“Mighty” Effort Nets Mo K-1 Hawaii Title
James Meinhardt Apr 29, 2007
HONOLULU, April, 28 -- Hawaiian fight fans were treated to a great
night of kickboxing action at Oahu's Neal S. Blaisdell Arena when
K-1 put on the World GP 2007 in Hawaii this Saturday night,
featuring not only an eight-man tournament, but also the first ever
heavyweight title bout in the promotion's history, which pitted
Badr Hari against Yusuke Fujimoto.
Morocco's Hari shocked the crowd, and his opponent, when he planted a jab on Fujimoto's chin that sent the Japanese fighter to the floor in the opening minute of their heavyweight (under 100kg) title match.
"I let my jab walk as always," the Moroccan explained. "And then
[Fujimoto] went down on the jab."
Fujimoto was up quickly and was eager to return the favor, but the Japanese star was soon met with another straight left hand followed by a left high kick to the head that put Fujimoto to sleep just moments into the first round.
By adhering to that policy, Hari made history, at just 22 years old, not only by becoming the first K-1 heavyweight title holder, but also the youngest champion in the event's history.
The Samoan super heavyweight known as Mighty Mo guaranteed himself a spot in the K-1 World GP 2007 Elimination round by winning tonight's tournament crown, knocking out all three of his opponents.
Mo's journey through the tournament started with Kyoung Suk Kim. Mo connected with combinations of heavy punches to the South Korean's body and face, before launching the fight-ended left hook that skidded across Kim's face and sent him to the canvas.
Next in Mo's path of destruction was Jan Nortje (Pictures), who earned his spot in the semifinals by chopping down Julius Long with a series of leg kicks in the second round.
After a hard fought first round, Mo's punches found their mark in the second, connecting with a pair of hard hitting overhand punches punctuated by a devastating right hand that sent "The Giant" toppling face first into the mat.
Meeting up with Mo in the finals was Russian karate fighter Aleksandr Pitchkunov, who defeated Tatsufumi Tomihira and Patrick Barry en route to the finals.
Pitchkunov, a relative unknown, proved to be Mo's toughest opponent of the night. Mo again went to the body early, and scored with heavy flurries of punches to the head and midsection. He was caught off guard, however, when Pitchkunov connected with a spinning-back kick that slammed into the back of the Samoan's head. The flashy strike opened a cut and put Mo on the canvas for the first time of the night.
"It was a good kick," Mo admitted. "It shook me pretty good." But he was up quick: "I wanted to return the favor," he joked.
And Mo got his chance in the second round when he pushed the Russian into the corner. The hard-punching Samoan smothered the karateka with combinations and put the Russian down twice before the bell sounded.
In the final round Mo wasted no time, scoring his first of three knockdowns in the third frame with a low kick that caught Pitchkunov on the back of the knee. The next two knockdowns came off of powerful overhand rights, the last of which Pitchkunov could not recover from.
In super-fight action, former two-time World GP champion Remy Bonjasky out-pointed fellow World GP finalist Glaube Feitosa.
The first round was much of a feeling-out period, as it was obvious both fighters respected the other's abilities. Feitosa scored numerous times with thudding kicks to the midsection, while Bonjasky connected more with quick punch combinations that backed the Brazilian up throughout the round.
In the second frame, Bonjasky landed more combinations with his hands, but this time mixed in some of his signature flying knees.
The third and final round was more of the same, as Bonjasky seemed to be able to stay just a few steps ahead of Feitosa and avoid most of the Brazilian's damaging kicks. At the sound of the 10-second warning, the former GP World champ let loose with a flurry punches and kicks, cementing his victory in the eyes of the judges.
Hawaii's own Mike Malone (Pictures) gave a gallant effort against Korean giant Hong-Man Choi, who outsized Malone by 14-inches and nearly 150-pounds.
Malone, who spent much of the fight running from the plodding giant, moved quickly and picked his shots carefully, often jumping into the face of Choi in an attempt to land a shot. But the Korean's size and strength proved to be too much, as he was knocked down numerous times throughout the fight.
"The knockdowns weren't really that hard," Malone said after the fight. "Just overwhelming power."
During one exchange in the second round, Malone smashed his leg into Choi's giant frame, splitting open a gash over his shin that sent Malone to the canvas in pain and rendered him unable to continue fighting.
"I always want to fight until the end," the tattoo-clad Malone stated after the bout. "But you have to be a smart fighter."
Rising Japanese star Junichi Sawayashiki kept his streak alive, scoring a technical knockout over South Korean Randy Kim in the second round.
2005 World GP Hawaii winner Gary Goodridge (Pictures) was stopped short in his quarterfinal match against Patrick Barry.
Barry came out on fire with a non-stop barrage of punches and kicks, putting Goodridge on the mat twice with leg kicks before throwing a high kick and connecting his left shin onto the forehead of Goodridge, opening up a huge gash over his right eye, which caused the ringside doctor to call a stop to the bout.
In the first super-fight of the night, Australian Peter Graham outscored Ernesto Hoost (Pictures) protégé Jerrel Venetiaan (Pictures).
Tournament reserve fighter Takumi Sato scored a knockout victory over Billy Hall in the first round.
