TOKYO, May 4 — Last night K-1 held its World Max event at the Ariake Coliseum in the Tokyo Bay area, claiming 13,918 in attendance. I’ve been a big fan of the K-1 for a long time and this event was truly spectacular, definitely one of the best in recent memory.
The main event of the evening pitted 2003 K-1 champion Masato against the South Korean fighter Chi Bin Lim. This was Lim’s first outing in a K-1 ring. Before the fight I was thinking that K-1 had put together this fight to give Masato an easy victory. Apparently nobody told Lim this, because this guy came to fight, and fight he did.
Both fighters came out strong in the first round, however Masato was a bit more aggressive, throwing and landing more punch combinations than his opponent. This theme continued throughout the rest of the fight, with Masato basically out-boxing his opponent, eventually winning a justified decision. This was an exciting contest, and to his credit Lim hung in there with one of the top guys in the K-1. Not bad for a debut performance.
The second to last fight saw Belarusian fighter Vasily Shish take on 2004 K-1 champion Buakaw Por Pramuk. This match-up was a kicking war. Once again, I thought that it was going to be a fairly easy victory for Pramuk, but Shish put on a great performance and hung in with the champion. Shish did a much better job against Pramuk than Masato did last year. This was a great Muay Thai styled fight to watch, and eventually Pramuk got the decision.
Another champion, Albert Kraus, took on South African boxer Virgil Kalakoda. I only really caught this fight out of the corner of my eye, as I was watching the Yamamoto interview backstage when it happened, but it looked like another great war.
Kraus was really going after Kalakoda’s legs, countering every combo that his opponent threw with hard leg-kicks. Kalakoda dominated the boxing end of this match, throwing great combinations of varied punches to the head and body. Kraus got the decision, however, I think that it should have gone another round.
Kalakoda came to interview area after his fight wrapped only in a small towel, jokingly telling all the reporters to aim their cameras a little higher. He said that this was his first time against low kicks and his father, veteran trainer Steve Kalakoda, told him to beware of them. He further stated that he took a lot of damage to the legs, but that he didn’t give up. For his first time facing leg kicks he put in a great performance and I hope we see a lot more of him in future events.
Knockout of the night award goes to the Greek fighter Mike Zambidis. At the receiving end of this was Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto. The “Kid” is extremely popular over here in Japan, perhaps even overshadowing Masato in this respect.
The fighters spent much of the first round feeling each other out. Zambidis often attempted to cut the distance and keep this one in close, where I suspect he feels most comfortable. This was a good, exciting bout with both fighters throwing some good combos.
The third round was where disaster struck for Yamamoto, with Zambidis throwing a textbook right hook that landed right on the button. This was truly a great punch. On the slow-motion replay you can see Zambidis put his head down and step right into it. Absolutely flawless.
Japanese fighter Yoshihiro Sato took on Team Aerts fighter William Diender. Once again it was a bit tough to watch this fight as I was watching an interview at the same time, but it seemed that Sato used his kicks and knees well and wore down his opponent. In the end Sato took the decision.
Another Dutch fighter, Andy Souwer, faced Marfio “The Warrior Tiger” Canoletti. This fight was a slobber-knocker right from the get go, with both fighter throwing big combos. This one was really in-close and tight, kind of reminding me of a Tyson fight. Souwer mixed up his punches and landed some nice ones to the body. This contest stayed high-paced throughout, with Souwer winning the decision.
Backstage Souwer said that he felt well after the fight and complimented his tough opponent, calling him the “Brazilian Rock.”
The battle of Oceania saw John Wayne Parr square off against Shane Chapman. This was the third time that these two friends have faced each other.
In the first round Parr was able to knockdown his opponent twice. At one point Parr almost went right out of the ring with a kick. Parr dominated for most of this fight, pushing his opponent round the ring. In the third Parr finished off Chapman with a beautiful right-left punch combo to the body.
In the interview area Parr said that he’s excited to be in the K-1 Max finals in July and will continue to train hard. He further stated that he had learned a lot within the past year and he has changed his style to adapt to the K-1 format. He likened the K-1 format to a sprint. His past Muay Thai fights were five rounds in which he would pace himself at the start and pick up his game as the fight progressed. With the K-1 format, he stated, it’s only three rounds, so you have to come out full-throttle right from the start.
I asked him if he had any reservations about fighting a friend of his, to which he basically replied that once in the ring, friendship have to be set aside. Parr seems like a super-nice guy and I was glad to be able to listen to his interview.
In other action, “Mr. Stoic” Takayuki Kohiruimaki took on Lithuanian fighter Darius Skliaudys. The first round was fast and exciting, with both fighters adopting similar styles. Disaster unfortunately struck for Skliaudys in the second: He went for a low kick and caught Kohi leg with what seemed to be his toes.
Immediately Skliaudys went down and cringed in pain. He could not continue and had to be helped out of the ring. This was a real letdown, because up to that point this was a great, high-paced fight. Skliaudys never made it to the interview area, but I did see him being help out of the building with a lot of wrapping around his foot. Hopefully he’ll recover quickly and come back to the K-1 ring soon.
Seido Kaikan fighter Yasuhiro Kazuya faced Mongolian Jadamba Narantungalag. This fight can be best described as a brawl, with the Mongolian coming in and throwing some big haymakers throughout the fight. In the third, Kazuya got hit in the back of the head with a wild hook from the Mongolian. The fight had to be paused for him to regain his bearings. In the end Narantungalag took the decision. Backstage Kasuya said that the back-of-the-head shot affected him a lot.
Koutetsu Boku took on Canadian fighter Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout in an excellent match-up. Boku came out strong at first and seemed to be dominating the fight, but eventually Stout found his groove, hammering his opponent with vicious leg kicks. The fight went the distance and the Canadian got the decision.