Wick man has major win as cage boxer
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Luke McDowall from Wick, who trains in Muay Thai fighting, had an impressive championship win in a field of sport he normally doesn't involve himself in – cage boxing.
Fighting as part of a Highland Martial Arts Centre (HMAC) team, Luke beat Josh Anderson (Team Unity) after a corner stoppage at the end of round two of the Forza Fighting Championship (FFC) match held at Woodburn miners' club in Dalkeith. He is now the Forza cage boxing featherweight champion.
McDowall is the only active Muay Thai fighter in the Highlands and has won Scottish championships in that sport. Muay Thai, sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques.
In December last year, McDowall – who now lives in Inverness – went to Kingussie for his Muay Thai debut and won by stoppage. HMAC owner and professional mixed martial arts fighter Ross Houston said: “Anyone who has trained with Luke will tell you he’s a young savage. He fights at 62kg, but he’s probably one of the hardest hitters in the gym."
The life-changing opportunity at Dalkeith arose after McDowall got a phone call from his coach last month saying that someone had pulled out of a planned cage boxing fight and would he consider being a replacement for the FFC bout with Josh Anderson. Despite cage boxing not being his area of expertise, McDowall accepted the challenge and only had one week to train and lose weight for the featherweight title match.
Anderson has much more experience as a cage boxer but McDowall was not deterred and eventually won at the end of round two to gain the featherweight champion's belt.
HMAC posted a description of the match on its Facebook page: "We then moved onto the night's title fights and first up we had Luke McDowall in action in a late notice cage boxing bout.
"Luke found his rhythm midway through the first round and started picking his opponent off with his jab and lead hook. After then moving onto some heavy shots to the body and head his opponent's corner chose to stop the fight after round two.
"These past two fights have shown Luke’s mental toughness. Getting himself back into the gym. Back into competition and now it’s led him to picking up his first title. Proud of you mate!"
