Sasha Taimazov and Mike Griffin had never fought before.
Until Saturday night’s kickboxing event at a packed, standing-room-only Angus Recreational Centre.
Project Mayhem brought Barrie’s Taimazov, who's 14 years old, and Orillia’s Griffin, 13, together in the ring for an official fight for the first time. Right before their match, Griffin and Taimazov hung out together and talked about what brought them to the sport they train for at Legacy Fight Club in Barrie.
“It’s what I do,” said Griffin, who had his game face on early. “It helps me mentally and physically. It makes me happy.
“If I have a stressful day at school, when I’m working out and training, all that stress goes,” said Griffin, who’s been training at Legacy for two years.
Taimazov said much the same.
“I like staying fit and it’s for self-defence,” he said. “It’s also pretty fun.”
But both boys acknowledged Saturday night in Angus was going to be different.
“We’ve sparred, but we haven’t fought,” said Taimazov.
“That changes tonight,” Griffin said.
About 90 minutes later, Taimazov was declared the winner in their three-round fight.
Project Mayhem was a K1 competition. Its competitors wore padded groves, helmets, shin and foot guards.
They can kick and punch, but also use their elbows and knees.
“A lot of the athletes, they relate to that because it’s more flexible with the rules,” said Bao, who owns Legacy Fight Club and coaches at the King Street, Barrie, facility.
His club has a couple of hundred members, he said, but most are recreational.
About 30 of them are competitive and 13 fought at Saturday’s event, representing the Barrie area, Angus, Innisfil and Orillia.
Bao, who is from Mississauga, said he was posted by the Canadian military to Canadian Forces Base Borden and this began eight years ago.
“I started training with a few guys…I rented some space in a gym in Letitia Heights (in Barrie), just to train with a couple of guys there,” he said. “One thing led to another. It just exploded. A whole bunch of students came, and I fell into the role of coaching.”
Project Mayhem is the first event of this type run by Legacy.
“It felt right, this was the right moment,” Bao said. “We have a really strong team, a really strong support group.”
He said more than 350 tickets were sold to Project Mayhem, but 400-plus were expected to attend the three-hour event.
For more information, visit legacyfightclub.com.
