Sports Notes EXTRA EXTRA - CONTENDER ASIA FINAL

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

Thursday April 24, 2008

To compound that his being 32-years-old Parr was mocked by his competitors as being old, over the hill and past his prime. When all was said and done Parr made a good showing against a much tougher highly skilled, young and improving opponent.

CONTENDER ASIA FINAL

It was billed as the Contender Asia Championship for the reality TV series of the same name. It pitted the young verses the old. The young was represented by 22-year-old Thai champion Yodsaenklai verses the grizzled veteran 32-year-old Australian John Wayne Parr a former champion. In a previous meeting in October 2005 Yodsaenklai defeated Parr in Australia. Though younger prior to the Contender Asia Final the Thai had plenty of experience with a 164-48-with 32 KO record campared to Parrs 69-25,-34 KO results.

During the TV competition Parr had the worst of it having been in a tough match every fight where much younger and less experienced fighters put him to the test. In the process Parr was worn down and suffered an injury that required stitches after his first fight with Frenchman Rafik Bakkouri who got under everyone skin with his constant banter and his degrading other fighters.

Parr won two of his three fights, two resulted in close decisions that easily could have seen him on the losing end. All of that luck came to an end with his rematch against Yodsaenklai in the championship bout. From the beginning the Thai took charge and near the end of the first round his right hand made a solid connection with Parr's jaw and knocked him to the canvas. At that point Parr looked like the old man with diminished skills that the fighters repeatedly teased him about during the preliminary competition.

In the second round Parr suffered a cut over his right eye. He then showed his experience of having 13 regular boxing fights early on in his career when he won 10 all by KO and lost three. Parr displayed those boxing skills when he responded with a flurry of punches to Yodsaenklai's head which surprised the Thai champion. Yodsaenklai then grabbed Parr's leg and pulled the Australian down to the canvas.

The third and fourth rounds were more competetive with Parr being more aggressive. The announcers stated that Yodsaenklai was ahead 38-36 after the fourth round. They were being very generous to Parr with that assumption.

It was all or nothing at all for Parr in the fifth and final round but Yodsaenklai continued to display his punching skills and reopened the cut over Parr's right eye and another over his left. Parr continued to retaliate with fury and a flurry of punches. It was a tactic that he never displayed throughout the competition. When all was said and done Yodsaenklai won by a unanimous decision with scores of 50-47, 50-45 and 50-44.

The Thai realized his wish by winning the $150,000 first prize to his mother whom he promised to buy her a house for raising him. While the cameras were rolling he called her on the phone from the middle of the ring after the decision was made and said, "Mom I won our house."

The Contender Asia Final finally took it up a notch and added a commentator and a color analyst introduced as the former champion Mark "The Hammer' Castanini. They both had Muay Thai fight experience and that filled the void of the programs most glaring need…. someone to explain what's going on with a sport very few have knowledge about its rules.

They did a credible job but there continued to be some flaws in the coverage. Most notably the apparent dirty tactics were displayed by Russian Dzahbar Askerov from the UAE who often wrestles and throws opponents to the ground as opposed to knocking them down. He also grabs an opponent's leg when they kick then either holds or pulls the leg till the opponent falls. Also while holding the opponents leg he throws a leg kick to the opponent and knocks them down. The commentators never explained clearly if those tactics were within the rules. In general the program took too much for granted of the knowledge of Muay Thai from novice viewers of the sport.

Should this series continue for a second season they need commentators to call the fights and explain the rules if Contender Asia intends to grow their television viewing audience. The commentators used for the final are capable but need to be more descriptive as is Joe Rogan who makes the color commentary for the UFC and is also best known as being the host of the reality series Fear Factor.

Throughout the Contender Asia season they have been promoting after each fight for viewers to vote if they thought the fighter was worthy of returning to fight the Contender Asia champion.... THAT NEVER HAPPENED.

The final was held in Singapore on April 12th and televised on a delayed basis on the AXN network Wednesday April 23. There were two preliminary fights between four of the shows previous competitors. In the first preliminary fight Kim Khan Zaki from Singapore fought Croatian Zidov "Akuma" Dominik.

During the regular program Zak's should was dislocated in his first fight and it popped out thus ending his fight. He never had a chance to show his skill. Against Zidov his strength was his leg kicks and a decent punch when he followed up after knocking Zidov off balance. He won the fight after it was stopped in the fifth round when Zidov suffered a broken nose and had blood pouring from his face.

The second prelim featured the grudge match between Russian Dzabhar Askerov from the UAE and France's Rafik Bakkouri. This was the cleanest fight Askerov fought throughout the competition. He won by a narrow decision. Each fighter was very cautious and non aggressive resulting in the judges unamous scores of 50-49, 49-48 and 49-48. Askerov's win gave him the title as being the WAC European Champion.

Askerov earned a dirty reputation early on in the competition after he and Bakkouri had a shouting match during the regular training sessions which resulted in a brawl between the two. That resulted in a fight between them which was broken up by other fighters and several trainers.

Askerov had a reputation for dirty tactics early on when he fought Englishman David Pacquette. Blood spilled from both men though Dzhabar devalued himself by succumbing to his dirty tactics in the ring that lost him two points. Despite this, it was a close fight between the two men with the score being 96-95. It was a fight Askerov very well could have lost the fight given his dirty tactics.

Bakkouri earlier took on eventual finalist Australian John Wayne Parr. It was a grudge fight as an aftermath of Bakkouri's training session brawl with Askerov. Parr didn't like Bakkouri's attitude. Parr volunteered to the fight to eliminate Bakkouri from the competition. The fight resulted in Parr having his nose stitched. Though battered Parr won a close decision that many felt he actually lost. Parr had 186 stitches in his face prior to the fight and after he was closing in on 200.

Parr then fought Zidov "Akuma" Dominik and won. He then fought Askerov winning again by another close decision to reach the final. Again the fight was close enough that Parr very well could have lost. All of his fights were tough and he took a lot of punishment. By the time he fought Yodsaenklai he was the most worn out fighter in the competition. To compound that his being 32-years-old he was mocked by his competitors as being old, over the hill and past his prime. When all was said and done Parr made a good showing against a much tougher, quicker, highly skilled, young and improving opponent. The reality is Parr's best days are behind him.