ago. "It was a good, hard fight, but Mike won by decision," said Gallacher.
"[Rashka]'s a tough dude. They've both evolved since then."
Fellow Assassin Brendon Wallace, currently on a seven fight win streak, is still scheduled to take on 30-fight veteran Mike Kapi (Misfits) for the IKBF NZ Middleweight title.
But adding to those two headliners is new WKA super heavyweight champion Lee Kara (Awa Kings), who is sets his eyes on another New Zealand title as he fights Moe Hussain (Jackals) for the IKBF belt.
Kara achieved his dream when he defeated towering Aucklander Dave Tuitupou by split decision to win the WKA crown at the "Battle in the Waikato" show in September.
He had hoped to be added to the Whanganui card after that showing, but now the chance to win a second New Zealand title should be a big draw-card for his supporters.
"He's on a roll, man, he's been winning a lot of fights and being very active," said Gallacher.
"Him and Moe know each other pretty well."
Local fans may remember Hussain for the classic knock-down, drag-out fight he had with multiple time karate champion Pete Parsons in the main event of the 2014 River City Rumble.
And expat Jono Anderson (Lion Pit) will finally be able to put months of frustration behind him when he meets Scott Aitken (Jai Thai) for the IKBF North Island Welterweight title in another five-round matchup.
Anderson was very disappointed he had to pull out with injury from the first show in March, when he was due to fight Auckland's Jake Walker for the same belt.
A veteran of River City Rumbles and having been on a recent training stint in Thailand, Anderson will be very eager to put on another exciting bout in front of his home supporters.
"Everything's a 100 miles an hour for him - he finally gets to fight and for a title," said Gallacher.
Adding to the championship fights are three-round matchups featuring some of Whanganui's most exciting fighters.
Big punching Che Barlow, seen here on left against Henry Burns in March, adds his name to another stacked card at Springvale Stadium.
Big Che Barlow (Rivercity Martial Arts) returns to Muay Thai action to meet Colin Rameka (The Pen) at super heavyweight, while Corey-Lee Robertson will look to follow up his stunning knockout victory at the last show when he meets Stefan Harrison (Freestyle MMA Morrinsville) in a 90kg bout.
