USA vs. Netherlands – No Boundary Fights

Frederick Belleton is an American success story. He began as a simple police officer in France (where his Muay Thai and Savate skills often came in handy) and then immigrated to America where he became a successful entrepreneur. He then used the considerable savvy and business capital he had developed in his career to campaign for legal Muay Thai in Massachusetts. He also partnered with martial arts champion Mohammed Hadifi to co-found No Boundary Fights, the first legal, regulated Muay Thai promotion in Massachusetts.

What makes No Boundary Fights so special isn’t just that it’s the first; it also has the best matchmaking I’ve ever seen in any combat sport. Every decision is hard fought, every KO is hard earned. Belleton has a simple system for making sure his fights are so well matched. He goes out to every gym, get’s in the ring and spars almost everyone that is going to be on one of his shows. That way he KNOWS who is going to be a good fight for who. I can personally vouch for his ability to do this, from our time together as sparring partners back in the day.

Below are some pics and backstories from the last No Boundary event. The next event truly has No Boundaries, as it’s USA vs. Netherlands, a perennial kickboxing powerhouse, headlining Ella Grapperhaus of Ettika gym in Amsterdam against Sara Click of Sityodtong Boston, Saturday, July 14th 6:30 pm at 590 Main St, Melrose Memorial Hall, Melrose, MA.

There were a lot of amazing fights on the last card, but the one that really stole the show was Emma Kelly of Sityodtong vs. My Seppo of Redline (a Phd candidate at MIT that does extensive work with abused women). Seppo was a buzzsaw with a really aggressive punching style, but Kelly was able to weather the storm, and they had a brutal back and forth battle with Kelly finally pulling off the win with a split decision that also won Fight Of The Night.

In my interview with Kelly, she thanked her coaches, Kru Mark DellaGrotte and Andy Cote, and had this to say about Styodtong – “Every day we are training and improving, trying new techniques, seeing what works. We are always grinding. My training partners are like my secret weapon– Sarah Click, Kylie O’Hearn, I train with lions. They put in a lot of work for this camp, I owed it to them to win. I wanted to prove I could hang with the best. Muy Seppo is a tough opponent. I already knew that going into the fight and I think the fight really showcased that. She’s fast and tricky so I tried to be faster hit harder and push forward. My [Seppo] is hard to rattle. I thought we had an exciting fight and put on a good show for everybody who came out to see some fights and support local fighters. It was really cool winning fight of the night, being female and the smallest persons on the card. I think everyone loves to see skinny chicks scrap. Women are running this game. I hope when women and younger girls see me fight they think, ‘Oh I would love to do this, I COULD do this.’ There are a lot of opportunities for women in combat sports, and you don’t have to be a gifted athlete to start. Everyone is a beginner at some point and a good coach can find your gift and tap into it. Plus, I’d love more training partners! I want to thank No Boundary for the unbelievable amount of work Mohammed and Freddie put in to give local fighters a stage to showcase our skills and grow the Muay Thai scene in Massachusetts. We’re not going anywhere.

Kelly fights again this Saturday against Alma Vicencio of New York’s 5 Points Academy, and if it’s anything like last time it will be a barn burner.

Redline Fighter Soap Am’s hard fought win against Giovanni Mercado.

Cassie Mansfield does double duty as both a fighter and a ring card girl, but she’s a lot more than just another pretty face. She has an amazing personal story, but there is nothing I can write about her that hasn’t already been written better by her coach Paul Basaniak in his (excellent) blog.

This is the only pic I could get for her as a No Boundary Fights ring card girl, but she does that job quite well too.

You can support Cassie by hiring her as a personal trainer or following her on Instagram. She trains out of Bishop’s Boxing and FAF in Holbrook.

Hussein Elsadek celebrates his victory over a very tough Ralph Feliciano.

Some other fighters I’m particularly looking forward to watching this Saturday are Redline’s Zeal McGrew, Level Up fighter (and John’s Hopkin’s researcher) Lauren Morgan and FAF fighter Elizabeth Loud. McGrew is a former Hofstra wrestler and rising MMA prospect that has been sharpening his striking skills by going 4-0 in Muay Thai as well. He fights fellow undefeated fighter Mike Sydorko Saturday…and only one will stay that way. More on the others later.

And now it’s time to thank some of the unsung heroes of Muay Thai in Massachusetts. You can’t have legal Muay Thai without smart, safe, cogent rules….or at least not for long. This task fell to Dave Ginsberg.

He assembled a crack team of coaches, competitors, referees, and judges to craft a perfect balance of safety and excitement while maintaining the true heart of Muay Thai. This team included legendary coach Kru Mark DellaGrotte, New York ISKA director Tom Sconzo, Bellator Kickboxing and Glory referee Bryan Miner, Mike Mena and Alan Lau, who all put a lot of hours to make sure this was done right. Special thanks to Jen Fraga and Guy Licciardi from the Massachusetts Athletic Commission for having the foresight and diligence to help make this a reality.

A much younger Dave Ginsberg in Thailand with legendary coach Kru Mark DellaGrotte and Lumpinee champion Yod De Cha. Ginsberg shares his wealth of knowledge daily at the Ginsberg Academy, 2000 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA.

Relevant rules pics

April Canavan in an amateur undercard fight. Ginsberg decided to allow amateurs to wear shin guards so they could develop as fighters before they have the iron shins of an advanced Muay Thai fighter. Helps your face a lot too when you get hit with something like this.

You can also see elbow pads in all the above amateur fights. Elbows are an important part of Muay Thai, but they often lead to quick cut stoppages. Which leads us to our Main Event, where an elbow strike expert, Dave Hayrikian, was able to finish a VERY skilled opponent in the first round with a slick elbow combination leading to a TKO via doctor stoppage for cuts. It was a smart move by him and his coaches (Xavi Ramos of Rajasi Muay Thai and Kru Mark Klemm of Baan Muay Thai in New Hampshire) that lead to swift victory, but it was an exciting fight and we all wished we could have seen more.

Dave Hayrikian celebrating with his kids and his coaches, Kru Mark Klemm far right, and Xavi Ramos far left. Photo courtesy of Crossface Productions.

Weigh Ins were hosted by Redline Fightsports and they did it right. They had a staff nutritionist (that was an excellent cook) serving carefully prepared portions to help the fighters recover and rehydrate.

Soap Am looking lean and mean after weigh-ins.

Fighters My Seppo and Soap Am with coaches Eric Grossman and Marc Meltzer after the event.

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