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Another War on the Shore lined up this weekend
A Muay Thai Boxing Competition, to be held this weekend, is being promoted as War on the Shore 2, but organisers have found their toughest fight has been garnering support for the sport in the UAE.
- By Sarah Tregoning, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 April 16, 2007
Dubai: A Muay Thai Boxing Competition, to be held this weekend, is being promoted as War on the Shore 2, but organisers have found their toughest fight has been garnering support for the sport in the UAE.
Friday night is Fight Night and the event, sponsored by Damas, DANIK Group and Creative Concepts Real Estate, will be held in the outdoor theatre at Dubai's Le Meridien Mina Seyahi.
Muay Thai boxers of nine nationalities have been brought together for the card that features six fights, including one bout for the World Boxing League's middleweight intercontinental title.
Emirati Mohammad Sanad, a former karateka, is flying his country's flag as the UAE's first professional Muay Thai boxer and prize money in the region of Dh150,000 is up for grabs.
Yet, the press conference to announce the event was attended by a small smattering of media, despite being delayed for more than an hour in the vain hope that more people would arrive.
Promoter Vladimir Burdin said: "It's not so good because we understand that we are not very big, but this is still a local event.
"If it's not football or horse racing then people don't seem to be interested, but we have lots of nationalities competing here in an international tournament and we have other events lined up."
Living in hope
Burdin said the first War on the Shore in January was attended by 400 people and he was hoping that more would buy tickets for this weekend.
The promoter, however, did not want to give up hope and said that he was sure his sport would soon capture the imagination of Dubai's residents.
"If for the first two or three times the event is not that crowded, we don't care," he insisted. "We are prepared to wait it out and we know that the news will spread and that we will get our crowd." The fights on Friday feature will see the UAE's Sanad do battle with 'Titanium' George Micouris from South Africa - who broke his arm in the January event and has since had a titanium rod fitted.
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