THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 21, 1995 TAG: 9504200160
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Lee Tolliver
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
The art of Thai boxing came to Virginia Beach last Saturday for the first time.
The first time in Virginia to be exact.
While local fight fans have for years enjoyed kickboxing as part of local fight cards, Thai boxing was never sanctioned by the Virginia Athletic Commission because it was thought to be too brutal.
With the commission now defunct, the door opened for FDC Academy of Martial Arts owner Frank Cucci to bring in the full body contact sport.
If Saturday was any indication, local fight fans have found something they like. FDC was set up with 325 seats and Cucci had to turn away nearly 200 spectators at the door.
``We could have sold 1,000 tickets with little to no effort,'' said Cucci, a former Navy SEAL who trains his old peers in hand-to-hand combat. ``We've got definite plans to hold more fights, but we'll still probably hold them here because we liked the small, family atmosphere. We played the national anthem before the fights and stuck to traditional Thai boxing rituals.
``Everything went like clock work and we're just real happy with it.''
The card featured six fights with competitors from FDC, the State Martial Arts Academy in State College, Pa., Team Suriya Sak, U.S.A. from Alexandria, the Scott Francis Academy of Muay Thai in Raleigh, N.C., and the Princeton Academy of Martial Arts in Princeton, N.J.
Thai boxing is similar to kickboxing in that both the hands and legs are used as weapons. But in Thai boxing, fighters are allowed to strike at the legs as well as targets above the waist. They are also allowed to fight in the clinch, often using their knees to an opponent's stomach area.
In professional Thai boxing, the use of elbows is allowed.
Fighting for the home team were Wahsei Miran in the junior welterweight division, Mike Moses at middleweight, Frank Brown at middleweight, Scott Turner at light heavyweight and Vance Richmond at cruiserweight.
Thanbom Bodhiprasart of Alexandria got the card rolling with a victory over Charlie Fisher of Pennsylvania. Joe Canale of Pennsylvania followed with a victory over Wahsei Miran of FDC. FDC's Mike Moses then defeated Wes Caudill of Raleigh, Jeff Ruth of Alexandria beat Frank Brown of FDC, Scott Turner of FDC beat Ben Post of Lynchburg and Vance Richmond of FDC defeated Tomas Deschamps of Garden City, N.J.
All fights were three, two-minute rounds.
Don't forget the 42nd annual Virginia Beach Sports Club Jamboree Monday night at the 36th Street Ramada Inn Oceanfront.
The club will honor its chosen high school best athletes and announce the winner of its Sportsman of the Year award.
Tickets are $25 and proceeds help pay for the club's scholarship program.
For more information, call Sheldon Corner at 428-1731. MEMO: Got an interesting sports-related story to tell? If so, call The Beacon
at 490-7228 and let us know about it, or write to The Beacon, Sports
Department, 4565 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach, Va. 23462. The
fax number is 490-7235.
by CNB