Jermal Woolridge, the Bermuda kickboxer, believed he had exorcised some demons after defeating Canadian Joey Brozovich by unanimous decision in the main event at Teachers Rugby Fight Night XVI: Relentless on Saturday.

Quicker and more technical than his larger opponent, Woolridge cruised to a comfortable victory over Brozovich, of the MAS Academy of Martial Arts Training, in front of sellout crowd at the Berkeley Institute Gym.

For Woolridge, the win felt all the more satisfying having lost when he last fought at Fight Night, against Martello Jones, of Jamaica, two years ago.

By his own admission, Woolridge had been undercooked for that bout and was determined not to make the same mistake again, opting for a week-long training stint in Canada to prepare for Brozovich.

“Losing in front of your home crowd sucks big time, especially the way I lost last time,” said Woolridge, who bloodied Brozovich’s nose early in the bout. “I was ill-prepared, didn’t really have the proper defence techniques and didn’t really know what [Jones] was going to come out with.

“This time around, I took almost a full week in Canada to prepare for this fight, both physically and mentally.”

Brozovich, a former bodybuilder, who is deaf, showed plenty of courage but was unable to cope with Woolridge’s extra know-how and was repeatedly taken down by his more experienced opponent.

“I knew he would be physically stronger than me but I wasn’t expecting him to be the size he is,” said Woolridge, who won a silver medal at the World Wushu Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last November.

“That kind of threw me off a little bit. I only really worry about skill level and I was looking at how he set up his combinations, how he moved and his rhythms.

“Once I felt more comfortable with that, I started putting little things together and working for the points. I had the right training programme, I had the right techniques and I was able to execute them well tonight.”

Shelby Marchand, of the Fifth Round Martial Arts and Training Academy in Ontario, claimed a split-decision victory in her maiden bout against Talia Iris, of the Bermuda Sanshou Association.

Marchand, who is coached by her husband, Kru Joe Marchand-Tipping, was more than deserving of her victory.

“I was really surprised and [before the fight] I honestly thought she would win because she usually seems to come out on top,” the 21-year-old said.

“I’ve been training three hours a day for this fight. I was nervous but I think that being on a beautiful Island really put me at ease.

“Towards the end of the fight I just thought I would go all out and give it everything I had.”

In the evening’s other kickboxing bouts, Khalid Pitcher, of the Bermuda Sanshou Association, won a split decision against Drew Geoghegan, of MAS Academy of Martial Arts Training and Jashun Thomas, of Forty Rego’s Gym, defeated Shamos Hamel, of MAS, whose corner threw in the towel in the third round.

Part of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the Dante Noel-Simmons Education Fund.

Fight Night boxing, page 11