TOKYO, Oct. 12 — Team Sherdog was on hand to witness some of the best stand-up middleweight (70-kg) fighters do battle at the K-1 World Max at the Yoyogi Olympic Complex.
K-1 Max events are usually fast-paced and exciting, but this event really surpassed expectations. The main event of the night pitted the K-1 World Max 2005 Champion Andy Souwer against legendary Japanese kickboxer “The Last Samurai” Kozo Takeda.
Both combatants had a lot riding on this fight — for Souwer it served as a chance to prove to his critics that his championship performance at last July’s K-1 World Max Championship tournament was not just a lucky fluke; for Takeda it served to prove that he was still a champion caliber fighter after his knockout lost to John Wayne Parr at the Titans 2nd show last August.
The winner of this battle would unofficially get the spot to take on popular Japanese kickboxing star Masato at the promotion’s Dynamite show on New Year’s Eve in Osaka.
Right from the start, it was obvious that Takeda wanted to employ his best weapon — lightning fast and extremely powerful low kicks — to pound out a victory. The Japanese fighter didn’t do lot of moving around in the ring, but instead was rather stationary, waiting for Souwer to come near so as he could chop away at his legs.
All throughout the first round, Takeda was extremely effective at landing leg shots, often firing several kicks in quick succession, taking his opponent off balance. Souwer patiently rode out the storm, looking to counter the Japanese fighter with punches, but couldn’t really seem to get around Takeda’s legs to put anything together in the first.
The Dutch fighter’s corner must have flicked a switch during the break, because in the second round Souwer really came alive with boxing, backing Takeda into a corner and unleashing a monstrous flurry of punches to the head and body.
During this onslaught, Takeda covered up, trying to take the shots off his forearms. But just as he timed a shot and opened up to counter with a left hook, he got caught with a hard left to the chin that sent him straight to the canvas at the 31-second mark.
Takeda remained on the ground for several minutes and Souwer was announced winner by KO.
Backstage at his interview, Souwer said that while Takeda’s punches didn’t cause that much damage, his kicks certainly did. He also stated that he wished to continue to fight for both the K-1 Max and Shootboxing, quite possibly participating in a Shootboxing event at the end of November. Souwer was limping when he left the interview area.
Takeda stated that he couldn’t remember much of his fight with Souwer, but he clearly recalled seeing the Dutchman limping at the end of the first. He further stated that he has been working through a nagging neck injury and would like some time to recover, however he is due to fight in Yamanashi prefecture in December.
The master of avoiding punches and kicks, Kaoklai Kaennorsing, took on Japanese Muay Thai fighter Yoshihiro Sato. Kaennorsing, trapped at a somewhat unfortunate weight that forced him to fight in the heavyweight division against much larger men in the past, had only two weeks to lose eight kilograms to make the 70-kg weight limit for K-1 Max.
This was a classic Muay Thai battle with both fighters taking their time, looking to unload with hard low kicks. The problem with this kind of fight taking place under the new K-1 rules is evident in the clinch, where both of these guys like to throw several knees. Under the new rules, only one knee may be thrown from the clinch, and then the fighters must be separated. This is supposed to keep the pace of the fight high, but in a match-up like this one, it does the exact opposite — the referee is left calling for a ridiculous amount of breaks, slowing the entire pace of the fight down.
A Muay Thai stylist like John Wayne Parr is a good example of someone who has adapted his game to conform with the new K-1, opting to use punching combos in close rather than go for the clinch. Both Sato and Kaennorsing were yellow carded by the referee for too much holding.
This match-up was essentially a kicking war and was fairly even all the way through. Though it seemed close enough to have gone to another round, the majority decision was awarded to Sato.
Backstage, Kaennorsing said that he thought that the decision was fair. He further stated that it doesn’t matter to him who he fights, but he would prefer to keep fighting as a middleweight.
Sato stated that he held a lot of respect for Kaennorsing for having to lose as much weight as he did so quickly, but felt that his opponent wasn’t at 100 percent because of it. He added that in his mind this wasn’t a real victory and would be more than willing to face the Thai fighter again in a rematch.