Teenager Houston claims ISKA title

The champion squared off with Scottish title-holder Sean Elliot at the Waterfoot Hotel, winning by a decision over five two minute rounds.

TThe event was organised by Bishop Street’s Kickboxing Gym featuring fighters all over Ireland, as well as the main event fighter from Edinburgh.

The action packed fight-card coined “It’s Show Time” contained 16 fights all of which were given deafening support by the crowd.

The night kicked off with a bang with three stoppages in the first five fights. The first stoppage win of the night was given to Antony Kelly over Gerry McDaid.

After a close start, Kelly proved more effective with his kicks and as a result the referee deemed them dangerous enough to stop.

This was followed by the only female fight of the night where Clare McDevitt beat Maria Bryne in the first round via liver kick.

Support from the crowd grew more and more with every fight and they were in full voice towards the end of the undercard.

Considered by many as the fight of the night was Paddy McChrystal against Terrence Norby.

The atmosphere at this fight was incredible with the crowd in two minds to support as they were both local lads.

Norby won by majority decision over a fight that could have went either way as both fighters threw tactics in the bin and began slugging it out.

The judges ruled in favour for Norby most likely due to the fact that he leg sweeped McChrystal on a few occasions.

McChrystal gave as good as he got however, bloodying his opponents nose with a number of heavy shots.

Such relentless pace was set in that fight that Norby had to be checked by the Order of Malta for exhaustion after the nine-minute non-stop fight. This meant that a break had to be taken early due to the rule where paramedics must in attendance for all fights.

The main card took place after the short break, with all fights going the distance, although giving the crowd great entertainment.

Leading up to the main event Noel Morrison defeated Ethan Young by majority decision over three, three-minute rounds.

As a result, Morrison has now been offered a shot at the ISKA Commonwealth title next month in Dundee, Scotland.

The main event then took place and the fight pitted up two-time Irish Champion Brian Houston versus two-time Scottish Champion Sean Elliot for the chance for a hat-trick of titles.

The fight was a closely fought contest with both eliminating any “feeling out” process by meeting in the ring from the first bell.

Elliot tried the spectacular a few times with a number of attempts at spinning heel kicks, however Houston’s defence was solid and he avoided any damage.

Houston proved the aggressor over the course of the fight, picking his shots well which ultimately got him his win.

At only 17 years of age, Houston showed a serious statement of how far he could go in the sport.