THE HARI EFFECT Birth of the Anti-Hero

[marcelt]

THE HARI EFFECT Birth of the Anti-Hero

By Michael Schiavello

What do you make of Badr Hari? K-1's English language commentator MICHAEL SCHIAVELLO takes a look at the sport's troubled genius - a man you either love or hate but will tune in to watch!
Watching the 2008 K-1 season unfold was like watching your favorite television show, laced with twists, turns, upsets, heartbreak and a cliffhanger of an ending that has fans worldwide chomping at the bit for Season 2009.
Like any good drama fans embraced the heroes of the series - Bonjasky, Texeira, Karaev, Aerts, Saki - as fighters who displayed aesthetic beauty of technique, guts, intestinal fortitude and true budo spirit. They found fighters to dislike such as Musashi for his lackluster performances against opponents who wouldn't have beaten him 18 months ago and the overly dominant Semmy Schilt, who even as a three-time Grand Prix champion failed to endear himself to fans on a personal level.
However by 10pm on December 6, 2008, in a last minute twist that M. Night Shyamalan could not have penned, K-1's true anti-hero was born: Badr Hari. After a torrid start to his K-1 career in which he infamously began a press conference street fight in New Zealand (2006) and busted up backstage equipment in a post-fight tantrum in Osaka (2006), Badr Hari's quieter, matured approach to K-1 life since winning the world heavyweight title in Honolulu 2007 lulled most every fan into thinking Hari had expelled his demons.
However in an eye-popping twist comparable to Verbal Kent transforming into the uber-villain Keyser Soze at the end of The Usual Suspects, it took two illegal punches and one unforgettable stomp of his foot on a downed Remy Bonjasky for Hari to be inducted into the Hall of Shame as the first fighter ever disqualified from a K-1 Grand Prix final.
It is said there is a fine line between genius and insanity. Unfortunately within Badr Hari's wealth of in-ring genius, it took just one moment of insanity to forever taint his career. Like French footballer Zinedine Zidane's illegal headbutt to the chest of Marco Materazzi in the final of the 2006 World Cup, or SuperBrat John McEnroe's expulsion from the 1990 Australian Open for intimidating a lines woman and smashing a racket, Badr Hari's foot stomp will forever shadow his career despite what accolades the brilliant Moroccan will achieve in years to come.
I maintain that Hari is the most naturally gifted fighter I have ever seen and presents a perplexing conundrum for K-1. On one hand he brought disrepute to the world's leading fight brand and made a streetfight of the brand's biggest match, for which he was duly disciplined, being fined Grand Prix purse and stripped of the heavyweight title. While some fans call for harsher punishment the fact is that K-1 needs Badr Hari. Hari is the archetypal Generation Y fighter: unique, loud and confident that he can tear through the opposition with more dramatic flair than anyone else in the sport's history. Just as Peter Aerts epitomized Generation X by headkicking his way through the 1990s in devastating fashion (including his still record 6:43 victory in the 1998 Grand Prix) so Hari is the headkicker of Generation Y, with an ability to not only knock out opponents but also obliterate them in highlight reel fashion. Hari himself is aware of the comparisons between himself and a young Aerts. The Moroccan has said on more than one occasion that he wants to bring the Golden Years of K-1 back to the sport, recalling the heady days when as a kid he would watch his idols Aerts, Hoost, Hug, Greco and Bernardo hunt for knockouts from the opening bell. Indeed it may be his disdain for slow-starting, defensive-natured fighters that led to Hari's stomp in the Grand Prix Final. He gave no respect for Bonjasky's cover-and-counter style but got on his knees and bowed in worship to Peter Aerts after dismantling Aerts in their quarter final (a gesture sadly overlooked in the brouhaha surrounding the final).
My verbal-sparring partner Mike Kogan, from FEG USA summed up the Hari effect perfectly during our broadcast of the K-1 Grand Prix when he said upon Hari's entrance in the quarter final: "Whether you love him or hate him you're going to have an opinion of Badr Hari."
Hari is K-1's Kurt Cobain, Mike Tyson, John McEnroe and Diego Maradona: an artist who blazes brightly but can darken just as quick. His stoppages of Errol Zimmerman, Glaube Feitosa, Domagoj Ostajic, Hong Mann Choi and Ray Sefo in 2008 were all acts of brutal beauty appreciated and applauded by fight fans the same way a movie-goer ovates Orson Welles's Foster Kane or Marlon Brando's Terry Malloy. Indeed in comparing Hari to a similarly troubled genius in the late actor Marlon Brando I am reminded of an article by Richard Schickel in TIME who wrote in a story entitled ‘Hostage of his Own Genius': For an important time in his life - and ours - Marlon Brando was touched by genius, by which we mean that he did things in his art that were unprecedented, unduplicable and, finally, inexplicable.
Likewise, Hari does things unprecedented, unduplicable and inexplicable. This, in short, is the Hari Effect. You never quite know where a Badr Hari fight is going to take you. Watching him is like being drugged. Let his fights consume you and you're guaranteed a roller coaster of incredible highs and the very real chance of soul crunching lows. In his 18 K-1 fights he has never produced a dull moment; only two fights going the distance, the other 16 ending in Hari knocking out his opponent in ridiculously stupendous fashion (see Stefan Leko spinning heel kick KO in 2005; Ruslan Karaev single right cross in 2007; Domagoj Ostajic first punch of the fight 2008) or being knocked out in a similarly stupendous fashion (see Peter Graham breaking his jaw with 10 seconds remaining in their fight in 2005; see Alistair Overeem monstering him at Dynamite!! 2008).
It is the Hari Effect that has drawn a new generation of fans to K-1. In a day and age where efficiency and instant gratification is sought in all aspects of life, Hari delivers on both fronts. His fights are quick, nasty and so chock full of action that one dares not blink for fear of missing a Hari highlight reel shot.
I have witnessed Hari single-handedly make K-1 converts of my friends. A couple of weeks ago I showed the K-1 Grand Prix to two friends who had never seen K-1 action before. One of them is a flight attendant and the other an architect: neither a fight fan. As the action and drama of the Grand Prix played, I watched as my friends jumped out of their seats, cheered at the top of their lungs and pumped their fists into the air every time Badr Hari landed one of his salvos. When Hari stopped Aerts, my friend the architect turned to me and said, "This guy is wicked!" When Hari knocked out Zimmerman, my friend the flight attendant jumped up and down and said, "Oh my God! Fucking amazing!" Then an interesting thing happened. When Hari was disqualified in the final, my two friends both looked at each other in disappointment then turned to me and said: "Can you get us Badr Hari t-shirts when you next go to Japan?"
"You don't want Remy t-shirts?" I offered. "After all, he is the champion."
"He's the champion but Hari is the fucking bomb," said the architect.
"He's boss," said the flight attendant. "The guy's a fucking star! I'm a medium size t-shirt by the way."
"I'm a large," said the architect.
And that, in short, is the Hari effect. The madness, the mania ... and the merchandise!

