COOKTOWN muaythai fighter Oliver Hanson fell just short at the King of the North super four eliminator in Cairns on the weekend, beaten in the final by Innisfail’s Quinton Smith.
Full Boar Gym coach Vince Parkes said the team was both pleased and disappointed with their outing in centre ring.
“We’re always a bit down when we lose, but Oliver won his first fight against Ryan McDonald, and went the distance with Quinton, so he got a lot of experience,” he said.
Parkes said Oliver knew how to beat Ryan after losing to the tough Cairns fighter late last year, but Quinton was a slippery opponent.
“He was just so fast, by the time Oliver went in to throw a punch, Quinton had hit him three times and he was bouncing around like a yoyo,” he said.
“He grew up with the mixed styles; boxing, jiu-jitsu, MMA, he’s done them all and has a really elusive style.”
Parkes said Quinton’s impressive win was marred by his poor sportsmanship throughout the night.
“He fights really dirty, which was particularly unnecessary when he was winning the fight anyway; he kicked and kneed Oliver in the head when he was on the ground, was shoulder barging him in the jaw and held his head down so he couldn’t breath,” Parkes said.
“Just full dirty tactics all the way through the fight, but we looked at it as a good experience for Oliver, a good, hard fight.”
Full Boar stablemate Mariah Bowen was the first fight of the night, taking on an opponent from Atherton and dominating throughout the first round.
“Mariah got the better of her, smashing her with knees, punches and kicks,” Parkes said.
“I think her opponent knew she was going to get knocked out, so she didn’t come out for the second round.”
The team is back in the gym and back at the drawing board, with Oliver lined up to fight on Eruption in Brisbane in three weeks.
