marcelt
19-09-2009, 01:12
STAND OR FALL Superstars Ready to War at K-1 FINAL16
For the first time ever HDNet will broadcast the K-1 GP FINAL16 card from Seoul, Korea live and exclusive across North America on September 26. MICHAEL SCHIAVELLO previews the 8 fights.
Source: K-1 Official (http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/index.php)
http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2009/images/0917_wgp_01/ph02.jpg (http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2009/images/0917_wgp_01/ph02b.jpg)
Remy Bonjasky vs Melvin Manhoef
Current K-1 World GP Champion Bonjasky and the always-dangerous Manhoef have battled twice with Bonjasky winning on both occasions.
Their first encounter took place in 2002 with Bonjasky winning by decision. Their second match took place last year and ended with Bonjasky breaking Manhoef's ribs with a flying kick in the third round.
Both men come into their trilogy match on victories: Bonjasky with a lackluster decision over Alistair Overeem in March (after knocking down Overeem once with a punch) and Manhoef off a crushing first round KO of Muay Thai stylist Ramazan Ramazanov in August.
Manhoef gained a ticket to the FINAL16 thanks to fans who voted him as their choice in K-1's worldwide online poll. It's a deserved place too for the busiest fighter in the world and the only man to swing between top level striking and MMA competition, sharing his career between K-1 and DREAM duties.
While the fans will certainly be behind Manhoef and his rampaging fists, it is hard to pick against the three-time and current K-1 World GP champion Bonjasky for the win in Seoul.
Bonjasky is a master strategist with arguably the best defense in K-1. Rarely does he get hit with clean shots and Manhoef will have to wear Bonjasky's vicious roundkicks to the legs, ribs and head and then deal with the champ's knees just to try and get on the inside.
I'm a massive fan of Manhoef's powerful walk-forward style and my imagination boggles at the possibility of seeing him in the K-1 Grand Prix for the first time. But Bonjasky is too big, too smart, has too many weapons and that virgin's defense - impenetrable - that has seen him lose only one match in the last three years.
Pick: Bonjasky by TKO
http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2009/images/0917_wgp_01/ph03.jpg (http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2009/images/0917_wgp_01/ph03b.jpg)
Errol Zimmerman vs Glaube Feitosa
This is a rematch of Zimmerman and Feitosa's FINAL16 match in Seoul from 2008. On that occasion it was a then in-form Zimmerman who pounded Feitosa for three rounds solid in one of the worst beatdowns I have ever seen in K-1. How Feitosa survived to reach the final bell after getting hit with cannonball after cannonball still amazes.
Feitosa comes into Seoul off a win over Junichi Sawayashiki in March, while Zimmerman has none of the momentum he carried at the same time last year, entering this match on a four-fight losing streak.
Zimmerman cannot afford to rest on his laurels here and think “Hey, I beat him up last year, I'll do it again." Feitosa and his trainers at Team Ichigeki tell me that they've worked out a gameplan to defeat Zimmerman and ensure history doesn't repeat itself in Seoul.
More than this, Feitosa knows that September 26 could be his last roll of the dice for K-1 Grand Prix qualification. At 36 years old, married and with a child, he is in the twilight of his career and must make way for Ewerton Texeira to take over as Kyokushin's number one gun. Come September 26 Feitosa will be a man on a mission. Revenge against Zimmerman is on his mind but so too is his determination to show that he's got one last run at the crown left and isn't ready to retire his famed finishing technique - the Brazilian kick - just yet.
Pick: Feitosa by decision
http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2009/images/0917_wgp_01/ph04.jpg (http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2009/images/0917_wgp_01/ph04b.jpg)
Ruslan Karaev vs Kyotaro
I believe this could turn into the fight of the night on September 26. In Karaev and Kyotaro you have two of the hungriest and most dynamic strikers in the world with vastly different styles.
Karaev is a man with more combinations than a Rubik's Cube. The lightning-fast Russian mixes hands and feet like no other heavyweight in the world and only knows one speed: full throttle.
While his balls-to-the-wall fighting style has served him well in recent times, winning the 2008 K-1 in Taiwan GP in epic fashion knocking out all three opponents, it has also been his undoing in the past when Karaev has sacrificed defense for out-and-out offense.
Against K-1's best counter fighter, Kyotaro, Karaev needs to employ defense and choose his attacks wisely. If he decides to go all out and attack Kyotaro from the opening bell, the Russian will find himself on the receiving end of Kyotaro's delicious finishing counter right cross that he used to knockout Melvin Manhoef in March and Jan Soukup in August.
Although veteran Musashi is getting one last crack at a K-1 Grand Prix berth, Japanese hopes will be pinned on Kyotaro, who as the current K-1 world heavyweight champion is the only Japanese heavyweight to ever hold a K-1 world title.
A superb strategist with excellent footwork, a full tank of gas and the ability to beat anyone with his counter game, look for Kyotaro to catch Karaev's questionable jaw at some stage in what promises to be an exhilarating match.
