Colosseum 7 will blow the Roof off!
Saturday, January 25, 2008 (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)
 5 Time world kickboxing champion and IFL star Peter "F-16" Kaljevic will invade the Colosseum to take on Winnipeg's own "Dangerous" Dave Zuniga. This fight will be a battle for the ages as Zuniga attempts to take the next step in becoming the most dominate kickboxer in his weight class.
Also on the card will be middleweight MMA star Chris Fontaine. Fontaine has faught the best in the world including David Loiseau, Jason McDonald, and now he takes his 3 fight winning streak into the Colosseum when he fights Chris Powers.
Rising kickboxing Star Agostino "The Bull" DeNatale the brother of legendary world champion Giuseppe "The Godfather" DeNatale will take on John Laing. For DeNatale its another chance to show the crowd his ability to finish opponents in an exciting fashion.
Heavyweight MMA stars will collide at the Colosseum as Rodrigo Munduruca will take on Renee Vargas. Munduruca could very well be the most dominate heavyweight in the country.
in Professional Boxing action Cody "The Warrior" Hanna will make his return to the Colosseum as he takes on the always dangerous Rob Stowell.
The night will also feature Pine Falls own NABA Champion Larry Sharpe.
Godfather's Impressive Victory has Winnipeg Buzzing
Saturday, September 23, 2006 (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)
Courtesy FightNews Canada: Last night 3,000 plus people invaded the Winnipeg Convention Centre for promoter King John Vernaus Gladiators Fighting "Colosseum 3." The evening included a night of Mixed Martial Arts, Muay Thai and professional Boxing.
The card was headlined by a World Championship Muay Thai fight featuring hugely popular Winnipeg Giuseppe "The Godfather" DeNatale (left) against Mexico City's Raul "The Terminator" Romero.
The main event had the crowd screaming from the opening bell. After 3 brutal rounds the corner for Romero decided their fighter had taken enough punishment and called it a day much to the delight of the pro Denatale crowd.
The boxing portion of the evening featured 2 bouts. In the first bout, Amanda Carriere of Edmonton was stopped in round 3 by Winnipeger Olivia Gerula. The bout featured some good action, but Gerula seemed to be the stronger of the two and finally dropped her opponent in round 3 picking up the TKO win.
Next up was a good Middleweight matchup between Canadian Middleweight Champion Larry "Razor" Sharpe of nearby Pine Falls, Manitoba against tough Martin Desjardins of Montreal. Desjardins is a stern test for anyone having been in with some of the best Middleweights in North America.
Sharpe was looking to get in some work before he heads out to Nova Scotia to defend against, what could prove to be his toughest test to date, Jason Naugler, in November. Sharpe worked off his southpaw jab and used ring movement to frustrate the iron chinned Desjardins.
Montreal's Desjardins moved forward all night looking to mix it up with Sharpe, but the champion's ring movement proved the perfect foil to beat his game opponent. Final scores were 78-74, 79-73, 80-72, all in favour of Sharpe.
Both fighters appeared to have suffered some cuts in the fight. Desjardin's eye looked especially bad in round 5 when the referee stopped the action and asked the doctor to take a look at it.
Courtesy Winnipeg Sun: "Terminator Punished" DeNatale Blows Finally Take Toll - Giuseppe "The Godfather" DeNatale probably thought he was fighting the Terminator from the movie, because Raul "The Terminator" Romero (right) just wouldn't go down.
DeNatale, the reigning International Kickboxing Federation Muay Thai Heavyweight champ, took on Mexico's Romero Saturday night in the main event of the Gladiators Fighting "Colosseum of Champions III" card at Winnipeg Convention Centre.
DeNatale punched Romero over and over and over again in the finale of the King John Boxing extravaganza that attracted 3,000 spectators, and the 32-year-old Winnipegger finally earned the win when Romero couldn't report for the fourth round because his face was too cut up.
