marcelt
09-07-2009, 13:44
Michael Schiavello (http://mma.fanhouse.com/tag/MichaelSchiavello/) is well known in much of the world as the English-language voice of Japan's K-1 kickboxing, but in the United States, kickboxing is a small niche sport. In an interview in advance of K-1's July 13 event, I caught up with Schiavello for an interview to discuss where kickboxing is now, both in the United States and the rest of the world, and where it could go if it capitalizes on the boom in popularity of MMA and on its U.S. television deal with HDNet. The full interview is below.
Michael David Smith: What do you think K-1 needs to do to attract more fans in the United States? With how quickly MMA has grown in America, why haven't we also seen a surge in popularity for kickboxing?
Michael Schiavello: One of the big reasons why K-1 has not been bigger in America in the past is because traditionally heavyweight fighters in America are bred for boxing as that is where the money has always been. The money has never been there for heavyweight kickboxers in America, so if you're a big guy and you want to make money off fighting, the best way to do it in America has traditionally been to box. This is different in Japan where most heavyweights are bred to be K-1 fighters. It is also different in Europe where there are a ton of kickboxing schools as kickboxing and Muay Thai is more popular than boxing, and hence K-1 is so strong in Europe doing sell-out shows in Holland, Romania, Budapest, Poland and getting fantastic television coverage across Europe. In Europe, the young heavyweights grew up watching Ernesto Hoost and Peter Aerts. In Japan, the heavyweights grew up watching Musashi and Satake. In America, young heavyweights grew up watching Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.
Things have changed over the last few years however and now you have a very diverse boxing heavyweight division that is no longer solely the terrain of American boxers. With such an influx of European boxers like the Klitschkos, Valuev, Chagaev, etc, boxing fans are becoming used to the idea that there are good heavyweight fighters outside of America and they will watch fights between two non-Americans and enjoy it. Same goes in MMA now -- Fedor vs Arlovski being a prime example of two Russians fighting in front of a capacity MMA crowd in the U.S.. The increased exposure and growth of MMA in the USA has now also brought a new mindset. Young heavyweights can aspire to be MMA fighters and can train in Muay Thai or kickboxing and know that it could now lead them to big money and regular high level competition in the States, whereas it never did in the past.
What the increased MMA audience has also brought is a greater fight education and a greater want for knockouts. At the end of the day with all the awesome submissions that can be utilized in MMA, what the crowd, particularly the American crowd still love to see is a knockout -- which is something K-1 is made for. There is nothing more simple and easy to understand in fight sports than the knockout, and K-1 is all about the knockout. It offers more weapons and therefore more variety of knockouts than traditional boxing but doesn't have the grappling intricacies of MMA, which makes K-1 a much easier sport to understand for the casual fan.
So with that said, I fully expect K-1 to make an impact on the U.S. scene over the next few years. It will require baby steps at first, but it will pick up as fight fans realize they can see non Americans from all over the world knock each other out in sensational ways and with the world's best production values to boot.
It would be ideal to have an American fighter or two as the flag-bearers for K-1 in the USA, but it is difficult to find quality kick fighters in North America who can handle the attrition of K-1 fighting. American kickboxing is traditionally fought with above-waist rules, the long pants, the minimum kick rule, etc. Even something like the World Combat League, which is really continuous sparring, can't compare to the sheer attrition of K-1 fighting. Even with Muay Thai's boom around the world, it's hard to find good American Muay Thai fighters who can compete with the Dutch, the Thais, the Japanese and the Australians. I know that the producers of the second season of The Contender Asia have been struggling to find an American representative to put in the house. Perhaps what needs to be done is the establishment of small, feeder promotions for middleweights and heavyweights in the USA. These feeder promotions could then be used to create North American talent for future K-1 shows. Again this all happens with time as I said above, now young fighters are realizing there is a future for kick fighters in the USA.
Another reason why K-1 hasn't taken off in the States in the past is because there has been no firm television agreements in place. K-1 is a made-for-television product. The production values are just crazy and the coverage of the fights second-to-none in my opinion as someone who has worked with some of the best production crews in the world. Now with HDNet in place broadcasting all K-1 GP and MAX events, the opportunity is there for K-1 to make its push into the US market, again with baby steps at first. The response to the broadcasts on HDNet have been overwhelming to say the least. For the first time ever last December, we broadcasted the K-1 Grand Prix live to North America and everyone seemed to love the non-stop action and the production of it all. It's a great indication that American fans want to see more of the quality striking action K-1 is offering.
