{"id":749423,"date":"2026-06-20T19:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T19:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/749423\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T19:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T19:56:10","slug":"fibark-2026-victoria-claims-championship-title-in-sup-boxing-by-carly-winchell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/749423\/","title":{"rendered":"FIBArk 2026: Victoria Claims Championship Title in SUP Boxing – by Carly Winchell"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Victoria strikes Selena the moment the announcers say fight. Photo by Carly Winchell.<\/p>\n

Stand Up Paddleboards (SUPs) have become a popular method of recreation in Colorado, so it is only fitting they be featured across the FIBArk Whitewater Festival\u2019s slate of events. One event in particular takes a supersized SUP and transforms it into a fighting rink. Victoria took home the title after a fight through the brackets left her and her very orange wig on top.<\/p>\n

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Crowds lined both sides of the bank and every other available vantage point to watch the SUP boxing event on Friday evening. Photo by Carly Winchell.<\/p>\n

SUP Boxing is one of the more shenanigan-oriented events for which FIBArk is known. The most famous of these events is the Hooligan Race of course, but SUP Boxing draws a large crowd each year as competitors wearing oversized, inflatable boxing gloves fight it out on the river.<\/p>\n

Competitors must fight the waves, their own sense of balance, and each other. Whoever goes in the water first loses the round. Some matches end quickly with one fast attack or a wrong step. Other bouts can offer prolonged and wobbly wrestling as each competitor tries to be the last one standing.<\/p>\n

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This flip into a kick from Johnny caught everyone by surprise. Photo by Carly Winchell.<\/p>\n

All those who step up enter the giant SUP dream of signing the championship belt and sealing their legacy. Only one will be left standing.<\/p>\n

The competition proved fierce on Friday evening. Some competitors pulled out moves never seen before.<\/p>\n

This included an impressive front flip into a kick from Johnny that sent Andrew stumbling back. After a few fraught moments and a little extra help from Johnny, Andrew tumbled over the edge.<\/p>\n

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Andrew, the oldest entrant in the contest, defeats his first opponent, Blake. Photo by Carly Winchell.<\/p>\n

The move made Johnny a crowd favorite to win it all, but the tide of battle changed quickly and he was eliminated in his next fight.<\/p>\n

There was also a fight between two sisters<\/a> that nearly ended in a stalemate as they grappled with each other. The fight had to reset after the first round ended with the sisters locked in a draw.<\/p>\n

Everything came down to #372 Kwame versus #279 Victoria. Kwame had proven himself a fierce competitor. Victoria mastered a fast opening move that left her opponents drenched.<\/p>\n

In the end, Victoria\u2019s technique proved too powerful, and she was dubbed SUP Boxing Grand Champion.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

After she swam back to shore, Victoria was surrounded by people cheering her on and interviewing the victor. Victoria and Kwame were then summoned to the FIBArk Boat House, so Victoria could sign the belt and Kwame could receive his robe.<\/p>\n

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Wayles goes down after a fierce attack from Angela in the first round of the night. Photo by Carly Winchell.<\/p>\n

FIBArk does feature serious athletic events and competitions that draw spectators in test of their whitewater skills. But it is best known for its more lighthearted attractions. Events like SUP Boxing and the Hooligan Race see the festival truly come alive, and showcase the spirit and joy of the whitewater community.<\/p>\n

The entire Ark Valley Voice crew will be out and about all weekend, gathering stories, meeting visitors, and taking pictures to keep readers up to date as the festival unfolds.<\/p>\n

The full schedule of events for the festival is available at FIBArk.com\/schedule<\/a>. Readers can stay up to date with coverage here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Hooligan race is set for 5:30 p.m. on Saturday night with plenty of other excitement scheduled for the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victoria strikes Selena the moment the announcers say fight. Photo by Carly Winchell. Stand Up Paddleboards (SUPs) have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":749424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[359960,64,63,802,359961,359962,85,359963,359964],"class_list":["post-749423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-2026-fibark","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-fibark","tag-fibark-2026","tag-sports","tag-sup-boxing","tag-sup-boxing-results"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/749424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}