"I'm hitting him flush and I'm turning his head on his shoulders," DeNatale said. "I'm hitting him with everything, with everything I got, and I was kind of admiring my work. I'd hit him and it was like, 'Ooh, that was a nice shot. I turned his head all the way around. 'TOUGH DUDE', "But then I was like, 'How the hell are you still standing? I have no clue how you're still standing up. You should be lying on the ground.' I'll give that boy credit. He's a tough dude. He hits hard and he can take a hard shot."
Romero, who weighted in at 236 pounds, presented a tough challenge for DeNatale, who was 15 pounds lighter at the opening bell.
"It was a real tough fight, and I diverted from the game plan," DeNatale said. "The game plan was for the guerilla warfare -- hit him and get out. I don't know what happened there. "... It turned into a street fight. I think the fans were entertained though."
Saturday night's tilt wasn't a title fight since Romero is a Super Heavyweight, but DeNatale will have to defend his IKF crown at some point in the next 12 months, and he also plans to return to K-1 fighting as well.
Until then, he plans to take it easy. I need some time off," DeNatale said. "I just fought five months ago for the world title, and I need a little bit of down time."
Courtesy Submission Fighter Canada: "The Godfather Stops The Terminator" - In one of the best standup battles to hit Canada, Giuseppe DeNatale terminated the Mexican Champ, Raul Romero.
The Godfather is the best standup fighter in Winnipeg and perhaps Canada. In a tough slugfest, he emerged the victor. More to come tomorrow.
I will leave you with this though. When Giuseppe entered the arena today, the crowd went nuts. This always happens when he is fighting in front of the hometown crowd. But today, something was different. Today DeNatale made me feel like a champion. Even before the fight started, I felt electrified.
That a phenomenal fight, I still have goose bumps. Congrats Giuseppe, that was a battle. There is a new Canadian hero in town and I hope he is here to stay!
About the event itself, what can I say. There have been emails coming into me for two days about it.
Everyone had great things to say. As far as I am concerned, this was one of the best events I have been to. From start to finish, this event was awesome!
Here are some comments sent via email . . .
"best 30 bucks I have ever spent!"
"I was there for the MMA, but that Gerula/Carrier fight was off the charts!"
"that main event was the best kickboxing match I have ever seen!"
"this event will force other events work hard to achieve this quality!"
"can't wait to January for the next one, that was wicked!"
"Higson and Balacastro was the 2nd best Kickboxing match I have seen!"
And finally . . .
"best ring card girls ever!!!"
So all in all, it sounds like Winnipeg was happy with the performance and show. Stay tuned, Winnipeg is turning out to be a hotspot for this stuff.
The Godfather Returns
DeNatale Stops James To Capture IKF World Title!
Saturday, April 15, 2006 (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)
From IKF/ISCF: It's one thing to win a World Title, but to do it in your home town in front of over 3,500 screaming fight fans makes it all that much more special.
Fighting in the Gladiators Fighting Series "Colosseum of Champions" main event at the Winnipeg Convention Centre last night in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Giuseppe "The Godfather" DeNatale (left) made his return to the ring a memorable one.
DeNatale (15-3/12) took the Lion out of "The Lion Rampant" Duncan Airlie James (right) of Glasgow, Scotland (30-15-2/5) to win the vacant Pro IKF Muay Thai Heavyweight World Title.
In round 1, both started slow, looking for the weaknesses of the other, yet neither showed their game plan. In round two, we saw much of the same yet DeNatale started to press the action a little more.
After winning 10-9 on all 3 judges scorecards in rounds one and two, DeNatale brought the "Godfather" back to the ring in round three as he shot James down twice in the third round with his fire power. Then, at 1:53 of the third round, DeNatale dropped James for good the third and final time forcing referee Al Wichgers to stop the bout, giving DeNatale his long awaited World Title!
DeNatale was lifted off his feet by trainer Duke Roufus and later in a show of respect, by James too. When the World Title belt was placed around his waist DeNatale was given a bottle of champagne in which he shook up and sprayed the crowd in jubilation.