I agree with you that K-1 is a great TV sport. What's your sense for how it's doing in terms of growing its international TV audience? And has K-1 penetrated the international audience to the point where people recognize your face and your voice in every country of the English-speaking world?
K-1's international television presence is larger than a lot of people think. To date K-1 has been broadcast in 138 countries, with last year's K-1 Grand Prix broadcast being the biggest ever. I myself didn't actually know how extensive the coverage of K-1 was until I received a list of all broadcasters with a breakdown of every network that airs K-1 worldwide. It's massive, with especially big penetration in Europe through EuroSport and then individual countries' broadcasters like SBS 6 in Holland, ProTV in Romania and others. In Europe, particularly central Europe, K-1 is king. When we were in Lodz we walked past a bar at 8pm and they were playing K-1 on the television. Also I had no idea but even Al Jazeera broadcasts FEG product! Sky TV in New Zealand last year broadcast every K-1 GP, MAX and DREAM event. Main Event in Australia did a lot of K-1 pay per views. Then you also have the huge penetration in Asia that continues to grow. So yes, you'd be amazed how wide reaching K-1's broadcast arm is and it is growing, as we have seen with HDNet coming on board and doing wonderful things, including their specials like "K-1 Classics" and "Best of the K-1 Grand Prix" I guess one major indication to me is that yes, my voice and face has become recognized as the voice and face of K-1 in the English-speaking world. I also get heaps of e-mails from people even in non-English speaking countries that get a hold of our broadcasts. It's very flattering.
Is there any one K-1 fighter right now who you think has the talent and the charisma to become a star in the US?
First and foremost is Badr Hari. Love him or hate him, Hari is one of those athletes you will always tune in to watch because you know that anything can happen. It's like watching Tyson back in the day, or John McEnroe, or Diego Maradona: there is brilliance there and awesome natural ability, but there's also the chance he's going to blow his fuse, bend the rules or completely shatter them. He's also golden on the microphone, he's good looking and he has that presence about him as someone who shines just that bit brighter than the rest. Utilized and marketed in the correct way in the States, Badr could be absolute gold dust for K-1. As I have said before, Badr is the most naturally talented fighter I have seen since Alexey Ignashov. In his short K-1 career, he has produced some of the most amazing knockouts in history. His spinning heel kick KO of Stefan Leko in a super fight at the Tokyo Dome in 2005 was something straight out of a movie. Just incredible.
Michael David Smith: What do you think K-1 needs to do to attract more fans in the United States? With how quickly MMA has grown in America, why haven't we also seen a surge in popularity for kickboxing?
Michael Schiavello: One of the big reasons why K-1 has not been bigger in America in the past is because traditionally heavyweight fighters in America are bred for boxing as that is where the money has always been. The money has never been there for heavyweight kickboxers in America, so if you're a big guy and you want to make money off fighting, the best way to do it in America has traditionally been to box. This is different in Japan where most heavyweights are bred to be K-1 fighters. It is also different in Europe where there are a ton of kickboxing schools as kickboxing and Muay Thai is more popular than boxing, and hence K-1 is so strong in Europe doing sell-out shows in Holland, Romania, Budapest, Poland and getting fantastic television coverage across Europe. In Europe, the young heavyweights grew up watching Ernesto Hoost and Peter Aerts. In Japan, the heavyweights grew up watching Musashi and Satake. In America, young heavyweights grew up watching Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.
Things have changed over the last few years however and now you have a very diverse boxing heavyweight division that is no longer solely the terrain of American boxers. With such an influx of European boxers like the Klitschkos, Valuev, Chagaev, etc, boxing fans are becoming used to the idea that there are good heavyweight fighters outside of America and they will watch fights between two non-Americans and enjoy it. Same goes in MMA now -- Fedor vs Arlovski being a prime example of two Russians fighting in front of a capacity MMA crowd in the U.S.. The increased exposure and growth of MMA in the USA has now also brought a new mindset. Young heavyweights can aspire to be MMA fighters and can train in Muay Thai or kickboxing and know that it could now lead them to big money and regular high level competition in the States, whereas it never did in the past.
