Local talent shines as the Rumble in the 'Rapa lives up to expectations

Featherston's Kirk Davis might have been beaten on points by Aucklander Sam Hill for the national WMC junior welterweight title at the the Muay Thai kick-boxing tournament staged at the Featherston Anzac Hall on Saturday night but he was far from disgraced.
Davis, 16, and Hill, 18, impressed the large and enthusiastic crowd with both their physical strength and technical skill in a bout which went the full four rounds. And they had the battle scars to show for it. Davis, for instance, wore a good set of Hill's elbows which left him requiring a stitch to a cut on his head.
The ''super fight'' between Cody Temuri, of Masterton, and Jade Ngapera, formerly of Featherston but now of Hamilton, also provided a stirring contest.
It went the full three rounds and at times resembled something of a wrestling match with both fighters taking a few dives over the ropes. Temuri was awarded a points decision.
Diminutive Featherston junior Muay Thai exponent Daniel Ross won his fight on a split decision which could well have gone either way, while a wicked body kick in the first round gave Phineas Bourke from Harley's gym in Masterton a victory over Featherston fighter Callum Percy.
Such was the success of the third ''Rumble in the 'Rapa'' that the Featherston-based Phytin Feddy-Style Muay Thai Club intends to hold another tourney at Featherston later in the year.