K-1 SAITAMA 2004:

Musashi Vs Akebono

Bob Sapp Vs ?

Ignashov Vs Carter Williams

Ernesto Hoost Vs Remy Bojansky

Shannon Briggs Vs Tom Erikson

Botha Vs Aziz

Mike Bernado Vs Jan Notje

Jerrel Venetiaan Vs Serei Gur

Abidi Vs Hori

-------------------------------------


Any bets on the outcome? Here are mine;




Musashi Vs Akebono... Musashi TKO 1st round

Bob Sapp Vs ?... ? on D.Q.

Ignashov Vs Carter Williams...draw

Ernesto Hoost Vs Remy Bojansky... Hoost on 2nd round KO

Shannon Briggs Vs Tom Erikson... Briggs 1st round KO

Botha Vs Aziz... Aziz 3-0

Mike Bernado Vs Jan Notje... Mike 3-0

Jerrel Venetiaan Vs Serei Gur... Gur 3rd round KO

Abidi Vs Hori... Hori 3-0

shit... Bob Sapp and Botha in Saitama?! The matches seemed prety awsome. Now they put Sapp and Botha (Nortje sucks too and who tha f... is Tom Erikson ?)....I hope they lose. Anyway here go my predictions:


Musashi vs Akebono - winner: Musashi by TKO 1st round

Carter Williams vs Alexey I. - winner: Carter Williams by KO 1st round

Remy Bonjasky vs Hoost - winner: Hoost by decision

Mike B. vs Jan Nortje - winner: Mike by KO 3rd round (i hope Jan quits the game.. he just sucks)

Sergey Gur vs Jerrel Venetian - winner: Jerrel Venetian by KO 2nd round

Azziz Khattou vs Botha - winner: Azziz Khatou by KO 1st round (i hope i don't see Botha again too...he sucks although less than Jan N... maybe if changes his shorts he might get lucky....he still looks like a pussy..i would love seing Jerome LeBanner killing him in the ring!!)

Hiraku Hori vs Abidi - winner: Hiraku Hori by decision


Osu!!

Musashi Vs Akebono... Musashi TKO 2nd round

Bob Sapp Vs ?... ? Sapp by TKO (coz they will find some big unco spastic to make sapp look good, Sapp will rush him and win by TKO)

Ignashov Vs Carter Williams...Carter Williams decision

Ernesto Hoost Vs Remy Bojansky... Bojansky on 3rd round TKO

Shannon Briggs Vs Tom Erikson... Briggs 1st round KO

Botha Vs Aziz... Aziz decision

Mike Bernado Vs Jan Notje... Mike round 2 KO

Jerrel Venetiaan Vs Serei Gur... Gur 3rd round KO

Abidi Vs Hori... Abidi decision

Remy is out.Back injury.

T-hill...
How did you find out about Remy???
Do you know who they will get to fight Hoost now?

T-hill, can you please confirm that Remy is out?

Musashi Vs Akebono... Musashi by ko

Sapp Vs ?... ? Sapp by ko

Ignashov Vs Carter Williams...Ignashov points

Ernesto Hoost Vs Remy Bojansky... Hoost by KO

Shannon Briggs Vs Tom Erikson... Briggs by KO

Botha Vs Aziz... Aziz points

Mike Bernado Vs Jan Notje... bernado by ko

Jerrel Venetiaan Vs Serei Gur... venetiaan by early ko
Abidi Vs Hori... abidi points

Holy shit! Musashi vs. Akebono???!!! WHOA! I gotta see this! Musashi is the man!

Sorry about that stupid porno thingy URL that keeps popping up, I think I have a virus in my computer.

i heard remy is out too with an injury......dont know who hoost is going to fite though.

xhavit will take remy's place. nothing like ernesto-xhavit III. LOL.

i hooked up with carter and met iggy too. both look ready to rumble. should be the fight of the night.

Felix,

K-1 pool here on AX?

Jan Norje has been training together with Nicholas Pettas up-till his fight against Mike Bernado, so lets see if Jan has learned to kick:)

I have this picture of Jan Vs Evgeny Orlov in the back of my mind, and I am afraid that this one could turn out be as boring. Please let it not. All my respect to Jan the Giant, but I always fall asleep watching him fight.

hey oliver,

i will be with team voodoo all weekend, so i won't have time to do the pool.

as for jan, nice guy. funny thing is that his watch on his wrist is HUGE. i asked him about it and he said he had vision problems. that is one big blind guy!

Pool?

OK... Have a nice weekend Felix.

E,

for about 3 years, i've set up a little gambling operation here on ax. no one loses money but when guys like goodridge drop bernardo, we all soon learn how little we really know.

oliver used to lose all the time but he has become quite an expert. trust him when he says someone will win a fight.

