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View Full Version : K1 Max Final report- Masato's Final Opponent Decided!!



marcelt
27-10-2009, 23:57
October 26, 2009 Yokohama Arena, Japan

The night that MAX fans worldwide have been eagerly anticipating has finally arrived. The heavy downpour of rain and near typhoon winds did nothing to deter the 11,231 fans that came to see who will be crowned the 8th K-1 MAX World Champion. And they were treated to non-stop action from the opening fight all the way though until that Champion was crowned.

Petrosyan was the first Grand Prix fighter to make his way to the ring, and he wasted no time in showing why it is so many people picked him to win the entire thing with his surgical destruction of Yuya Yamamoto in less than a round. The Japanese fighter found himself being hit both when at a distance, and when moving forward. The end began when he was caught with a monstrous left hook to the jaw, and the crowd was amazed that he actually managed to struggle to his feet to beat the count. Once the fight was restarted, he didn't even have a chance to lower his guard before the Italian had him laid out for the count with a flurry of punches. With this victory Petrosyan moves onto the finals, still fresh, and very dangerous.
The second pair of fighters aiming for the belt have both been there before. They put on an absolute war for the fans, with Buakaw Por.Pramuk throwing Andy Souwer around the ring for the first few rounds, and Andy scoring with body shots and inside lows repeatedly. At the end of regulation time the judges couldn't choose a winner, and a draw was announced. In the extra round, Souwer turned it up just a notch after being cut towards the end of the third, and it was just barely enough to take it via split decision. He now has to face off against the uninjured, hungry Italian, Giorgio Petrosyan to see just who the best -70kg fighter in the world really is.
The reserve match for this tournament was between the 2006 and 2007 MAX Japan Champion, Yoshihiro Sato, and the 2008 MAX Japan Champion, Yasuhiro Kido, and it got everyone in the arena off their chairs. The first round saw Sato make use of his bread and butter pitter patter punches while driving home low kick after low kick. Kido did make good use of his jab, and landed some respectable low kicks of his own to stay in the fight. In the second round Kido came out a little harder, and was then dropped in the corner with an over-hand right. He took the 8 count, and Sato then shot in for the kill. The two-time MAX Japan Champion got a little careless though, was caught with a right straight, and took an 8 count of his own. After getting to his feet, they stood center ring, and threw down. Experience paid off, and Sato landed a right straight of his own that turned Kido's lights off, and won him the match.
As both Grand Prix fighters passed their medical inspections, the reserve fight winners' night ended there. Petrosyan and Souwer made their way to the ring under a thick air of anticipation.
The opening round saw Souwer sit back and look for the most part, as he is an infamous slow starter. The Italian right-handed southpaw used that time to inflict damage at will, and the rounded ended with Andy sweating and bleeding, and Petrosyan not even breathing hard. The second round started with Andy coming out harder, but Giorgio defended everything with ease, and landed a combination that ended with a left straight and a knee that dropped Souwer and busted open a cut that Buakaw had given Andy in their prior fight. That cut needed checking by the doctors several times through the remaining regulation time, and "The Doctor" kept Andy on the defense and off balance for the rest of the fight. In the end, the newcomer was deservedly crowned K-1 World MAX 2009 Champion. And he did so without even getting a scratch on him.
The question immediately turned to; who will Masato face for his retirement fight on New Years Eve at DYNAMITE!!? Before the event began, Masato stated he was cheering for Souwer as he wanted to beat him in a Superfight. After watching the fight between Andy and Petrosyan, he laughed and said, "I wonder if he (Petrosyan) is free on December 31st?" It seems like he wasn't joking, as he then got in the ring and asked Giorgie Petrosyan for the fight, and the young Italian immediately accepted, confirming Masato's final opponent.
As we welcome one new champion, we say good bye to another. Tonight saw the end of one of the most dedicated fighters in the world. Kozo Takeda is a fighter that lives, breaths and bleeds kakutougi. His name is synonymous with the term fighting spirit. Yet, he has decided it is time to hand up his gloves, and he chose a fighter he has long respected, Albert Kraus, as his final opponent.
He started the first round by countering Kraus' hands better than expected, and powering in his trademarked low kicks. As always though, he fights to stop the fight, or be stopped trying, and he went down at the end of the first round from a low kick to the outside of this leading knee. Round 2 started as the first did, but Kraus' punches started the find their mark and drop the Japanese warrior left and right. After the second down, he struggled to his feet, and waved Kraus on for some more. And more he was given. The punches were finding their mark almost every time, and he wasn't defending himself well at all. Referee Kakuda stopped the fight after a slip to allow the doctors a chance to check Kozo's cuts, and the doctor to one look at Rocky-like face and put a stop to the fight.
Masato climbed into the ring to give Kozo flowers and a pair of silver gloves, and they were accepted by the warrior with both eyes swollen all but closed, with a sing bloody tear rolling down his check. His was not the only tear though, and the Japanese commentary team and fans alike had trouble hiding their emotions.
