Kru Ray was proud to send 7 fighters this year to the IKF World Championships down in Orlando, FL. We were the only fighters representing Indianapolis and we fielded one of if not the biggest Muay Thai teams in the whole tournament! This tournament is usually the largest in the country and the very best fighters attend for a chance to be called World Champ. Many of our fighters were in the ring for the very first time.
“That's the way we roll!”
Not one, Not 2, not even 3, but 4 World Champions! Our fighters all fought fantastically and almost the only fights they lost were pretty close split decisions.
Tammy Sarkine solidly defeated her tough Canadian opponent, trained by Mike Miles, all 3 rounds to win a unanimous decision and bring home the World Championships. Tammy was way too strong in her boxing and clinch work for her opponent and it seemed as if her opponent just couldn't hang with her at all.
James Shin won. What can you say? He not only won a World Championship he did so after working the corner all that day, and the day previous and with no rest. He devastated his opponent. James the “Whirlwind” Shin totally outclassed his opponent and the referee had to stop the fight due to his opponent simply being overwhelmed, hurt, and unable to defend himself.
Kathy Wise fought her way through a preliminary bout on Saturday with a hard, and tough opponent to find herself against yet another Canadian fighter trained by Mike Miles. Kathy fought valiantly and was always the aggressor. She won a split decision to bring home the World Championships!
Doug Metrish fought on Saturday in the prelims and solidly defeated his opponent with superior endurance, skills, and great knees. On Sunday he had to fight a very seasoned and skilled opponent again from Mike Miles' Canadian team. This was Doug's very first time competing and here he was going up against someone who had almost 50 fights. Doug seemed to have won the first round but ran out of wind and got stopped in the second. Congratulations to him for showing so much guts and determination.
Adam Moss fought a tough opponent on Saturday to win a spot in the Championship fight. His fight on Saturday was textbook perfect and he was way too much for his opponent. The fight for the title was extremely close with Adam's opponent trying his best to avoid Adam's punching and knees. This Fight was really close and it came down to a split decision and unfortunately, it went the other way. This was Adam's first competitive fight and to take it that far is fantastic.
Jason Bradley fought on Saturday against a very skilled and seasoned opponent. Jason (who in his first) outing really charged and took it to his opponent. The other fighter was doing all he could to avoid Jason's knees and keep Jason off him. This fight came down to a split decision and went to the other fighter (who went on to win the whole tournament)
Jamie Bradley fought a seasoned opponent who had about 10 fights already. This was Jamie's first go. She squared off before the fight and looked into her opponent's eyes and made sure that she knew that win or lose, Jamie was coming to get her. Boy, she sure did! She won with solid boxing backing her opponent up and finishing her off with great knees. She brought home yet another World Championship to Indy. Congratulations to her
Kru Ray's Indianapolis team really showed their stuff and defeated teams from some of the top gyms and camps in the world. All Indy's fighters were in Great shape that they didn't even sit between rounds! Many of their opponents were gasping desperately for air. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. But, Indianapolis proved that given a fair fight we are competitive and can beat most in the World!