Sluggish Penn Does Enough; Goodridge Rolls to Tourney Crown
Goodridge Wins Hawaii GP
Josh Gross Jul 30, 2005
While Penn labored to finish three full rounds, eight fighters were
asked to fight and win three times if they wanted to be crowned the
K-1 Hawaii Grand Prix winner.
Veteran brawler Gary Goodridge (pictures) answered the call, putting together an impressive string of stoppages to capture his first K-1 tournament and advance to the World GP Final Elimination, scheduled for this September in Osaka, Japan.
In the finals, Goodridge battered Yusuke Fujimoto, putting the
heavy-kicking Japanese fighter to the canvas five times before his
corner saved him. The pummeling started with what appeared to be
the least powerful shot of the bunch, a glancing left hook.
Still in the first period, “Big Daddy,” who advanced to the finals by knocking out Carter Williams (pictures) in the semis and stopping Wesley Correira (pictures) with low kicks in the quarters, put Fujimoto down again with an uppercut followed by a left hook.
But Fujimoto’s combinations and kicks to the head did little more than glance off the powerful Canadian, and Goodridge used a snapping left hook followed by a clubbing overhand right to drop his challenger to his knees.
Goodridge eased off the gas for the remaining seconds of the second round, putting on a show for the fans and allowing Fujimoto to shake the cobwebs. But it was full throttle in the third and final period.
A Goodridge high kick and two left hooks put Fujimoto down a fourth time. Amazingly, he stood. Mercifully, Goodridge didn’t go to the head to end it, bombing a heavy Thai kick to Fujimoto’s thigh that downed him a fifth and final time.
"I had a dream and I believed in it and I did what I needed to do," a jubilant Goodridge said after his hard night’s work.
Fujimoto earned his way into the finals by stopping Marcus Royster (pictures), a replacement for the man that beat him in the quarters, “Butterbean,” who could not continue due to an injured left leg, and reserve bout winner Mike Malone (pictures), also injured in his fight. In his first fight of the night, Fujimoto stopped Scott Junk (pictures) when he countered with a right hand in the third round.
In other quarterfinal action, Williams won a unanimous decision over Nobu Hayashi.
The card also featured several single bouts.
In a sort of fight that’s become all too commonplace in K-1, former Sumo Grand Champion Akebono could not get past mammoth South Korean Hong-Man Choi in a sloppy fight.
Perhaps the finest native Japanese fighter to compete in the K-1 Grand Prix tournament format, Musashi needed the distance to earn a majority decision against Swede Rickard Nordstrand.
Veteran brawler Gary Goodridge (pictures) answered the call, putting together an impressive string of stoppages to capture his first K-1 tournament and advance to the World GP Final Elimination, scheduled for this September in Osaka, Japan.
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Still in the first period, “Big Daddy,” who advanced to the finals by knocking out Carter Williams (pictures) in the semis and stopping Wesley Correira (pictures) with low kicks in the quarters, put Fujimoto down again with an uppercut followed by a left hook.
Had the referee in charge of the action ended it there, few could
have argued. Instead, he let Fujimoto continue and for the opening
two minutes of the second round it seemed like an excellent
call.
But Fujimoto’s combinations and kicks to the head did little more than glance off the powerful Canadian, and Goodridge used a snapping left hook followed by a clubbing overhand right to drop his challenger to his knees.
Goodridge eased off the gas for the remaining seconds of the second round, putting on a show for the fans and allowing Fujimoto to shake the cobwebs. But it was full throttle in the third and final period.
A Goodridge high kick and two left hooks put Fujimoto down a fourth time. Amazingly, he stood. Mercifully, Goodridge didn’t go to the head to end it, bombing a heavy Thai kick to Fujimoto’s thigh that downed him a fifth and final time.
"I had a dream and I believed in it and I did what I needed to do," a jubilant Goodridge said after his hard night’s work.
Fujimoto earned his way into the finals by stopping Marcus Royster (pictures), a replacement for the man that beat him in the quarters, “Butterbean,” who could not continue due to an injured left leg, and reserve bout winner Mike Malone (pictures), also injured in his fight. In his first fight of the night, Fujimoto stopped Scott Junk (pictures) when he countered with a right hand in the third round.
In other quarterfinal action, Williams won a unanimous decision over Nobu Hayashi.
The card also featured several single bouts.
In a sort of fight that’s become all too commonplace in K-1, former Sumo Grand Champion Akebono could not get past mammoth South Korean Hong-Man Choi in a sloppy fight.
Perhaps the finest native Japanese fighter to compete in the K-1 Grand Prix tournament format, Musashi needed the distance to earn a majority decision against Swede Rickard Nordstrand.
