TOKYO, April 5 — On a rainy evening here in Tokyo, some of the best 70-kg-and-under stand-up fighters battled at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, a large, comfortable, centrally located (only one stop from Shinjuku or Shibuya) venue — and about a 10-minute walk from my house.
The headline bout for this event pitted Japanese superstar Masato against Lithuanian ZST veteran Remigijus Morkevicius (Pictures).
Masato, who was forced out of the tournament last year after suffering a broken ankle in his first-round bout with Mike Zambidis, entered tonight’s bout off the strength of a recent victory against Ian James Schaffa (Pictures). A solid knockout performance against Wataru Inatsu at ZST 9 preceded Remy’s K-1 Max appearance.
Some fighters come out slow off the opening bell and gradually pick it up as the fight progresses. Remy is not one of these fighters. As soon as the Lithuanian hears that bell, he comes out guns blazing. This strategy is great if you can catch your opponent sleeping. But if your opponent can weather the storm it leaves you with less gas in the tank as the fight drags on.
This is what happened tonight.
Right off the start the ZST veteran came charging at the former K-1 MAX champion with vicious kicks and big flying knees. Masato defended the onslaught and countered with well-timed low kicks. As the round went on, Masato picked it up and tagged Remy with some stinging hands.
The huge sum of energy Remy had spent in the opening half of the first took its toll in the second. Masato connected with punches while Morkevicius began to gas out. And a seemingly non-threatening kick to the mid-section caused Remy to crumple over and cover. Masato knew the end was near, opening up on the Lithuanian against the ropes with a hellacious flurry of punches. Remy’s corner could see that their fighter was in trouble and were forced to throw in the towel.
While I like Remy’s explosiveness, he needs to learn to pace himself a bit better in the future to ensure that he has something left for the later rounds.
Traditionally when a kickboxer faces off against a boxer, it’s common practice for the kickboxer to attack the boxer’s legs with low kicks. However, this scenario really didn’t materialize when K-1 MAX 2004 champion Buakaw Por Pramuk faced off against former IBF light middleweight boxing champion Virgil Kalakoda.
When watching Buakaw in this one, it was almost like a different fighter from a year ago was in the ring. Right off the start and for the duration of the fight the Thai moved his head like a traditional boxer, slipping the big punches Kalakoda threw at him.
He also seems to have adapted to K-1 rules regarding the clinch. Rather than really clamping down on the clinch and holding an opponent like he did last year, Buakaw left his clinch relatively open, thus allowing him to deliver knees without the referee stepping in every few seconds to call for a break.
The Thai also displayed improved boxing skills. Rather than for merely locking up his opponent to deliver knees, Buakaw actually used his hands for punching this time.
But why didn’t he go after Kalakoda’s legs? Certainly this would have made the most sense. Pretty much each kick the former champion threw was off his left to his opponent’s mid-section.
While Kalakoda took a lot of knees and kicks at the start of this fight, he eventually found his groove and started to push the Thai along the ropes and connected on the inside with short hooks to the head and body. The fight went the full three rounds and was ruled a draw, thus a fourth round was called for.
Once again this was where Buakaw puzzled me. I don’t know if he just wanted to show Kalakoda up at his own game, but the former K-1 MAX champion opted to slug it out with his fists. He barely threw any kicks or knees for the duration of the round and showed the audience that he can use his hands just as well as his feet.
The round came to an end and the tension was high as the fight went to the scorecards. The first judge gave it to Kalakoda, the second to Buakaw, and finally the third voted in favor of the Thai, giving Buakaw a close split decision.
2002 K-1 MAX champion Albert Kraus faced off against Turkish kickboxer Ali Gunyar. This was actually a rematch of a bout outside K-1 the year Kraus won the Max title. Kraus lost that fight by decision, so the Dutch fighter was no doubt intent on avenging his loss.
The thing that has always impressed me about Kraus is his boxing skills. He is basically a great boxer who is able to kick. He has good timing, mixes punches to the head and body, and has a solid defense.
In this bout Kraus took his time, covered up and delivered some well-placed hooks to Gunyar. While the Turk put up a strong fight, it was Kraus’ hands that connected more often.
The fight went the distance and Kraus took the unanimous decision.