NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
Medicine Hat's Bruce Foerster stands over opponent Steve Jones during a bout in Fists of Fury 15 on Saturday, May 25, 2019 at the Cypress Centre.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Bruce Foerster brought the fans to their feet on Saturday night at the Cypress Centre.
The 230-pound Medicine Hat product set the stage for his fellow Southern Alberta Combative Arts teammates by taking a wild unanimous decision victory over Lethbridge’s Steve Jones in his kickboxing debut at Fists of Fury 15: A New Era.
After igniting the raucous crowd and having his arm raised in victory, Foerster worked his way through a sea of supporters, all clamouring to congratulate the new kickboxer.
“It’s one of those cliches but words don’t really do much,” said Foerster. “The highlight was hugging and kissing my wife after. She gets pretty stressed out watching this. The last thing she told me this afternoon was just one word. She said ‘Win,’ and I said ‘There’s nothing else.’ So the fact that I could do that for her and she would be the first person that I’d give a big hug to, that was the ultimate feeling of the night.”
While Foerster had a significant reach advantage, Jones managed to close the distance and keep the fight in a clinch whenever possible. It wasn’t where Foerster ultimately wanted to fight to go, but that didn’t stop him from earning a 30-27 scorecard from all three judges.
“It’s not necessarily something that I like to do, but obviously I have to do it if that’s what happens,” Foerster said of the clinch. “I did my best to try and control my breathing in the clinch while also being active. I tried by best to throw some body shots and some knees to try and be active in the clinch with the judges. When we finally did get separated I did my best to really get that big kick.”
While he didn’t land a knockout blow, Foerster did manage to put Jones on his back twice over the course of the three-round bout through a combination of leg kicks, throws and catching his 240-pound opponent off balance.
“It was probably a little bit of everything, but I like to think I had a part in that,” he said. “I know the one time I kicked his leg pretty good and the other time I kind of threw him a little bit.”
As the first local to step into the ring Saturday, Foerster says he wanted to make a point of energizing the crowd while setting things off on the right note with a rousing victory.
“There are lots of people here watching not just me but all the hometown fighters,” he said. “Being the first one out I really wanted to set the table with a big W and set the night off right. I was really fortunate that I was able to do that.”
By the end of the evening, Foerster and his teammates combined for two wins and a draw in five fights.
Medicine Hat’s Pietro de Andrade defeated Calgary’s Tomislav Viskovic in the co-main event, while hometown boy Dakota Wells dropped his bout against Riley Durocher, Hatter Talia St. Jacques fell to Calgary’s Hope Quinn and local juniors Jesse Sandberg and Diesel Van Ham – replacing a previously scheduled fight between Medicine Hat’s Erika Miller and Calgary’s Alma Ledoucer – battled to a draw.
Foerster added SACA coach Jamie Droeske has been a driving factor in his development and success in the ring. Droeske has been on both sides of the rope at Fists of Fury, spending this year coaching the local fighters from the red corner.
“Regardless of what anybody says, the pinnacle on the top of this pyramid is Jamie. None of this happens without her. I’m just glad that I could get a win for her,” said Foerster. “It’s so weird to maybe say this about a combat sport, but she’s so compassionate. She’s such a good person, she’s definitely understanding, she knows what you’re going through. She’s been in the ring countless times, so she knows that grind, that battle. It’s not one of those coaches that’s just telling you how it should be, she’s lived it.”
Saturday’s card also featured four out-of-town bouts. Winnipeg’s Lindsay Poyser defeated Lethbridge’s Darby Havrelock to open the evening, Calgary’s Justin Dang bested Swift Current’s Chad Dafoe, Calgary’s Quinn Wasylak got the better of Winnipeg’s Deval Bugsdrucker and Lethbridge’s Cody Jerome beat Calgary’s Jordan Sasely in the main event to close out the evening.