In the opening bout of the night, 14-year-old Mighty Mo Jr. made his K-1 debut in a losing effort against Ky Hollenbeck. After accidentally fouling Mo Jr. with a kick to the groin, which temporarily halted the action, Hollenbeck landed a beautiful spinning-back pivot kick to the face of Mo Jr., which crumpled the K-1 star's son to the canvas.
Morocco's Hari shocked the crowd, and his opponent, when he planted a jab on Fujimoto's chin that sent the Japanese fighter to the floor in the opening minute of their heavyweight (under 100kg) title match.
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Fujimoto was up quickly and was eager to return the favor, but the Japanese star was soon met with another straight left hand followed by a left high kick to the head that put Fujimoto to sleep just moments into the first round.
"We have a policy: ‘the shorter the better,'" Hari quipped with the
press after the bout.
By adhering to that policy, Hari made history, at just 22 years old, not only by becoming the first K-1 heavyweight title holder, but also the youngest champion in the event's history.
The Samoan super heavyweight known as Mighty Mo guaranteed himself a spot in the K-1 World GP 2007 Elimination round by winning tonight's tournament crown, knocking out all three of his opponents.
Mo's journey through the tournament started with Kyoung Suk Kim. Mo connected with combinations of heavy punches to the South Korean's body and face, before launching the fight-ended left hook that skidded across Kim's face and sent him to the canvas.
Next in Mo's path of destruction was Jan Nortje (Pictures), who earned his spot in the semifinals by chopping down Julius Long with a series of leg kicks in the second round.
After a hard fought first round, Mo's punches found their mark in the second, connecting with a pair of hard hitting overhand punches punctuated by a devastating right hand that sent "The Giant" toppling face first into the mat.
Meeting up with Mo in the finals was Russian karate fighter Aleksandr Pitchkunov, who defeated Tatsufumi Tomihira and Patrick Barry en route to the finals.
Pitchkunov, a relative unknown, proved to be Mo's toughest opponent of the night. Mo again went to the body early, and scored with heavy flurries of punches to the head and midsection. He was caught off guard, however, when Pitchkunov connected with a spinning-back kick that slammed into the back of the Samoan's head. The flashy strike opened a cut and put Mo on the canvas for the first time of the night.
"It was a good kick," Mo admitted. "It shook me pretty good." But he was up quick: "I wanted to return the favor," he joked.
And Mo got his chance in the second round when he pushed the Russian into the corner. The hard-punching Samoan smothered the karateka with combinations and put the Russian down twice before the bell sounded.
In the final round Mo wasted no time, scoring his first of three knockdowns in the third frame with a low kick that caught Pitchkunov on the back of the knee. The next two knockdowns came off of powerful overhand rights, the last of which Pitchkunov could not recover from.
In super-fight action, former two-time World GP champion Remy Bonjasky out-pointed fellow World GP finalist Glaube Feitosa.
The first round was much of a feeling-out period, as it was obvious both fighters respected the other's abilities. Feitosa scored numerous times with thudding kicks to the midsection, while Bonjasky connected more with quick punch combinations that backed the Brazilian up throughout the round.
In the second frame, Bonjasky landed more combinations with his hands, but this time mixed in some of his signature flying knees.
The third and final round was more of the same, as Bonjasky seemed to be able to stay just a few steps ahead of Feitosa and avoid most of the Brazilian's damaging kicks. At the sound of the 10-second warning, the former GP World champ let loose with a flurry punches and kicks, cementing his victory in the eyes of the judges.
Hawaii's own Mike Malone (Pictures) gave a gallant effort against Korean giant Hong-Man Choi, who outsized Malone by 14-inches and nearly 150-pounds.
Malone, who spent much of the fight running from the plodding giant, moved quickly and picked his shots carefully, often jumping into the face of Choi in an attempt to land a shot. But the Korean's size and strength proved to be too much, as he was knocked down numerous times throughout the fight.
"The knockdowns weren't really that hard," Malone said after the fight. "Just overwhelming power."
During one exchange in the second round, Malone smashed his leg into Choi's giant frame, splitting open a gash over his shin that sent Malone to the canvas in pain and rendered him unable to continue fighting.
"I always want to fight until the end," the tattoo-clad Malone stated after the bout. "But you have to be a smart fighter."
Rising Japanese star Junichi Sawayashiki kept his streak alive, scoring a technical knockout over South Korean Randy Kim in the second round.
2005 World GP Hawaii winner Gary Goodridge (Pictures) was stopped short in his quarterfinal match against Patrick Barry.
Barry came out on fire with a non-stop barrage of punches and kicks, putting Goodridge on the mat twice with leg kicks before throwing a high kick and connecting his left shin onto the forehead of Goodridge, opening up a huge gash over his right eye, which caused the ringside doctor to call a stop to the bout.
In the first super-fight of the night, Australian Peter Graham outscored Ernesto Hoost (Pictures) protégé Jerrel Venetiaan (Pictures).
Tournament reserve fighter Takumi Sato scored a knockout victory over Billy Hall in the first round.
In the opening bout of the night, 14-year-old Mighty Mo Jr. made his K-1 debut in a losing effort against Ky Hollenbeck. After accidentally fouling Mo Jr. with a kick to the groin, which temporarily halted the action, Hollenbeck landed a beautiful spinning-back pivot kick to the face of Mo Jr., which crumpled the K-1 star's son to the canvas.
