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Hall of Fame |
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Alfie Davis
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WAKO World Championship |
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| In September 2008 Alfie Davis reached every fighter's goal and earned the opportunity to represent his country in the international championships. He spent years training, dieting, preparing himself for the challenge; raising his rankings on the British circuit until invited to train with the British squad and ultimately earning the right to compete overseas. There were no other people in his weight and style from the UK - it was a single invitation.
As Kickboxing is not yet an Olympic sport he received no national funding, so Alfie set to raise the money himself to pay for the flights and accomodation at the week long event. He flew out on Alitalia - an airline that was expected to lose its licence to fly due to financial issues, during the week that Alfie was away. There was no guarantee Alfie could fly back. There were even rumours that Alitalia couldn't afford the fuel to fly Alfie out in the first place.
Challenges conquered, Alfie arrived with all cylinders firing. He was more than ready. He spent the first few days training with the squad and watching the other fights. Then his division came to call. 3 x 2 minute rounds to prove to the judges that he deserved to move into the semi finals, then finals. With the best fighters in the world all watching him, including a 60 strong British squad, Alfie stepped onto the mat and performed exceptionally well.
What happened next is nothing to do with the nation the event was held in. It happens the world over. But after all the work and effort Alfie had put into getting there, he suffered the greatest injustice in referee decisions that would simply not be allowed in an Olympic event. His opponent was an Italian fighter, on Italian soil, with Italian referees. Watch the videos above to see this is not just the view of a loyal instructor.
So how do we stop this? This is an all too familiar situation, though to a far lesser degree in competitions of this scale and prestige. The answer is simple - we need Olympic recognition. We need a single unified body to represent Kickboxing, to enable funding for the world's elite and to regulate the judging standard. In the mean while, Alfie plans to be representing Britain in the European championships next year, waiting for the World championships to come around again the year after. |
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