LOL!

Thanks Felix…I can see the big smile on your face writing your message above:)

I agree, I started up loosing at lot in the beginning of my Ax K-1 pool career. It is not about winning or loosing, but all about ending one single spot better than you – and if I am not all wrong, I think that my score has one gold and a couple of silver medals more than you have.

Next time Felix, next time.

Have a nice K-1 fight event my friend, and also a great time together with Team Voodoo.

Xhavit put a big time hurting on Cro Cop back in the day. It's like the only fight Cro Cop jockriders refuse to acknowledge. Every other loss they have an excuse for (injury, he was young, etc.)

Cheers Felix, enjoy the show.

yeah. xhavit was on fire that night. he beat down mirko then did the same to lloyd van dams. i always knew andy would be a great trainer. probably a better trainer than the fighter he was. the tragedy for me when he died was not the loss of a fighter but the loss of such an inspirational teacher.

yes oliver. you're the man now.
who will win, ignashov vs. carter.

All my respect to Xhavit, the man got skills.

Still Hoost is way to big for Xhavit, but I am sure that it will be a nice fight.

That is one hard fight to predict.

At the end of the day I will Ignashov on points, but I also think that Carter is the kind of fighter who got the skills and strengths, to be the first to knock out the Scorpion?

In my book a 50/50 fight, as even and exciting as a fight can be on the paper.

Ignashov on judge decision after 3 rounds, or Carter on 1st round KO.

K-1 SAITAMA 2004:

Musashi Vs Akebono

I pick Musashi, but by nothing impressive. It took massive power to take Akebono out, something that Musashi doesn't have. TKO by not answering the bell, probably before the 3rd. Musashi will school him.

Bob Sapp Vs ?

Ignashov Vs Carter Williams

I say Williams by one sided ass whooping decision. Williams proved he's a bigger, meaner, faster, more powerful Ray Sefo. that's not the type of guy that Ignashov matches up with well. What's he gonna do? low kick him? Yeah right.

Ernesto Hoost Vs Remy Bojansky

Gotta go with God here, baby. I'll be really surprised if Remy can get something going here. If he can, it says more about Hoost's age than anything. I say Hoost via decision or maybe 4th round TKO. Remy is just not experienced enough and wastes a ton of energy. If Hoost can handle the flying stuff, he should be able to deal with Remy easily.

Shannon Briggs Vs Tom Erikson

I think Erickson will have Briggs shitting in his pants for 1 or 2 rounds, then Briggs will win via KO...it'll be the "hell no I'm not getting up" type, not the out cold type though. Erikson is a big, strong, fast guy that can do a lot athletically that Briggs won't be used to. I'm expecting that Erikson will be super aggressive too. I won't be surprised at an upset from a knee or a dirty punch here.

Botha Vs Aziz

Botha will win his first K-1 fight. Aziz is not impressive. At ALL. Untested chin too. Botha might win by KO

Mike Bernado Vs Jan Notje

What happened here? Bernardo of course, but wouldn't that be some shit if Nortje remembers something from sparring and kills Bernardo? I'll even go with teh upset here and say Nortje will win and make Bernardo retire.

Jerrel Venetiaan Vs Serei Gur

Uh...yeah.

Abidi Vs Hori

Uh...yeah. Need to catch up on my tapes :)

Musashi Vs Akebono
Musashi 2nd TKO

Bob Sapp Vs ?
I`ll take ? to win, he`s very good, saw him last year.

Ignashov Vs Carter Williams
Draw

Ernesto Hoost Vs Remy Bojansky
Hoost now fighting xhavit, so I`ll go for Hoost on points

Shannon Briggs Vs Tom Erikson
Erikson 2nd TKO, I respect Briggs as a boxer but boxers always struggle against the leg kicks so if Erikson keeps his hands up I`ll expect him to win.
If his hands drop then Briggs will KO him very quickly.

Botha Vs Aziz
Botha 3rd KO, Botha has got that bit of K1 experience now so should be a better all round fighter with more elg kick resistance.


Mike Bernado Vs Jan Notje
Bernado Points

Jerrel Venetiaan Vs Serei Gur
Gur points

Abidi Vs Hori
Abidi 2nd KO

Big shame about Remy, I was really looking forward to the Hoost fight.

Remy clearly knows something that his fans do not. If he doesn't fight Hoost, I'd love to see him fight Schilt or a rematch with Sefo.

Who is Seth Petruzelli ?

I never heard of Bob Sapp's opponent before.

