European Muay Thai Championship 2010

Min gode ven og træningsmakker Christian Colombo var til EM i Muay Thai fra den 25-30 maj i Velletri 35 km udenfor Rom. I løbet af ugen fik jeg opdateringer via SMS og lørdag eftermiddag 15:50 fik jeg en SMS om at han havde vundet sin semifinale og skulle kæmpe filane om søndagen. Jeg vidste at det sidste fly til Rom gik fra København 17:30, så jeg sprang direkte i en taxa mod lufthavnen, købte flybillet online via min telefon i taxaen og 4 timer efter jeg havde fået SMS'en stod jeg i Rom :-)

My good friend and sparringpartner Christian Colombo was fighting at the European Muay Thai championship 25th-30th of may in Velletri, 35 km outside Rome (Itally). Thure out the week I was updated by textmessages and saturday afternoon 15:50 I received themessage that he had won his semi final and was fighting the final sunday. I knew the last flight for Rome out of Copenhagen was at 17:30, so i jumped into a taxi towards the airport, bought a planeticket online with my phone and 4 hours after I had received the message I was standing in Rome :-)

Tidligt på finaledagen fik jeg set et par kampe / Got to watch some fights early on the day of the finales

Søndagen var finaledag og jeg fik set nogle finaler i de lavere vægtklasser og fik set nogle cool ting som jeg skal til at eksperimentere med. Ellers sad jeg i omklædningen og snakkede med Colombo, der havde den sidste finalekamp og bare hjalp ham med at slappe af og holde styr på nerverne op til kampen.

Sunday was the final's day and I got to see some of the lower weight classes and saw some really cool technichques that I'm going to experiment with. I spent the rest of the time i the lockerroom and talked with Colombo, who was fighting the last final of the turnament and helped him relax and calm before the fight.

Colombo slapper af inden kampen / Colombo relaxing before his fight

Selve kampen gik ikke så godt. Nerverne spillede ham et pus mod en meget hårdtslående og rutineret (+100 kampe) hviderusser. Havde han været lidt højere ville han være en kopi af Dolph Lundgren i Rocky IV. I 1. omgang blev Colombo ramt et par gange og hang pointmæssigt bagefter i både 1. og anden omgang. I 3. og 4. omgang fik han styr på nerverne og hang med hviderusseren, som han ramte mere og mere som hviderusseren blev mere og mere træt. Det var dog ikke nok til at vinde, men jeg er sgu stolt at at have en træningsmakker som er sølvvinder til EM i Muay Thai i heavy weight (+91 kg) - det er pludselig ikke så mærkeligt at det er et helvede at sparre med ham :-)

His fight however didn't go that well. His nerves jinksed him a litte. His opponemt from Belarus was hard hitting and experienced (+100 fights) and if he'd been just a little taller he'd be an exact copy of Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV. In the 1st. round Colombo got tagged good a couple of times and was behind on the judges scoring card. In the 3rd. and 4th. round he regained control of his nerves and got back in the fight. The longer into the fight he got the more tired the Belarussian became and the the more Colombo was scoring. Sadly it wasn't enough to win the fight, but I'm so proud to have a friend and sparring partner who's a heavy weight (+ 205 pounds) silvermedalist at the European Muay Thai Championship - suddently it explaines why sparring with him is such a bitch :-)

Dolph Lundgren i Rocky IV / Dolph Lundgreen in Rocky IV