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00:00with the tape George Bell 28 years old Kevin McCullough just 22 but he's got a
00:03rooting section here he is from San Jose as you can see just a couple pounds
00:07difference between these two and we're under way and we're underway at a frenetic pace
00:11I think Kevin really wants to win this is his hometown and he wants to show George that these
00:16East Coast boys are not welcome out here in San Diego not when he's coming to take their glory
00:21David let's talk about the scoring here in this event well what we've got is a little bit different
00:26than the Olympics scoring one of the things that's different is in Olympic scoring everything
00:31is one point here if you do a spinning kick to the body you get three points if you do
00:34a spinning
00:35kick to the head you're going to get five and that makes a difference as we saw in some of
00:38the earlier
00:38matches in the preliminaries and now another thing is if they fall off the mat or they get kicked off
00:44the mat that's a five point deduction immediately Kevin controlling the match George with an axe
00:51kick to the head and now he's hanging Kevin trying to make that point back up and you notice how
00:57Kevin is standing in the middle of the ring controlling the ring it's very dangerous
01:01right here right here right here because it's very much a counter fight
01:05counter fighters may have a problem in these conditions because if they back up too much and
01:09go off the ring they don't just get a warning they lose five minutes no secrets between these two
01:13this is their fifth meeting they split the first two Bell has been very much in danger
01:19right out of the ring absolutely that's like as I said that's a problem being a counter fighter
01:24and this being their fifth meeting one of the things is that Kevin knocked George out of the
01:28U.S. team trials last year and made the squad himself so George is looking for a little payback
01:33now at 22 years old McCullough still something of a rookie is he not actually he's been training for
01:37quite a long time so once again he's come up through the junior program from what I believe
01:43Brooks is an electrician here in the San Jose area and really holding his own through that first round
01:52and here we have Kevin let's take another look at some of the action from the first round David
01:59okay here you have George standing on the edge of the ring Kevin trying to start in with a spinning
02:03technique in short timing it right ahead and then being in danger of going off the mat he's gonna
02:11have to be careful if he grabs again like that Juan Moreno sees that referee Juan Moreno he will lose
02:17a
02:17point we got 20 seconds now let's go now remember forward chasing George trying to get that trying
02:23to knock him out of the ring move around don't worry about this don't worry about this
02:26George Bell interesting guy and we always refer to this sport in fact participants will refer to it
02:31often as an art looking at the bio of George Bell he's a guy who graduated from Shaw University in
02:37South Carolina with a degree in music and religion interesting combination yes I've known George for
02:45about five years he's a real interesting guy he's been training a long time he's taught all over the
02:50country he's even done seminars overseas and soon will be relocating to the Chandler Arizona area to
02:57open a school but he better deal with the business at hand because Kevin McCullough is trying to take
03:04him out of the ring and get that five points now there's a real interesting exchange George coming back
03:16a lot of times with what we call a cut kick because he's trying to take everything away
03:23from Kevin as soon as Kevin moves he's just gonna chop him right around the hips and what we call
03:28cut
03:29him and that'll take away the center of gravity and any of any ability to move the problem is Kevin
03:33is
03:33going the distance a little bit better you saw Bell just kind of wait on McCullough and you mentioned
03:41earlier he's a counter puncher he is a counter fighter and once again that could be a problem
03:46because he tends to move back a little bit he's going to be near the edge of the ring and
03:49if Kevin
03:49has the opportunity he's going to take him right off the edge
03:55referee Moreno keeping the action going
04:01George actually still coming into his own he's been
04:04been playing in this type of Taekwondo arena for several years and still getting better every
04:09time as a matter of fact he won the bronze medal at the U.S. Open earlier this year in
04:13Colorado Springs
04:16Kevin pushing the action
