Saturday, July 17, 1999

By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Danny Steele, left, battles Miguel Reyes at the Blaisdell Arena
last night. Steele, a Waianae native who now resides in Los
Angeles, won the 10-round match in a decision. Steele said
he hopes to "put on a show" in Hawaii every few months.

The 'entertainer' from Waianae
wins a unanimous decision over
Miguel Reyes before 2,000 fans

By Ben Henry
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Danny "Hard As" Steele is making a new name for himself -- "Showbiz."

Steele stifled Mexico's Miguel Reyes yesterday, winning the IKF World Welterweight Kickboxing Championship in 10 rounds by unanimous decision before a crowd of 2,000 at the Blaisdell Center. The judges scored the fight 98-91, 100-88, 99-91.

Maybe Steele, who resides in Los Angeles, should consider moving to Hollywood -- he seemed more concerned with entertaining the crowd than knocking out his opponent.

"I'm an entertainer," said Steele, who improved to 31-5-2. "I hope, next show, people will come out and really see some great Hawaiian fighters. That's my main purpose -- to build this sport up, since I am a local boy."

Throughout the fight, Steele used a variety of flying reverse kicks, seemingly more for show than for practicality.

Just after the fight, before the results were even announced, Steele was on the microphone thanking the crowd. "Thank you for supporting this," he said. "I want to come back every three months to put on a show."

Later, when asked if he was happy with the result, he had other things on his mind, asking, "Did you enjoy the show?"

Veteran promoter Tom Moffatt, who has worked with the likes of Michael Jackson and the Rolling Stones, is confident Steele will be a good draw. "I believed in him for a long time," said Moffatt, who promoted this fight. "I want to bring him back again. We're going to build something with him."

To get the hype, one must first earn the hype. Steele did just that. He used strategic sweep kicks to throw Reyes out of rhythm, tripping him up 11 times in the bout.

"It frustrated me," the Spanish-speaking Reyes said through an interpreter. "I couldn't get my kicks going."

By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Reyes and Steele await the judges' decision.

Despite losing, Reyes (28-6) was generally pleased with his performance. "I am kind of surprised -- everybody thought it wasn't going to be a close fight," he said. "But I am disappointed I ran out of gas at the end."

According to Reyes, Steele's home-ring advantage wasn't a factor. "The Hawaiian crowds remind me of the crowds in Mexico," Reyes said. "When you put a Hawaiian and a Mexican together, it's a war. The Hawaiians fight with a lot of heart -- I'm really impressed with the quality of fighters."

In one of the undercard bouts, Hilo's Jerel Ancheta defeated Maui's Kili Madrid in a four-round majority decision for the IKF Hawaii State Light Welterweight title, 38-38, 38-37, 39-37. Ancheta improved to 8-2, and Madrid dropped to 20-2.

In the second bout, Tommy Pestana's left-right combo knocked out Jerico Lane, who was against the ropes, with 56 seconds left in the third round. Pestana, from Waianae, was also ahead on the judges' cards. Lane was a last-minute replacement for Edgar Fierro, who unexpectadly pulled out. Pestana, who improved to 6-0-1, learned he would fight Lane, who dropped to 5-6-4, just 24 hours beforehand.

Kailua's Shawn Taylor defeated Papakolea's Justin Kaahanui for the IKF Super Middleweight Hawaii State title in yesterday's third bout. The split decision was scored 38-37, 35-39, 36-39. Early last May, the two fought to a draw.

In the fourth bout, Waianae's Cheyenne Padeken and Sacramento's Dominic Robles fought to a majority draw. Padeken earned the IKF West Coast Middleweight title because his original opponent forfeited.