Kozo used to say he was prepared to die each and every time he stepped in the ring. Now that he has a wife, a daughter, and a newly born son he has said his body is no longer his to do with what he pleases, as he is responsible for more than just himself now.
In the first of the superfights of the night, cosplay cross-dresser Yuichi "Jienotsu" Nagashima came out to fight Xu Yan. Nagashima spent the past two months training at Masato's gym in preparation for this fight, yet despite his promises not to lose it took just 1:04 for Xu Yan to knock him down a number of times, causing him to fish dance so badly Mr. Kakuda stepped in and stopped the fight.
The next fight saw the ever unpredictable Kazuhisa Watanabe put on everything we expect from him in a match against "KID Killer" Jae-Hee Cheon, and more. I for one had never seen a variation of the worm used in a kickboxing bout as an offensive move before tonight. And I don't think I'd like to see it again either.
The Korean intelligently kept to his game plan though, and took the base out of the heavy punchers hands by kicking his legs into oblivion. The fight ended in dramatic fashion with both screaming at the other to take a shot at their jaw, really causing the crowd to get into it. Despite the Japanese fighters entertaining ring antics, he only managed to do enough to win it on one judge's card, and the others rightly awarded it to the more orthodox fighter.
Taishin Kohiruimaki continued in the drama that has become his fighting career, against the always exciting "Gago" Drago in the next superfight. The Japanese fighter managed to start well by driving home some good low kicks early in the round, only to mysteriously abandon them entirely for knees after Drago started to land his hands. In the second round he was dropped 4 times by punches, 2 of which referee Mr. Kakuda saw as slips. It looked like the end of Kohiruimaki, but he dug deep and came out in round 3 with his pride on the line. He kept it together and continued until the final bell even after being dropped yet again, this time by a spinning heel kick. The fight ended with a 5 or 6 point gap on all judges' cards, all in favor of the Armenian combatant.
Toofan "Storm" Salafzoon made his debut against fan favorite, Artur Kyshenko. He came out hard in the first round, and he tagged Artur with several strong combinations and put a mouse under the eye of the Ukranian. The rhythm started to shift towards the end of the round though, and in the second the Iranian "Storm" played the role of Artur's punching bag for the entire 3 minutes. Artur hit him with everything in his arsenal, knocking him down twice for 8 counts, but Toofan showed real spirit by toughing it out until the end of the round. The final round was exactly that for the newcomer. Artur, after having a nice rest, came out strong and quickly had Toofan in trouble before ending it with a knee.
The final superfight of the night saw Mike Zambidis make his way to the MAX ring for the first time in over 2 years. His opponent, Hinata, certainly didn't offer him the warmest of welcomes. He proceeded to kick the right side of "Zambo" red raw, only to clinch whenever the Greek fighter managed to negotiate his way through the limbs of his 14cm-taller opponent. The second round was almost an instant replay, with the addition of Hinata landing two solid low blows to drop Mike in pain to further that welcome. In the third round Zambidis was dropped by what looked like another low blow, but this time the referee called it as a down. It was a clear unanimous decision in favor of the young Japanese fighter, and clearly not the comeback Zambidis was looking for.
The K-1 Koshien Final 8 was also held tonight. The winners of these fights will make their way to Saitama Super Arena for the Grand Prix that will decide the champion as part of DYNAMITE!! In the first of the four fights, Noiri picked apart his opponent with his combinations and knees used as effectively as an uppercut. Miyamoto displayed a granite chin and an iron will, but it wasn't enough to stop the Shigakukan High School freshman, and the unanimous decision was award to Masaaki.
Hiroki Akimoto dreams were destroyed by his more experienced opponents work rate and grappling skills, earning Shota Shimada his third attempt at the title due to a unanimous decision.
The fighter most experts have predicted to win the entire Grand Prix, Katsuki Ishida, managed to just squeak by the fierce Tsukasa Fuji in a tough battle of speed verses reach in which he won a unanimous decision by a margin of just 1 point.
Finally, Masato protégé HIROYA had a good deal of trouble dealing with his faster and trickier opponent Ryuya Kusakabe, and was being tagged repeatedly until he found his timing an distance just in time to take the fight by the smallest of margins with an split decision.
After giving the young fighter's time to recover, the draw was held to decide how these four would match up for the finals. The draw follows the same pattern as that of the K-1 World Grand Prix, in that each fighter draws a ball from a box that has a number on it. They can then choose their position from A, B, C or D in the order of the number written on the ball they selected. As all the fighters won by decision, they drew their ball in the order they fought.
The winner of the fourth fight, HIROYA drew ball number 1, and chose position A. Masaaki Noiri had ball number 2, and he decided both match-ups by deciding to fight HIROYA, taking position B. This is the first pair of fighters that will fight at DYNAMITE!!, followed by Shota Shimada in position C as he had ball number 3, verses Katsuki Ishida, who took D by default.
This was an exceedingly memorable event. The up-and-comers, the new and current generation and the veterans all laid everything on the line. If you weren't lucky enough to attend live, make sure to join "The Voice" Michael Shiavello on HDNet or one of the other networks carrying it. Stay tuned for more information leading up to DYNAMITE!! as well, because the fights already announced for the card promise some fireworks!