[chief108]

te veel letters voor te veel drank...

ik probeer het later nuchter nog wel eens..

[ZakKa!]

After a torrid start to his K-1 career in which he infamously began a press conference street fight in New Zealand (2006)

Dit klopt niet. Zijn gevecht tegen stefan leko was de start van zijn k1-carriere. Een betere start valt niet te maken.

[delightone]

leuk geschreven en zit een kern van waarheid in

[sikkwitttet]

te veel letters voor te veel drank...

ik probeer het later nuchter nog wel eens..

x2

[A.F.]

Mooi stuk...

[Jeru]

Hij heeft op zich wel gelijk...

[Tony Galento]

Waar kan ik t-shirts van Bonjasky krijgen?

[simtekf1]

Waar kan ik t-shirts van Bonjasky krijgen?

[oliebol]

jammer dat ie nou alweer met Muhammed Ali word vergeleken, Hari is wel heel goed maar laat hem eerst maar eens presteren en kampioen worden voordat hij de nieuwe Muhammed Ali genoemd word.

[Kingster]

Waar kan ik t-shirts van Bonjasky krijgen?

http://bonjasky.fanwebstore.com/products.php

[adenane]

jammer dat ie nou alweer met Muhammed Ali word vergeleken, Hari is wel heel goed maar laat hem eerst maar eens presteren en kampioen worden voordat hij de nieuwe Muhammed Ali genoemd word.

Badr wordt in het stuk met veel mensen vergeleken, maar ik mis toch echt weer de vergelijking met Muhammed Ali.....

Hij wordt vergeleken met: Kurt Cobain, Mike Tyson, John McEnroe, Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane, Marlon Brando en met een beetje fantasie Peter Aerts in de 90's. Maar echt geen Muhammed Ali........

Of lees ik er nou echt overheen?

[oliebol]

je hebt gelijk ik dacht dat muhammed ali er ook weer bij stond. Stom van me.

[Wiseguy]

Wat een mooi stuk. Als de partij van Schilt erbij stond vermeldwas het helemaal mooi geweest

[Tony Galento]

http://bonjasky.fanwebstore.com/products.php

Dank je!

[Omar.]

mooi verhaal! daar is over nagedacht! helemaal mee eens.

[k-killer]

Badr hari is een topvechter , maar mensen moeten hem echt niet vergelijken met Mike tyson van jaren 90 ! Dat kan gewoon niet ... op z'n 20ste heeft hij de wereld zwaargewicht titel gewonnen ...
Maar badr doet het tot nu toe wel goed (Y)

[Darkness]

Wat een mooi stuk. Als de partij van Schilt erbij stond vermeldwas het helemaal mooi geweest

X2 go badr!!!!

[RocknRolla]

Zeer leuk stukje om te lezen. Het klopt wat hij schrijft iedereen heeft een mening over badr hari. Sommige vergelijkingen vind ik niet opgaan maar ja je kan niet alles hebben.

Ben echt een voorstander van beheersing en respect naar je tegenstander toe. Als badr hari zich nou niet meer zo zou laten gaan. Zou hij veel meer fans hebben. Niemand kan ontkennen dat hij zeer getalenteerd is alleen ben geen fan van hem omdat hij niet constant sportief is. Alleen als hij wint is hij sportief. Een echte sportman kan ook sportief zijn als hij verliest. Hoop echt dat hij dat leert.