Part 3 of my fight-sport review will be a review of the recent K-1 MAX Finals which took place on October 1st. Currently in Japan, as far as combat sports/events K-1 is #1 in terms of popularity, especially so with the younger generation. K-1 itself is divided into the Max division - for fighters 155lbs and under, and the older main division which is simply referred to as K-1 - for the big heavyweight fighters. While K-1 has been around since the early 1990s, they just introduced Max within the past 5 years, and since then it has grown its fan base to reach more than even the heavyweight division which has been around much longer. Probably the main reason for the surge in attention is that in K-1 Max there are 3 Japanese fighters who are always very competitive and are considered among the top fighters, while regular K-1 is dominated by foreigners primarily from the Netherlands and Brazil.
One of the Japanese Max fighters - Masato Kobayashi is a pop icon due to his success in fighting, appearances on TV and in movies, as well as his wife who is a popular actress in Japan. In addition, he has a strong female following due to his perceived good looks in Japan. Masato is by far the most popular and recognizable face Japanese fans turn to when it comes to fighting right now and the success of K-1 Max has been in a large part due to his persona.
Masato
Masato
Anyway, now that you have some background, lets get to the event. It took place on a Wednesday in Tokyo at the Nippon Budokan (the same venue where the Beatles made their Japanese Debut!) in the early evening around 6 pm. 
Views from outside of the Budokan
I had only purchased tickets about 2 weeks prior to the event and all of the mid-range seating was sold out so I opted for the upper decks at this one.
When I arrived they had already begun the preliminary fights which were mainly composed of the quarterfinals of K-1's "Under 18 Grand Prix" - in which high school students under 18 years of age from across Japan had been competing in throughout the year in order to become junior champion. K-1 started the under 18 tournament last year in response to the wildly popular Koshien High School Baseball tournament - which pits various high schools in Japan against each other in a large tournament style format. Of course rules were altered slightly to protect against the younger kickboxers, but most of the fights ended pretty quickly in KOs or TKOs.
The main attraction for the event was the Semi-finals and Finals of the MAX tournament they had been running throughout the year. With only 4 fighters left from the original top 16 in the organization expectations were high for the Japanese fans since both Masato and Yoshihiro Sato (both Japanese) were fighting in the semi's, guaranteeing a spot in the finals for one of the two. The other fighters left in the tournament were Andy Souwer - defending champion from last year from the Netherlands, and Artur Kyshenko - a talented 22 year old from the Ukraine. The opening ceremony consisted of an elaborate light show followed by an introduction of the tournament finalists.
They made a mistake with the SFX and the fighters all had to cover their ears since the noise was too loud.
Throughout the GP it was clear that the fan favorite was Masato, and the crowd really went crazy when he came out in his first fight. Sato also had a strong following but it was about half as strong. The foreign fighters, Kyshenko and Souwer barley received any cheers or support during their faceoff in the other semifinal. Both Masato & Kyshenko advanced to the finals by Decision after an extra round since both fighters were razor thin. Masato was practically gifted the decision considering Sato knocked him down with a hook in the 2nd round but ended up still losing according to the judges decision. Some of Sato's fans were so angry that they ended up throwing full bottles and glow sticks at the judges and into the ring after the fight!
The finals was almost an exact replica of what happened in Masato's first fight. He was knocked down in the second but ended up taking a questionable decision after an extra round to be crowned the champion for 2008. I felt that there was definitely some home field advantage going on, and the judges were pretty biased, although he did make both fights close - Masato should have lost them. The fans on the other hand didn't see it that way, they went crazy when he was announced the winner and were all very excited.
The finals was almost an exact replica of what happened in Masato's first fight. He was knocked down in the second but ended up taking a questionable decision after an extra round to be crowned the champion for 2008. I felt that there was definitely some home field advantage going on, and the judges were pretty biased, although he did make both fights close - Masato should have lost them. The fans on the other hand didn't see it that way, they went crazy when he was announced the winner and were all very excited.
After receiving the trophy, Masato also was rewarded with a 10,000,000 円 bonus - roughly equal to $100,000.
I enjoyed the event despite the dubious judgment calls and appreciated the excitement of the fans, but I still prefer watching MMA to kickboxing. In the end the fans & the promoters got what they wanted, but I was left disappointed with the results.
The next major combat event wont be until December so this featurette will be on hiatus.
Coming Attractions:
Kyoto trip
Nara trip
Tokyo Dome City
I enjoyed the event despite the dubious judgment calls and appreciated the excitement of the fans, but I still prefer watching MMA to kickboxing. In the end the fans & the promoters got what they wanted, but I was left disappointed with the results.
The next major combat event wont be until December so this featurette will be on hiatus.
Coming Attractions:
Kyoto trip
Nara trip
Tokyo Dome City
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2 comments:
woww,boxing!
can my parents come?
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