Liveblog: NY Showdown Part 5

M-1 Thai Boxing's Preston Baptiste and the Wat's Nick Vaughan are up, with the venerable Kru Phil Nurse in Vaughan's corner ready to infuse his ward with the power of a thousand years of Thai warrior spirit. Or something like that. Anyway, this one is close, with each man waiting for the other to move so they can counter and explode, and if midway through the bout Baptiste is ahead, it's by a fraction of a point. Yet Vaughan clearly takes Round 4 when he traps Baptiste in a corner and unloads, and he keeps it up in the fifth. All three judges give it to Vaughan, but it was close as hell. Next: Mohawk Muay Thai rep Chris Minor, sporting a punky Mohawk, against 5 Points Academy rep Eddie Martinez. This one doesn't last too long. Martinez is clearly the superior fighter, and after dropping Minor in the second round, he follows it up with a right high-kick that knocks the Mohawk Muay Thai rep out. Last up is Rami Ibrahim against Dutchman Dave Duyn. How big of a hometown star is Ibrahim? The dude's got his own rap song for his entrance music. Despite a reach advantage and a pretty tight and seamless game, Duyn is exceedingly wary of Ibrahim, practically freezing when the Palistinian shifts his weight or changes his stance. Duyn does land, though, as does Ibrahim with his sharper hands, so it's most certainly competitive. That is, until late in the fifth round, when Ibrahim is feeding Duyn punch after punch and Duyn is doing nothing to stop it. This prompts the ref to step in, giving Ibrahim the TKO win. And that's all she wrote...