Both DeNatale and James paid a small price though. In round three the two clashed shins so hard they cut each other open drawing blood. The damage of the impact could have easily made a difference for both in round four if DeNatale didn't finish the bout in round 3.
"It just isn't meant to be," said a disappointed Duncan James about his second try at the IKF World Title. James has won 6 World Titles in the top sanctioning bodies, but it has been the IKF title he has not added to his trophy case. James looked much stronger then when we had seen him before. "It just hasn't sunk in yet," said the excited DeNatale.
DeNatale made the most of his time away from the ring. He was more composed and seemed to pick and land the cleaner, more powerful shots. James had plenty of power though, as noted in the shin clash explained above and in catching DeNatale with a hook or two.
This was the second IKF Title DeNatale has won and the second James has lost. James had another shot at the IKF World Title back on August 16th, 1998 in St. Helens, England where he lost to former IKF World Champion Chris Wright.
DeNatale won his other IKF Title on February 10th, 2000, in Winnipeg by TKO at 1:33 of the 3rd round over Ryan Graham when he landed a head kick on Graham that dropped him. The win gave the "Godfather" the vacant IKF Amateur Canadian Heavyweight Title.
Congratulations to our new IKF World Heavyweight Muay Thai Champion, Giuseppe "The Godfather" DeNatale.
Here is a quick rundown on the results of the other bouts of the night:
Amateur Muay Thai
Serge Rochan (151) of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada defeated Cole Oberik (155) of Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada by Unanimous Decision, 29-27, 30-26 and 29-28.
Rick Paintin (233) of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada defeated Ryan Fields (285) of Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada by TKO at :47 seconds of round 1.
Arthur Ramsey (152) of Windsor, Ontario, Canada defeated Jon Henderson (150) of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada by "Head Kick" KO (Wow!, what a kick), at 1:13 of round 1.
Jeff Walsh (147) of Windsor, Ontario, Canada defeated Agostino DeNatale (147) of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada by KO at 2:19 of round 1.
Pro Mixed Martial Arts
Kevin Manderson (153) of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada defeated Dave Scholten (154) of Vancouver, British, Columbia, USA by Unanimous Decision, 30-27, 30-27 & 30-26.
Chris Fontaine (169) of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada defeated Gerome Grady of Windsor, Ontario, Canada by armbar tap-out at :53 seconds of round 1.
Joe Doerksen (188) of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada defeated Thomas Russell (190) of Tipon, Ohio, USA by rear Naked Choke at :44 seconds of round 1.
Pro Muay Thai
Reno Belcastro (159) of Windsor, Ontario, Canada defeated Mark Durant (159) of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada by TKO at 1:30 of round 1.
Dave Zuninga (169) of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada defeated Jon Kaszuba (167) of Windsor, Ontario, Canada by "Head Kick" KO at 1:39 of round 1.
IKF Pro Muay Thai Heavyweight World Title
Giuseppe "The Godfather" DeNatale (208) of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada defeated "The Lion Rampant" Duncan Airlie James (209) of Glasgow, Scotland by TKO at 1:53 of round 3.
We would also like to give a special congratulations to the promotional effort of Giuseppe DeNatale and his team, plus a mega congratulations on a job well done by DeNatale's promotional partner and Canada's top Boxing Promoter, John Vernaus of "King John Boxing!"
Along with the Kickboxing and MMA above, Vernaus also featured a full five bout professional boxing card making this the first time ever in Manitoba that all three fighting sports were featured on one event. These two already have tentative plans to do this again on September 23rd. Fans, get your tickets early because they are going to sell FAST!
A very special "Thank you" goes to the Manitoba Boxing Commission for all their hard work and to all the event officials for their "Excellent" job on ALL the evening's bouts. Together it was clear what hard work and teamwork can accomplish! |
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