Results;

Hiraku Hori vs Abidi .... Abidi on TKO in the 3rd round

Jerrel Venetiaan Vs Serei Gur .... Gur on 3-0 judge decision

Results;

Hiraku Hori vs Abidi .... Abidi on TKO in the 3rd round

Jerrel Venetiaan Vs Serei Gur .... Gur on 2-0 judge decision

Next up is Mike Vs Jan...

Mike vs Jan the Giant .... Jan win on KO in the 1st round

Wow Jan on KO..how you watching this Oliver???

I sooo jelous!

Wow Jan on KO..how you watching this Oliver???

I sooo jelous!

What's the news about Bonjaski ? Is he going to fight, or the injury which was mentioned will prevent him from participating ?

Botha Vs Aziz... Aziz on 2-0 Judge decision

Remy Bojansky is not going to fight Hoost.

Xhavit is in for replacement.


(Mike Bernado went down tree times in the first round against Jan)

Briggs vs Tom next.... I have briggs on 1st round KO.

Lets see if Briggs can do better than Botha:)

Il go Briggs on 2nd round KO

Il go Briggs on 2nd round KO

Il go Briggs on 2nd round KO

Briggs vs Tom .... Brigs on 1st round KO

Bob Sapp is next

unreal pics Oliver!

unreal pics Oliver!

Bob Sapp Vs Seth Petruzelli .... Bob Sapp 1st round tko (Seth stops fighting because of arm injury)

Next is fight of the night... or should I say fight of the year: Carter Vs Ignashov

Iggy kod carter with knees in 2nd round OSU!good luck bajrami

Next is fight of the night... or should I say fight of the year: Carter Vs Ignashov

Hoost beat Xhavit by decision OSU

Musashi wins on judge desc.30-28, 30-28, 30-27

Wow, Jan beat Bernardo!?!?! Petruzelli is a mma fighter who usually fights here in the US, how'd he do? Hope we'll get to see a rematch between Iggy and Carter. Sounds like a kick ass show.

This has to be Mike's last fight. What a sad way to end a career!

Great pics Oliver. You got to see it live? I guess the list of results and photos say it all :-)but any reviews?

Great pics Oliver..thanks man!

Who let the dogs out....

Sapp got dropped by Petruzelli? How many times??

Once.

Sapp was down first, then Petruzelli hurt his arm.

Hey Oliver have we met if not i wouldnt mind catching up next time.
Dixon

Oliver or anyone else the flag on Hoost's shorts on his right leg what is that from,I know the other is the dutch flag.

Traad, That might be the flag of Suriname. Hooland has many people from Suriname living there.

Dixon,

No, we have never met. If the chance ever come, I will let you know - because I wouldent mind to shake your hand and to say hello to you.

Have a nice day,
Oliver.

What a show some upsets too.
OSU!

Yeah except for Bob Sapp vs Petruzelli and Botha vs Azziz Khatou.


Osu

gur-vennetiaan was a pretty competitive match up.

seth impressed the hell out of me. he'll be back for sure. probably on NTV or TBS against a japanese fighter. if i understand the japanese way of thinking, it will be that little guy who fought ozkan. forget his name.

Felix,

Tell is more about your weekend together with Team Voodoo, and the event - if you would like to share of course?

What did happen to Seth's arm?

Felix,

Tell us more about your weekend together with Team Voodoo, and the event - if you would like to share of course?

What did happen to Seth's arm?

you asked for it.

First let me introduce Team Voodoo USA.

GENE FIELDS
Gene is the old veteran who has had the broken bones. He uses his gut to judge people and situations. I think he has very good instincts. The best way for me to describe Gene is to say he has the intensity of Thom Harinck and the teaching skills of Johan Vos.

BEAR
Bear is Gene’s son and has been working as a corner man since he was 11 years old. He is extremely perceptive.

HIRO
I’ve never met anyone with more tattoos in my life. Super cool guy. Bear is going to stay with him for a while at see the sights of Harajuku. They are going to have a blast.

Thursday was the day of the photo shoot. Carter got oiled up and started posing. I don’t know if anyone noticed, but the tattoo on his right shoulder was touched up a lot and looked much better than before. In his early teens, Carter had a friend do the work and now he looks at the tats and is a little embarrassed after seeing the work Venetiaan has. Anyway, the camera man asks Carter to turn so he can take a shot of the other shoulder. There is a little silence as the cameraman observes the amateur work. “Forget it,” he says. The rest of Carter pictures are with him in the southpaw position. I wonder if he will have the other shoulder done in time for the K-1 USA.

Friday was the press conference and rules meeting.