04:22I expected to get a warning for Robert Moreno there and the end of the round
04:26this is scheduled for five rounds 90 second rounds and that in itself Dave a different format
04:31than we usually find in this sport well a lot of times in the Olympic venue you'll see three three
04:35minute rounds and the guys have a lot of time to strategize here it's 90 seconds you've got no time
04:40you got to go so there's no standing around here we go Kevin coming in with a spinning back kick
04:47perhaps not a point but getting George back near the edge of the ring
04:55I'll tell you very Kevin McCullough came here to fight
05:00so far he's doing it
05:02doing it to the extent that on the judges cards which we are privy to he has a 12-6
05:10lead
05:11well George is going to have to
05:12you can hear Joe Kim the coach telling Joe telling George to move forward don't move back
05:20that's right to come forward and attack okay now we took a round off now he should be rested let's
05:25go
05:27that's interesting he said he took a round off let's go back to work
05:32I'll cover right now with the edge 12-6 third round
05:36value to his coach which is a traditional
05:39signal of respect in Taekwondo George attacking with an axe kick
05:52coach Joe Kim he himself a former national team member in 1990 and 1989
06:03crowd reacting a little bit to some of the shots
06:06blue one that's a pushing
06:09one away from McCutcheon pushing
06:15two very experienced fighters here both trying to control the ring
06:26both trying to set up
06:31George is very reactionary he likes to
06:34he likes to see what his opponent's going to do and then react he has great speed and timing
06:46he's going to do it
06:47both fighters going down
06:49Kevin McCullough swinging his leg over interesting to see if the judges are going to give that a point
06:53both men were off balance one of the things in scoring very is you want to make sure that if
06:58you're attacking is that you score you keep your balance and your control of your body because
07:02if you're just falling down it doesn't really show much effectiveness
07:07it's the third round we're scheduled for five minute and a half rounds
07:13end of three
07:16and Dr. Jimmy Kim former Olympic gold medalist in 1988 greeting McCutcheon here we have Joe Kim
07:23master Joe Kim with George Bell let's stick to our game plan let's kick hard
07:28where's that right thing you do two right along the kidney
07:32you've got to fight harder now there's two rounds to go okay two rounds to go
07:38you don't want
07:39go Kevin let's go Kevin let's go
07:41you want to run like that running shoes you put him on
07:44that ball
07:47you want to know
07:51I'm calling for the high words of his coach Dr. Jimmy Kim
07:54yes sir
07:55you're good at that right
07:56yes sir
07:58you're doing well
07:59and it's a yes sir too which is something you've got here in this sport that I usually do
08:04Vakata with a 17-11 lead at the end of three rounds.
08:09So maintaining the same edge he had after two.
08:12Well, George is going to have to pick it up in round four here.
08:15And being a counterfighter, now it's put him in an area where he doesn't spend too much time.
08:19And that's attacking.
08:21Referee Moreno telling the guys to mix it up.
08:24Let's keep the fighting going.
08:26Now, Kevin has the advantage here of not really having to push the issue.
08:32He's made George come to the point where he's got to attack him.
08:35But we can see Kevin's not doing that.
08:37He's here to fight.
08:40I'm sure he's a little bit juiced just by view of the fact he's got his family and all his
08:44friends here.
08:44And they react every time he does something, as they did right there.
08:47I'll tell you, he reacted when he walked on.
08:49They reacted when he walked onto the mat.
08:52But he talked about that a little bit earlier when we were chatting with him.
08:59Kevin going for the jumping axe kick.
09:04There we go.
09:06Actually, very smart play by George Bell there.
09:08Fell right to the mat, making sure that Kevin couldn't take him off.
09:14Bell looks to me like he could be a little bit gassed, too.
09:16He's been breathing pretty heavy.
09:18He's, well, McCullough's pushing him, and that's the thing.
09:20I mean, you know, George is used to be a hammer fighter and picking his points.
09:24And Kevin's a very aggressive fighter.
09:26I think Kevin's been training really hard.
09:28Watch out, watch out.
09:29I think George may be a little bit nervous because he's come down from altitude.
09:32He was in Colorado training.
09:37Definitely a point there.
09:39That sliding forward and a lead-like roundhouse kick to George's head.