What the increased MMA audience has also brought is a greater fight education and a greater want for knockouts. At the end of the day with all the awesome submissions that can be utilized in MMA, what the crowd, particularly the American crowd still love to see is a knockout -- which is something K-1 is made for. There is nothing more simple and easy to understand in fight sports than the knockout, and K-1 is all about the knockout. It offers more weapons and therefore more variety of knockouts than traditional boxing but doesn't have the grappling intricacies of MMA, which makes K-1 a much easier sport to understand for the casual fan.
So with that said, I fully expect K-1 to make an impact on the U.S. scene over the next few years. It will require baby steps at first, but it will pick up as fight fans realize they can see non Americans from all over the world knock each other out in sensational ways and with the world's best production values to boot.
It would be ideal to have an American fighter or two as the flag-bearers for K-1 in the USA, but it is difficult to find quality kick fighters in North America who can handle the attrition of K-1 fighting. American kickboxing is traditionally fought with above-waist rules, the long pants, the minimum kick rule, etc. Even something like the World Combat League, which is really continuous sparring, can't compare to the sheer attrition of K-1 fighting. Even with Muay Thai's boom around the world, it's hard to find good American Muay Thai fighters who can compete with the Dutch, the Thais, the Japanese and the Australians. I know that the producers of the second season of The Contender Asia have been struggling to find an American representative to put in the house. Perhaps what needs to be done is the establishment of small, feeder promotions for middleweights and heavyweights in the USA. These feeder promotions could then be used to create North American talent for future K-1 shows. Again this all happens with time as I said above, now young fighters are realizing there is a future for kick fighters in the USA.
Another reason why K-1 hasn't taken off in the States in the past is because there has been no firm television agreements in place. K-1 is a made-for-television product. The production values are just crazy and the coverage of the fights second-to-none in my opinion as someone who has worked with some of the best production crews in the world. Now with HDNet in place broadcasting all K-1 GP and MAX events, the opportunity is there for K-1 to make its push into the US market, again with baby steps at first. The response to the broadcasts on HDNet have been overwhelming to say the least. For the first time ever last December, we broadcasted the K-1 Grand Prix live to North America and everyone seemed to love the non-stop action and the production of it all. It's a great indication that American fans want to see more of the quality striking action K-1 is offering.
I agree with you that K-1 is a great TV sport. What's your sense for how it's doing in terms of growing its international TV audience? And has K-1 penetrated the international audience to the point where people recognize your face and your voice in every country of the English-speaking world?
K-1's international television presence is larger than a lot of people think. To date K-1 has been broadcast in 138 countries, with last year's K-1 Grand Prix broadcast being the biggest ever. I myself didn't actually know how extensive the coverage of K-1 was until I received a list of all broadcasters with a breakdown of every network that airs K-1 worldwide. It's massive, with especially big penetration in Europe through EuroSport and then individual countries' broadcasters like SBS 6 in Holland, ProTV in Romania and others. In Europe, particularly central Europe, K-1 is king. When we were in Lodz we walked past a bar at 8pm and they were playing K-1 on the television. Also I had no idea but even Al Jazeera broadcasts FEG product! Sky TV in New Zealand last year broadcast every K-1 GP, MAX and DREAM event. Main Event in Australia did a lot of K-1 pay per views. Then you also have the huge penetration in Asia that continues to grow. So yes, you'd be amazed how wide reaching K-1's broadcast arm is and it is growing, as we have seen with HDNet coming on board and doing wonderful things, including their specials like "K-1 Classics" and "Best of the K-1 Grand Prix" I guess one major indication to me is that yes, my voice and face has become recognized as the voice and face of K-1 in the English-speaking world. I also get heaps of e-mails from people even in non-English speaking countries that get a hold of our broadcasts. It's very flattering.
Is there any one K-1 fighter right now who you think has the talent and the charisma to become a star in the US?
First and foremost is Badr Hari. Love him or hate him, Hari is one of those athletes you will always tune in to watch because you know that anything can happen. It's like watching Tyson back in the day, or John McEnroe, or Diego Maradona: there is brilliance there and awesome natural ability, but there's also the chance he's going to blow his fuse, bend the rules or completely shatter them. He's also golden on the microphone, he's good looking and he has that presence about him as someone who shines just that bit brighter than the rest. Utilized and marketed in the correct way in the States, Badr could be absolute gold dust for K-1. As I have said before, Badr is the most naturally talented fighter I have seen since Alexey Ignashov. In his short K-1 career, he has produced some of the most amazing knockouts in history. His spinning heel kick KO of Stefan Leko in a super fight at the Tokyo Dome in 2005 was something straight out of a movie. Just incredible.