The EKS kickboxing shows are now one of Kickboxing Ireland's biggest kickboxing ring galas with the latest edition proving to be one of the biggest shows nationally where clubs from all over Ireland are invited to nominate their fighters to be matched against the best in their weights. 

Local clubs TMA (Tallaght Martial Arts) and BMA Clondalkin had a massive support ringside with two Tallaght fighters on the show as well as Clondalkin's very own Cayden Derwin making his debut in the Full Contact discipline.

Cayden's previous accolades were all in the tatami kickboxing disciplines of light continuous and kick light, including a successful year with Team Ireland competing at the WAKO World Championships earlier this year.

Cayden has now moved his focus to ring disciplines, specifically full contact and low kick. Along with his busy training schedule in his Clondalkin club he has also started sharpening his boxing skills with Crumlin BC, where his coaches Ilija Salerno and Jaide Gibbons have also learned their boxing trade. 

The EKS team matched Cayden with Sam Parkes out of Global Kickboxing (Mulhuddart) in a -71kg amateur full contact bout of 3x2 minute rounds. 

His opponent comes from one of the most successful full contact clubs in Ireland with Jim Upton and Seannen Flynn as coaches. Upton, is the most accomplished full contact kickboxer in Ireland and the former ring sport national coach where he was the leading figure for decades.  Flynn is a former world champion in kickboxing as well as a very accomplished boxer. 

Global's fighter (Sam Parkes) with already a decent record in full contact fights proved to be a strong and formidable opponent from the start of the three round battle.

Cayden managed to take a small lead with all 3 judges at the start of the 2nd round. With an even more impressive guard and counter attacking to his rival's body, the BMA fighter did enough to convince all three judges to award him the win by unanimous decision much to the joy of his coaches Ilija Salerno and Robert Barrett.

"We knew it was going to be a tough challenge, but we also knew that Cayden has a brilliant defensive and counter shot mechanism that worked really well throughout the fight" says Head Coach Ilija Salerno. 

Assistant coach Robert Barrett also added "Cayden was calm and collective from the start. He listed and composed himself between each round perfectly"

This bout proved to be the 'Fight of the Night' and the EKS3 host Damian Darker awarded both fighters with a €200 cash prize each for putting on a brilliant display of skill and entertainment for the crowd who were on their feet applauding both competitors!