Williams Lake kickboxer Tyler Bate got his second pro fight under his belt on Friday, Feb. 25 at the River View Hall in Vancouver.
Bate, 23, who trains out of Williams Lake’s Stand Fast Muay Thai, took on Surrey’s Armit Dulla in a three-round, 155-pound thai kickboxing bout.
“The fight was going good, we were following the game plan,” said Paul Rosborough, Bate’s trainer and owner of Stand Fast Muay Thai.
“But Tyler made a mistake at the end of the first round.”
Bate said his opponent landed a solid left hand at the end of the round, dropping him to the ground; however, much to Rosborough’s and the crowd’s delight, Bate returned to his feet to continue the fight in the second round.
“He spent the second round recovering, and came out and won the third round,” Rosborough said. “But it wasn’t enough to win the decision.”
The bout earned Bate fight of the night honours, and promoter Gerry Gionco informed Bate and Rosborough the promotion wants Bate and other fighters from Stand Fast Muay Thai back on a monthly basis to take part in his events.
Gionco also offered Bate a rematch — one he said he’s going to win.
“I’m winning that rematch,” Bate said. “I’m going to keep my hands up better. I got greedy. In my mind I needed something to show that I was winning the fight, and that knockdown was the difference.
“There were times in the second and third round where I thought he was going down.”
Rosborough said the fact Bate returned to his feet to continue the bout said a lot about his character.
“A lot of guys wouldn’t have got up from that,” Rosborough said.
On Friday, April 8 the club will attend Gionco’s next event at the Bombay Banquet Hall and Convention Centre in Surrey.
Williams Lake’s Lloyd Kenny, 18, is scheduled on the card, as is co-owner of Stand Fast Muay Thai Marcel Rochford and Bate.
Kenny will be competing at 210 pounds in his first thai kickboxing bout, while Rochford, moving from a past history in boxing to kickboxing, will fight at 170 pounds in his first thai kickboxing bout, as well.
“These guys are all lined up with this promoter,” Rosborough said.
“They should be lined up with B.C. title shots in the future if they want it.”