I was early at the hotel for the conference but had just missed the team by about 20 minutes as they went to train with Pettas. I got to hang out with Ray Sefo for a while. His injury came from a misdirected spinning backhand that hit Ronny on the head. The elements power, direction and place on the forearm all came together to break the bone. If you had seen him, you would have realized exactly how much the show lost that day. Ray weighed 102kgs. He was a new man and was going to rock everyone’s world last weekend.

We talked a little about last year. I think he traveled around the world more than my wife, and she is an international stewardess. The doctors said that this was the likely cause of his health problems. He caught a flu that didn’t disappear in a few days as usual. It lingered for weeks.

The leg injury you saw at the Grand Prix? His health was so poor that he got that kicking a pad. That’s it. He checked the shin guards and they were fine. He couldn’t even hit pads without hurting himself and he fought Musashi. He spent the next 8-9 days in bed.

We talked about the difference between being popular in Japan and the US. In the US, guys he doesn’t know yell “Hey Ray! I kick ass with you on Playstation!” In Japan, he is afraid to go to places where large groups of people gather. He has been pinned to walls or swarmed by mobs.

When Team Voodoo got back from the work out, we all went out to lunch. Ray joined us. Carter really admires Ray and appreciated the opportunity to sit at the same table. They both like singing off key, so I see karaoke in their future.

The press conference was pretty uneventful. There was no staged nonsense. It was getting old anyway. Carter said that he was happy to have such a high quality opponent with a winning record. Alexei talked about joy and harmony or something like that. Seth Petruzelli won the smart ass award. He is a super cool guy who used his wit to get the better of Sapp.

After the press conference, Carter got to meet Ernesto Hoost. He was so in awe of the legend that he blurted out “Mr. Hoost is an honor to meet the 6-time Grand Prix Champion.” Ernesto paused a bit and said “No. Four K-1s and one K-2. I guess that is 5.” Bear later said that the press MC said Hoost had won 6 world titles or something like that. No matter, we had something with which to tease Carter mercilessly.

None of the teasing bothered Carter. He had a little trouble adjusting to one K-1 great after another coming up and saying he had a very bright future. He is humble kid who believes in himself but doesn’t like to discuss his potential so openly. He’s getting used to is a little at a time.

Next was the rules meeting. I will have to take some time to absorb what was said there. They obviously want to increase the quality of the shows but some the things that were implied about certain fighters stunned me. In the words of Forrest Gump, “that’s all I’ve got to say about that.”

Backstage at the event, we shared a locker room with Musashi, Botha, Nortje and Bajrami.

MUSASHI
He had hayfever and then a delivery person brought three huge bouquets of flowers. He is very easy going. He’s been in the game a long time and was calm and chatty. I think is was good for Carter to have been placed next to Musashi. I asked Musashi which hand he writes with. He uses his right. Carter, the other ambidexrous fighter, writes with his left.

BAJRAMI
Soft spoken guy until he opened the package and saw the color of his ankle supports, lime green. Xhavit knows how to swear. Trust me on that.

NORTJE
Jan is pretty calm all the time. He is always giving words of encouragement to Carter. After the event in the bar, he bellowed, “You are one dangerous motherfucker!” The girls at my table asked me to translate. I gave them a literal translation. They looked at Carter and said “Really?”

BOTHA
I can’t really get a good read on Botha. He is friendly but I just haven’t spent enough time with him to get an idea what he is thinking.

PETTAS
A fan told me that my Japanese was a good as Nick’s. I laughed pretty hard.
Nick is very intense. He loves the fight game and probably wishes he could come back. One thing I can say about Karate guys is that they mostly aspire to teach. Pettas certainly enjoys developing fighters. He was in Jan’s corner.

OTHER FIGHTERS
PETRUZELLI
His fight was weird. He beat the count but they stopped the fight anyway. It was his first K-1 fight and they decided to nail him with the fighting pose rule. Carter didn’t get his hands up on 8 either, but they let him continue. I have to give this guy props. He took a fight with Bob Sapp on a week’s notice. Sapp’s name on his record will certainly open many doors. Knocking BIG BOY down will open many more. The injury was odd. Sapp hit a nerve and Seth lost feeling in his right arm. The same thing happened in the Esch-Fujimoto fight.

You can be sure that Gene is at home now with an anatomy book on his lap trying to find that nerve. The man is a psycho.

SAPP
Big star. He had his own dressing room. You get to talk to him for about 15 seconds before a camera crew comes along to get him to do the spooky laugh.

GUR
I didn’t see much of him, but from what I did see he is very distant and nearly unapproachable. I know that sounds a little negative but like I said, I didn’t see enough of him.

