Martial Arts Coach Beats Up Judge At Kickboxing Tournament: Suit

ASTORIA, QUEENS — At this year’s World Kickboxing Association National Championships, Aziz Nabih fought Joel Bekker. The two men, however, were not in a kickboxing match.

Nabih, an Astoria-based trainer and gym owner, attacked Bekker, a tournament judge, when Bekker refused to show him his trainee’s score after a match, a new lawsuit contends.

The “violent and vicious” attack happened on the evening of Aug. 28, after Taj Rueda, a fighter who Nabih coaches, completed a match at the WKA tournament, records show.

Shortly after, Nabih climbed down from the ring and walked up to Bekker — who was one of the people scoring the fight — demanding in a “loud and angry voice” to see the scorecards from his trainee’s match, the lawsuit contends.

Bekker, who didn’t have access to the scorecards, told Nabih to speak with Brian Crenshaw, a chief official at the tournament, who was sitting at a nearby table in the center of the arena, according to the suit.

Instead of speaking with Crenshaw, however, Nabih attacked Bekker, the suit contends.

At a rules meeting the night before, all tournament coaches were told that any questions or issues with a match’s scoring should be directed to Crenshaw, records show. According to the lawsuit, Nabih was at that meeting.

After the fight, Nabih told other people to follow Bekker around the tournament site in a “menacing and threatening” way, prompting Bekker to fear for his “safety and life,” according to the suit.

Ultimately, the WKA judge was escorted away from the tournament, for his own safety, with the group of Nabih’s supporters following him all the way to his car, records show.

The attack injured Bekker to the point that nearly two weeks later he still can’t fully work or participate in daily activities like he did before the attack, according to the suit.

Patch reached out to Sitan Muay Thai Gym in Astoria, which Nabih owns, about this lawsuit, but didn’t get an immediate response.