Building off a successful debut last month in Dexter, Josh Harvey of Corinth and MaineNightOut.com will join forces to host a kickboxing sparring event featuring the likes of local professional mixed martial arts standouts Bruce Boyington and Ryan Sanders at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer on May 28.
Doors open at 5 p.m. and the show begins at 6 p.m. Admission is a $10 donation, with all proceeds to benefit The Maine Veterans Project.
More than 30 fighters from eight different gyms around central and southern Maine are expected to take part in the event.
No winners will be determined during the exhibitions, but with many of the participants scheduled for MMA bouts during the next three weeks, the fighters consider it a good time to get in a strong workout before beginning to wind down their training camps.
Sanders, for instance, will fight champion Luis Felix for the CES MMA lightweight belt in a nationally televised bout (AXS-TV) on June 10. Boyington will seek his second win with the World Series of Fighting franchise on June 17, when he faces Saul Almeida at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
The Maine-based New England Fights promotion also will stage its next card June 18 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
“Everyone is in full support of the troops, and sparring sessions like this are a regular thing at bigger camps,” Harvey said. “I’ve attended some in Massachusetts, and they don’t advertise them because it’s a common occurrence. They just all show up at one gym and bang on each other and go home and call it a good training session.
“There’s a thing about sparring with someone who’s not your friend or your teammate, because you don’t know any of their habits and you don’t really care if you punch them because they’re not your teammate.”
Harvey, the former NEF amateur lightweight champion who recently won his pro debut and will participate in the Brewer sparring event, and John Stuart of MaineNightOut.com staged a similar show on April 1 at the Factory One nightclub in Dexter.
“There was so much enthusiasm about the last show that it was easy to keep it rolling,” Harvey said.
Participants in the Dexter event also said it was a good opportunity for less experienced fighters who were considering a combat sports career to test themselves in front of an audience smaller than the 2,000 or more MMA fans who routinely turn out for NEF cards.
Harvey hopes to schedule these events on a regular basis in advance of future MMA shows.
