Paul Norton confident ahead of ISKA 67kg title fight [Video]

Paul Norton (Champion) is one of Ireland’s most experienced Thai/K1 fighters holding an impressive 27-7-1 record. On 6th February Paul will face Alex Akimov (309) at Warrior FC 5 for the 67 kilo ISKA belt. It is a fight which he’s relishing and he was in a confident mood when he sat down to talk to Fightstore Media about the fight, the possibility of fighting Cian Cowley, his future goals and his life.

We are now two months away from the fight and training has been going well for Paul. “I tried to take a break after the last couple of fights didn’t come off for me. I trained away with Carl Hand who’s going over to Canada. We were training twice a day and I was trying to keep pushing him before he left. Mark Casserly went to Australia so I’ll take a break for a week or two and then kick back into it,” he said.

Speaking about his upcoming opponent Paul is aware that it will not be an easy fight. He has respect for Alex Akimov and both fighters will put on a great contest. “He trains over with Mick and Mick use to train with us down in Chupasart a couple of years ago with Paddy Clint. I’ve seen a couple of his fights. He’s good; he’s got a hard run of fights but he jumps in at the drop of a hat with anybody so you can’t argue with that. He’s stopped people and it’ll be very hard to stop him. Even if he jumps in on a fight he goes the distance.”

“K1 is going to suit Alex a lot better than Thai. The last couple of Thai fights people have just grabbed a hold of him and swung out of him trying to tire him out. There won’t be any of that in our fight so it’ll just be combos back and fourth. I’d like to win by stopping him but he is going to be very hard to stop. I’ll be fit enough to go either way,” said Norton.

There has been some controversy over the decision to allow Paul and Alex to fight for the fight. Cian Cowley currently holds the belt and he has been very vocal in saying that it is still his until someone fights him. Paul explained why the fight will go ahead, “Gary Ormond was champ at 72.5 Kilos and at 70 kilos. He was offered a fight at 70 kilos and he wouldn’t take it. We were told that if you don’t defend the belt within 6 months and somebody challenges you for it and you don’t fight on another ISKA show to put off that fight for another date then you get stripped. We’ve been told that Cian has been stripped because he’s been inactive at 67 kilos. It’s been a while since Cian has fought at 67 kilos because he’s a big lad. He’s young enough as well that he’s always growing. He’s after heading over to MMA now. I wouldn’t say Cian is happy.”

Paul also spoke about the possibility of fighting Cian. It is a fight which he wouldn’t say no to. “I’d fight Cian no problem. We fought before with shin pads on years ago. That was a long time ago and we’ve both got a lot better since then. Cian’s very good, he runs his own gym, he’s fought top people, he’s fought in the cage with the MMA gloves, he’s held titles in both Thai and K1 so he’d be a very tough fight.”

If he wins the ISKA belt Paul has big plans for the future. He’s already looking ahead to fighting top opponents from Europe. “I’d like to be fighting the top people in Europe. 67 is my weight so for me to get big fights in Europe I have to have the Irish 67 kilo belt. If I get that then it’ll open doors to other big fights. I’ve fought some good people over in England but I’d like to travel a bit further. The ISKA seem to be pushing a lot more with England and Europe to build fights across the water so we should be getting better fights all the time.”

One of Paul’s training partners Mark Casserly faced John Wayne Parr on Caged Muay Thai 7. He was unlucky to get stopped in the third round but it has been great for everyone at Champion gym. “It gives everybody a boost. If Mark wins it’s brilliant for everyone and Mark; if he loses he’s after fighting someone that’s been world champion numerous times and he’s fought all the best Thai fighters. It’s the only thing keeping people turning up in the cold winter months.”

Mark Casserly opened Champion in July to replace their old gym Chupasart. They’ve seen it steadily grow over the past few months and Paul was happy to see the progress they’ve made. “We’re only here since July. We have the same people who use to go to Chupasart and we have new people as well. Mark started doing Tae Kwon Do and putting on a lot more classes because it’s his full time job now. When I was doing it with Gary we were working so not having to come to the gym all the time has made my life a lot easier. It helps me enjoy training again.”

As one of Ireland’s most experienced fighters, it has been a long journey through Martial Arts for Paul. He said,
“It gives you a lot more focus in life. You appreciate everything a lot more. You don’t appreciate training when it’s getting close to a fight and you’re tired and have to get up in the morning but when it’s over you go out for a night out and you enjoy it a lot more. You feel good all the time because you’re training.”

He has no plans to quit anytime soon. He told Fightstore Media that there’s still lots of things he’d like to do.
“I like fighting, I like to test myself. I like tough fights and I just don’t think I’m finished yet. I don’t wake up in the morning and say right after I win this fight that’ll do me. There’s still something I want to do.”

You can watch Paul Norton’s fight at Warrior FC 5 on the 6th February 2016 which is being held at Good Cousel GAA club, Davitt Road, Dublin 12.

Doors open 5:30pm with first fight scheduled for 6:00pm.
Tickets from €25 available from fighters, FightstorePROi and tickets.ie

You can click here to find Paul Norton on Facebook.

For regular updates, check out the official Warrior FC Facebook page.