marcelt
17-08-2009, 22:44
So, here we have it. Daniel Ghita.
The World GP in Tokyo 2009 champion, a wonderful newcomer, a promising striker, the Romanian sensation! Fair enough, he did win the tournament, he did defeat three opponents in one night, and he did beat Peter Aerts's record, as stated on the official K-1 site. There's no denial of the fact - it's just how he did it. Let's have a look.
First fight - Daniel Ghita vs John Love
Now, as lovely as Mr. Love is, he is just that - Mr. Love. Chocolate, candy, flowers, whatever! The Welshman was obviously not up to par with the Eastern European. Have you seen Love's defense? Have you seen his offence? I'm sure he's got a great future, but not if he's going to keep on fighting like a Teletubbie. Harsh critique? Yes, but not towards John Love, who I understand is very young and has very little experience fighting in K-1 proper, no, John Love has accepted a brave challenge and he stood the test, at least for the first few seconds of the fight, until it all started slipping into hell for him.
Love's fine.
The question is - where were the K-1 organizers looking, when they put a 22 year old builder against a 28 year old multiple championship title holder? How was this even considered on par with what Laschenko had to do with Ciobanu? Mind the K-1 boys - both of those fighters have at least similar experience level, as evident from the exhausting match between the two.
Second fight - Daniel Ghita vs Yuki
Who's Yuki? Isn't that the guy who almost lost to Prince Ali in the opening fight? Mind you, this victory was a far better credit to Daniel, simply because Yuki actually resisted! What was Laschenko doing meanwhile? Fighting Brice Guidon, who turned out to be in my humble opinion the dark horse of this tournament - very smart, very smooth, very effective at stopping Rico's steamroller. A far greater matchup than Yuki. No?
Here comes the Final. In the blue corner a Romanian, Mr. Ghita, full of energy, zero damage, 500% confidence, well yea, he's seen Laschenko's previous two fights, and he knows that Laschenko is out of juice. And in the red corner we've got Mr. Laschenko, who's been through a punishing 3 round bout with the self-proclaimed Dracula's son, who, despite posing alot at the press conference, turned out to be a pretty tough cookie. Then Sergii had to go through Brice Guidon, and now finally he's here, barely standing up and having a good old time.
The fight is short and brilliant. The gutsy Ukrainian running on 80% heart and 20% energy, the cold Romanian executing his victim without having a blink. Nope, no blinking, it's Tuesday night, a fight, and he's already having a think about what he's eating for dinner after his sure victory - maybe a baked potato with sour cream? Yum.
Lovely.
The conclusion is simple.
- Daniel Ghita won the GP. Did he deserve it? Of course, this is a sport and that's what a sport is like - unpredictable. He trained hard, and whichever opponents he got - were not his choice. There is no doubt that he's got power and his defense is solid enough, at least it was solid against the 2 challengers and an exhausted Laschenko.
- Sergii Laschenko is an amazing attacker, and a much poorer defender, especially when it comes to low kicks. That man has incredible potential, he just needs to polish himself up.
- K-1 organizers should've made more adequate match-ups in the GP. Even with the possible departure of Melvin Mahoef - they should've had someone strong on hand.
So, here's to a sincere hope that the next K-1 GP will be more evenly matched, and then all fighters can showcase their true potential!
Alex Evdokimov, Fans of K1
The World GP in Tokyo 2009 champion, a wonderful newcomer, a promising striker, the Romanian sensation! Fair enough, he did win the tournament, he did defeat three opponents in one night, and he did beat Peter Aerts's record, as stated on the official K-1 site. There's no denial of the fact - it's just how he did it. Let's have a look.
First fight - Daniel Ghita vs John Love
Now, as lovely as Mr. Love is, he is just that - Mr. Love. Chocolate, candy, flowers, whatever! The Welshman was obviously not up to par with the Eastern European. Have you seen Love's defense? Have you seen his offence? I'm sure he's got a great future, but not if he's going to keep on fighting like a Teletubbie. Harsh critique? Yes, but not towards John Love, who I understand is very young and has very little experience fighting in K-1 proper, no, John Love has accepted a brave challenge and he stood the test, at least for the first few seconds of the fight, until it all started slipping into hell for him.
Love's fine.
The question is - where were the K-1 organizers looking, when they put a 22 year old builder against a 28 year old multiple championship title holder? How was this even considered on par with what Laschenko had to do with Ciobanu? Mind the K-1 boys - both of those fighters have at least similar experience level, as evident from the exhausting match between the two.
Second fight - Daniel Ghita vs Yuki
Who's Yuki? Isn't that the guy who almost lost to Prince Ali in the opening fight? Mind you, this victory was a far better credit to Daniel, simply because Yuki actually resisted! What was Laschenko doing meanwhile? Fighting Brice Guidon, who turned out to be in my humble opinion the dark horse of this tournament - very smart, very smooth, very effective at stopping Rico's steamroller. A far greater matchup than Yuki. No?
Here comes the Final. In the blue corner a Romanian, Mr. Ghita, full of energy, zero damage, 500% confidence, well yea, he's seen Laschenko's previous two fights, and he knows that Laschenko is out of juice. And in the red corner we've got Mr. Laschenko, who's been through a punishing 3 round bout with the self-proclaimed Dracula's son, who, despite posing alot at the press conference, turned out to be a pretty tough cookie. Then Sergii had to go through Brice Guidon, and now finally he's here, barely standing up and having a good old time.
The fight is short and brilliant. The gutsy Ukrainian running on 80% heart and 20% energy, the cold Romanian executing his victim without having a blink. Nope, no blinking, it's Tuesday night, a fight, and he's already having a think about what he's eating for dinner after his sure victory - maybe a baked potato with sour cream? Yum.
Lovely.
The conclusion is simple.
- Daniel Ghita won the GP. Did he deserve it? Of course, this is a sport and that's what a sport is like - unpredictable. He trained hard, and whichever opponents he got - were not his choice. There is no doubt that he's got power and his defense is solid enough, at least it was solid against the 2 challengers and an exhausted Laschenko.
- Sergii Laschenko is an amazing attacker, and a much poorer defender, especially when it comes to low kicks. That man has incredible potential, he just needs to polish himself up.
- K-1 organizers should've made more adequate match-ups in the GP. Even with the possible departure of Melvin Mahoef - they should've had someone strong on hand.
So, here's to a sincere hope that the next K-1 GP will be more evenly matched, and then all fighters can showcase their true potential!
Alex Evdokimov, Fans of K1