Pick: Kyotaro by KO
For the first time ever HDNet will broadcast the K-1 GP FINAL16 card from Seoul, Korea live and exclusive across North America on September 26. MICHAEL SCHIAVELLO previews the 8 fights.
Source: K-1 Official (http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/index.php)
http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2009/images/0917_wgp_01/ph02.jpg (http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2009/images/0917_wgp_01/ph02b.jpg)
Remy Bonjasky vs Melvin Manhoef
Current K-1 World GP Champion Bonjasky and the always-dangerous Manhoef have battled twice with Bonjasky winning on both occasions.
Their first encounter took place in 2002 with Bonjasky winning by decision. Their second match took place last year and ended with Bonjasky breaking Manhoef's ribs with a flying kick in the third round.
Both men come into their trilogy match on victories: Bonjasky with a lackluster decision over Alistair Overeem in March (after knocking down Overeem once with a punch) and Manhoef off a crushing first round KO of Muay Thai stylist Ramazan Ramazanov in August.
Manhoef gained a ticket to the FINAL16 thanks to fans who voted him as their choice in K-1's worldwide online poll. It's a deserved place too for the busiest fighter in the world and the only man to swing between top level striking and MMA competition, sharing his career between K-1 and DREAM duties.
While the fans will certainly be behind Manhoef and his rampaging fists, it is hard to pick against the three-time and current K-1 World GP champion Bonjasky for the win in Seoul.
Bonjasky is a master strategist with arguably the best defense in K-1. Rarely does he get hit with clean shots and Manhoef will have to wear Bonjasky's vicious roundkicks to the legs, ribs and head and then deal with the champ's knees just to try and get on the inside.
I'm a massive fan of Manhoef's powerful walk-forward style and my imagination boggles at the possibility of seeing him in the K-1 Grand Prix for the first time. But Bonjasky is too big, too smart, has too many weapons and that virgin's defense - impenetrable - that has seen him lose only one match in the last three years.
Pick: Bonjasky by TKO
http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2009/images/0917_wgp_01/ph03.jpg (http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2009/images/0917_wgp_01/ph03b.jpg)
Errol Zimmerman vs Glaube Feitosa
This is a rematch of Zimmerman and Feitosa's FINAL16 match in Seoul from 2008. On that occasion it was a then in-form Zimmerman who pounded Feitosa for three rounds solid in one of the worst beatdowns I have ever seen in K-1. How Feitosa survived to reach the final bell after getting hit with cannonball after cannonball still amazes.
Feitosa comes into Seoul off a win over Junichi Sawayashiki in March, while Zimmerman has none of the momentum he carried at the same time last year, entering this match on a four-fight losing streak.
Zimmerman cannot afford to rest on his laurels here and think “Hey, I beat him up last year, I'll do it again." Feitosa and his trainers at Team Ichigeki tell me that they've worked out a gameplan to defeat Zimmerman and ensure history doesn't repeat itself in Seoul.
More than this, Feitosa knows that September 26 could be his last roll of the dice for K-1 Grand Prix qualification. At 36 years old, married and with a child, he is in the twilight of his career and must make way for Ewerton Texeira to take over as Kyokushin's number one gun. Come September 26 Feitosa will be a man on a mission. Revenge against Zimmerman is on his mind but so too is his determination to show that he's got one last run at the crown left and isn't ready to retire his famed finishing technique - the Brazilian kick - just yet.
Pick: Feitosa by decision
http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2009/images/0917_wgp_01/ph04.jpg (http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2009/images/0917_wgp_01/ph04b.jpg)
Ruslan Karaev vs Kyotaro
I believe this could turn into the fight of the night on September 26. In Karaev and Kyotaro you have two of the hungriest and most dynamic strikers in the world with vastly different styles.
Karaev is a man with more combinations than a Rubik's Cube. The lightning-fast Russian mixes hands and feet like no other heavyweight in the world and only knows one speed: full throttle.
While his balls-to-the-wall fighting style has served him well in recent times, winning the 2008 K-1 in Taiwan GP in epic fashion knocking out all three opponents, it has also been his undoing in the past when Karaev has sacrificed defense for out-and-out offense.
Against K-1's best counter fighter, Kyotaro, Karaev needs to employ defense and choose his attacks wisely. If he decides to go all out and attack Kyotaro from the opening bell, the Russian will find himself on the receiving end of Kyotaro's delicious finishing counter right cross that he used to knockout Melvin Manhoef in March and Jan Soukup in August.
Although veteran Musashi is getting one last crack at a K-1 Grand Prix berth, Japanese hopes will be pinned on Kyotaro, who as the current K-1 world heavyweight champion is the only Japanese heavyweight to ever hold a K-1 world title.
A superb strategist with excellent footwork, a full tank of gas and the ability to beat anyone with his counter game, look for Kyotaro to catch Karaev's questionable jaw at some stage in what promises to be an exhilarating match.
Pick: Kyotaro by KO