Russian Flag Turns Power Slap Face-Off Into a Scuffle
Power Slap holds its 22nd card in Belgrade Arena on Thursday, the promotion's first event outside the United States, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. Twelve bouts, four competitors from Serbia.
Two heavyweights nose to nose in a hotel corridor, and a piece of cloth doing more talking than either of them. At the face-off before Power Slap 22, Russian competitor Vasily Kamotsky pulled a Russian flag over his shoulders, Poland’s David Zalevski answered back, and security had to wedge itself between them. It was over before anyone swung a palm.
The card is the promotion’s 22nd and it takes place on Thursday, July 30, at Belgrade Arena. For an organisation that has so far staged everything in the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, this is the first trip to Europe. Twelve bouts are scheduled.
What set off the face-off
Kamotsky is a former Power Slap heavyweight champion with a record of four wins, two losses and one draw. Zalevski arrives in Belgrade unbeaten in slap competition. Their meeting sits ninth on the running order, deep into the night.
Russian athletes still compete under restrictions at a good part of international events, but there was no ban on flying the flag here. Kamotsky used that, Zalevski refused to let it pass, and a security arm separated two men who will be legally caving in each other’s cheekbones inside 48 hours.
Who represents Serbia
Four competitors from Serbia are on the card:
- Jana Rajkovic at 57 kilograms, against Pauline Masijas
- Nadja Milijancevic at 66 kilograms, against Robin Verescuk
- Jovan Zdelar, against Zoran Djodj
- Djordje Tomic, against Adnan Alic
Nikica Vujicic and Vim Ciric open the night, and the women’s featherweight division at 66 kilograms closes it, with Hungary’s Shina Batori against Ebi Montes. Also listed: Zakir Naimanbayev against Ryan Keny, Darren Godfrey against Daniyar Toktarov, Luis Robinson against Pavol Horelican, Peter Truhlik against Jayden Fa’anana-Schulz, and Damien Dibbell against Dorian Perez.
So how does anyone actually win a slap fight?
The rules are brutally simple. Competitors take turns striking with an open palm, and the one receiving stands with hands behind his back, gripping a fixed post, with no right to defend himself. No slipping, no block, no step backwards.
A bout runs three rounds unless a knockout ends it earlier. Between strikes there are 30 seconds, which is how long referees and doctors get to judge the condition of the man who has just been hit. If nobody goes down, the winner is decided on a ten-point must system, the same scoring used in boxing.
Why this week, and why that hall
This is not a stand-alone show, it is a warm-up act. Power Slap was founded by Dana White, president of the UFC, and the UFC runs a Fight Night in the same building on Saturday, August 1. Belgrade Arena therefore takes in two White properties within 72 hours, one as the starter and one as the main course. Slap fighting is cheaper to stage, moves faster, and does a neat job of warming up both the venue and the crowd for Saturday.
The fighters have already been out around town. On Tuesday, July 28, Batori and Dibbell visited the Red Star club premises at Mali Kalemegdan together with MMA fighters Dusko Todorovic, Milos Janicic and Marina Spasic, hosted by basketball player Nikola Djurisic.
The weigh-in was held on Wednesday morning, July 29, at a Belgrade hotel. Every competitor made his or her limit and not a single bout fell through, which counts for something in a sport that hangs an entire card on one set of scales.
Doors open early evening, with both 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. quoted in the build-up, so anyone going should plan for the earlier one. What interests me most is whether Zalevski turns that corridor flag into anything on the platform, or whether the anger from the face-off was spent before the first strike. The same hall’s next date is Saturday, August 1.
