Battle to Knock Out Dog Fighting Goes to a Brooklyn, NY Boys & Girls Club
Fawn Tran, Eileen Barker, Sherri Thompson, Tania Holowach, Melissa Traynor, Angel Granieri, Heather MonDee, Morgan Tran & Swan
Olando "The Warrior" Rivera, Master Alan Goldberg & Demetrius "Oak Tree" Edwards
What: . Knock Out Dog Fighting presentation
When: ...Friday August 20, 2010
Where: Madison Square Boys & Girls Club
2245 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11226
The 501(c)3 nonprofit organization program Knock Out Dog Fighting (KODF), is a one-of-a kind award-winning youth intervention program that has become a national leader in stopping cruelty and abuse to both humans and animals.
Comprised of professional boxers, dancers, fitness experts, dog trainers, martial artists and MMA fighters, the KODF organization partners with schools, community centers, Boys & Girls Clubs, juvenile detention facilities, law enforcement and gang prevention task forces to address the underlying reasons kids are fighting dogs and abusing animals.
Knock Out Dog Fighting team members are positive role models that are working in their communities teaching children and young adults that it is not a sign of strength, power or greatness to abuse and fight animals.
Friday's Knock Out Dog Fighting presentation at the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club featured several accomplished athletes and entrepreneurs who took time out if their busy days to talk to the youth about animal abuse, choices & consequences, inner and outer strength, and choosing to fight for what is right. The youth were encouraged to join us in our fight to stop cruelty and abuse....to both animals and people.
Dog fighting is a form of animal abuse and there is a direct link between those who abuse animals and those who go on to commit violent crimes against people. If we can stop a child from abusing an animal, we not only save the animals, we help save our children and our communities by prevent that child from going on to commiting violent crimes against people.
Scheduled to appear at the Friday August 20th Knock Out Dog Fighting presentation in Brooklyn, New York were:
- Olando "The Warrior" Rivera (Tampa, Fl/New York) - Brooklyn native and a true kickboxing legend, Olando is the only man in kickboxing history to unify 5 world kickboxing titles and he was on his way to also unifying boxing titles along with it until he retired and opted to train competitors.
- Louis Velazquez "Falcon Coperis" (New York/California) - A New York native, Louis is the host of the UCW Radio Show, a former professional wrestler who wrestled with the world reknowned Hart Family, financial professional and one of the founders of W.E.A.P.O.N.
- Tania Holowach (Virgina) - Former pro boxer, fitness model and very successful business women, Tania sets a great example for young girls to aspire to.
- Tommy DiLallo (New York) - Founder of V-Forces Scientific Fighting Concepts, Tommy is known the world over for his to the point street fighting techniques that have been invaluable for both men and women. V-Forces is the official combat system of W.E.A.P.O.N.
- Melissa Traynor (Canada) Fitness competitor, personal trainer and marketing machine, Melissa is a fighter through and through, not allowing her environment to define her.
- Eileen Barker (Colorado) Professional actor and stunt women, but that is not where it ends. Eileen is also a very successful real estate broker, freelance publicist and a marketing pro, all on top of being a mother of two. She is also a true fighter in every sense of the word setting goals and fighting to achieve them.
- Angel Granieri - (Colorado) A competitve fitness professional as well as a martial artist and owner of multiple businesses, Angel comes from a long line of martial artist and lives her life with the understanding that limits are what you set against yourself, so she lives life with no limits.
- Sherri Thompson - (Georgia) - Muay Thai Professional Fighter and Champion, Sherri has appeared on numerous HBO/Showtime Pay per views and shows girls that if you want something bad enough you should never give up, you have to fight for it.
- Fawn Tran - (California) Martial artist and actor, Fawn made a bold move recently from Virginia to California on her own in the pursuit of her dreams of making it in Hollywood. Her parents came here from Vietnam in order to give their children a better life.
- Morgan Lee - (Colorado) Professional Muay Thai fighter and part owner, along with husband Hung Tran, of one of the most successful Muay Thai fitness centers in Colorado "Trans Kickboxing".
- Swan - (New York) A singer and songwriter, Swan and his band Almighty Love Noise have played with such acts as Radiohead, David Lee Roth, Joe Lyn Turner and many more.
- Heather MonDee - (Colorado) Heather holds instructorships in various martial arts including: Filipino Martial Arts of Kali, Eskrima and Silat, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Western Boxing, Jeet Kune Do Concepts, Lee Jun Fan Gung Fu, Maphilindo Silat, Grappling / Ground fighting and Sayoc Kali "the art of the blade". Heather is a 2000 graduate from the National Victims Assistance Academy from the Department of Justice and Sam Houston State University. Co- Director for the Stay Alive © Personal Protection Systems, a phase training program for women only. She is also a Sexual Assault Peer Educator and an experienced hospital advocate for victims of sexual assault.
- Demtrius "Oaktree" Edwards - (New York) Heavy-weight Full Contact Karate World Champion Dimitrius and professional boxer who is notoriously known as the man who broke Mike Tyson’s ribs in a sparring match.
- Master Alan Goldberg - (New York) Master Alan Goldberg has 37 years experience in the martial arts and has been inducted in 36 Halls of Fame. Among the other systems he has studied besides studying Wing Chun Kung Fu, he has also studied Five Animal Kung Fu and Shotokan karate. He now devotes his time to the teaching of Wing Chun. He is the creator of Law Enforcement Survival Systems (L.E.S.S.), which was taught to the New York City Emergency Service Unit of the police department. He is also the New York State Commissioner of ORA.
- Jeanne Harding and Astro the Pit Bull
- Andrea Kilkenny, Stacey Coleman and Rumble the Pit Bull
Many professional athletes provide mere lip service to making a difference in the lives of youth. The members of Knock Out Dog Fighting take their responsibility of being role models very seriously. They know that because they are professional athletes there is a child somewhere watching what they say and what they do. They know their actions can impact lives. So they are out working in the community, mentoring and setting the example and also giving a lot of these children the one thing they need most to help change their lives....hope.
Olando "The Warrior" Rivera
Swan and the Knock Out Dog Fighting crew
...
Astro and Rumble
Click HERE to see all photos