09:44Kevin hadn't thrown that yet in the match.
09:46It caught George by surprise.
09:51Kevin kept his feet on the mat.
09:54Very close.
09:54More importantly, kept his butt on the mat.
09:56That's what saved him five points.
09:58That's right.
09:59I'll tell you, had he lost that, that was a close enough round.
10:01Had Kevin fallen off, that would have made this a one-point game.
10:03You've got to go.
10:06Now listen.
10:07Never, never.
10:09Jimmy Kim on camera coaching Kevin, telling him just to maintain,
10:15stay in, maintain his pace.
10:17Stay relaxed tonight.
10:19Take a look at some of the action from that last round here.
10:25Here we go.
10:26Kevin McCullough trying his spinning back kick.
10:28That's that cut kick I was telling you about.
10:29He kind of took it away, and George kicked him on the hips.
10:35And there's the end of the round where Kevin fell on his behind and just kept himself on the mat.
10:40If he'd fallen off, that would have made this very close.
10:43One, two, four, three, two, one.
10:47George got in the beat of only one part of that match.
10:50Kevin has a commanding lead going into round five.
10:53George really is going to have to push the edge.
10:56The final round, and McCullough pleasing the good folks here in San Jose.
11:04George is really going to have to pick it up.
11:07And you can see he knows that he's coming in.
11:09He's not going to dip him in any corner.
11:10Going right for the head.
11:20Forcing down to be the aggressor.
11:22Which is not what he's accustomed to doing.
11:27I think Kevin's kept George off balance this whole match.
11:35He's got to go.
11:42Notice how McCullough stays right near the corner to keep George Bell in the corner
11:46so that he can push him off, knock him off the ring if possible,
11:49just to seal the victory.
11:56Kevin doesn't have to push the issue.
12:03And as I think you stated earlier, Barry,
12:05George Bell appears to be a little bit winded.
12:08But he's fought a great competitor.
12:09Kevin was last year's U.S. team member.
12:13McCullough now feels that he's got it.
12:16In fact, I'm sure he knows that he hasn't.
12:18I think that's a foregone conclusion at this point.
12:23I'll tell you something.
12:24It would have been the same thing.
12:25We've been doing this in Philadelphia,
12:26and Kevin came into George's backyard.
12:29So we head for the end,
12:30and Kevin McCullough going to give the folks here in San Jose
12:33a second to cheer about him.
12:34Bills it.
12:41And the traditional bowing, showing signs of respect,
12:43first to the head of court, Master Lee Cutright,
12:46from Denver, Colorado, and then to each other.
12:49Well, it is full of tradition, isn't it?
12:52I have not seen so many bows.
12:54I was once in a receiving line for the Queen.
12:56That was the last time I saw that many bows there.
12:59Well, I'll tell you, bowing is a sign of respect,
13:00and it's something that we hold on to in Taekwondo,
13:03ensuring respect to seniors and juniors.
13:06And it's very important to express the proper courtesies.
13:13Well, this sport is a great discipline, I think,
13:15and I think that's one of the reasons parents, like myself,
13:18want their kids involved in it.
13:22You see a lot of the schools,
13:24there's been a very large, tremendous growth
13:25in Taekwondo schools across the United States.
13:28A lot of that's due to our inclusion
13:29in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia,
13:32which is the result of a lot of hard work
13:33by Dr. Unyong Kim of the World Taekwondo Federation
13:37and Sang Lee, the president of the U.S. Taekwondo Union.
13:39All right, we're going to make it official.
13:40Here's Bruce Buffer. Bruce.
13:41Ladies and gentlemen, the judges have scored their decision,
13:44beginning with the red corner,
13:46Mr. George Bell receiving 13 points.
13:49And the winner in the blue corner with 26 points,
13:56Kevin McCollum!
14:01Kevin McCollum with the joy of the fans here in San Jose
14:04is a winner over George Bell.
14:05Right now, let's take it down amongst the...
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