IGNASHOV
Polite and courteous. I don’t think I heard him say two words until the press conference. He shakes hands and smiles. He signs autographs and smiles. I really can’t remember him talking.

When he and Carter met on the stairs after they had showered and dressed. Carter grabbed his crotch and shuffled by in a joking manner. Alexei got a little mad; “You too. You hit me low,” he said. He was smiling but it had a touch of bitterness in it. I thought he was bullshitting, so I checked the footage and Carter did clip him low once.

Carter wants another crack at Ignashov and may select him at the Grand Prix draw if the opportunity presents itself.

That was it for my weekend. I’ve probably forgotten a few people, but there you go.

Thank Felix, great write up. How do you get that close to the fighters? Is it through your work?

nah. once you get enough posts on ax, all the fighters want to tape you to the wall and beat the tar out of you. LOL.

Thanks for the very exciting report Felix!

And thanks a lot for taking the time, love the way you write.

Two question Felix:

1) Did you by any chance take some pictures from the event and backstage?
2) What about Mike Bernado, do you think his fight against Jan was his last K-1 fight, and how did he tackle his defeated after his “humiliating” performance?

Once again, thanks for the report.

Felix;

.."nah. once you get enough posts on ax, all the fighters want to tape you to the wall and beat the tar out of you. LOL.."

Sounds like I should stay away from Hoost:)

1- no pictures. i didn't even think of it. i was taking so many pictures with fans cameras that i didn't even notice is didn't have one of my own.

2- mike looked pretty bummed out. i don't know if this will be his last fight but it doesn't appear to make sense for him to get a bye all the way to the osaka qualifier any more. carter still has to enter the k-1 usa. last year alexei had to enter the k-1 paris. mike might have to earn his osaka place the hard way from now on.

meeting hoost is like meeting elvis. whether you are afraid of a shit kicking or a haunting ghost, it is worth it. i said above that carter might select iggy in osaka if the chance arises. forget that. i know carter would choose hoost in a heartbeat.

I understand why Carter will pick Hoost instead of Ignashov, if he could choose between the two of them. That would also be my advice and pick of choice, if I was an adviser to Carter, and if he stood in the situation where he was to choose between the two gentlemen above.

Carter is very fast and very strong, he got lots of power in his hands and in his kicks, and then he has a very solid chin. Hoost is not as fast as his use to be (I know that he close to 40, all my respect!). And even do Hoost has the most beautiful combination and technique in the game, he will have trouble keeping up the high speed Carter is showing in the ring. Just as Ray Sefo had when he was trying exchange punches in his fight against Williams.

Hoost favourite weapon is his powerful lowkicks - but I think it will takes more to break down Carter than just lowkicks, and Hoost don’t have "that" single punch or kick to finish a fight. Ignashov do, as he more or less proves in every fight he takes part in. Hoost way of winning is almost always by decision. Ernesto Hoost is breaking his opponent down, by hard work – which mostly is painful combination consisting of straight punches to the face and lever-hooks, and lots of lowkicks.

Finally Hoost many years of fighting is beginning to show off when he is in the ring, more and more often is he getting cut’s over his eyes, and his nose also seems to bleed and course him trouble in almost every single fight.

“If” Hoost and Carter is standing in an infight exchanges punches, I think Hoost will come out as the looser. If you stand in an infight with the Scorpion, you end up with a knee right on the kisser.

Hoost is predictable, Ignashov is not. So yes... "I" would also pick the Dutch champ in a heartbeat.

I forgot, as far as I know - Ignashov has never been down in his k-1 career. That would also be worth keeping in mind, standing in the situation where you have pick between two fighters.

I can see that Carters right shoulder has been touched up.

I can see that Carters right shoulder has been touched up.

I guess that Hiro is the one behind Gene.

oliver,
carter beleives he is the toughest badass in the world. he hates fighting guys like dewey cooper. he would see a match against butterbean as a slap in the face. the only C class fighter who interests him is bob sapp. surprise, carter wants to be a multi-millionaire.

carter would be heart-broken if hoost retired before they had a chance to meet in the ring.

the funny thing about ignashov is that before the fight i told carter that he was one of the cleanest fighters i had seen. he wouldn't do any dirty work on him. the soccer kick to the balls took away carter's kicks and movement. alexei held the head with both hands to knee. alexei threw more than one knee at a time.

next time round, alexei will have to think of something new to surprise carter with. he got the win, so congrats for that but it is not a good idea to inspire someone like carter the way alexei did.

as for iggy's record of never getting knocked out, carter knows how much that is worth. power punchers get paid more than tag artists. knocking out iggy will prove without a doubt to everyone watching the game that carter's power and not iggy's chin caused the KO. bregy is a nice guy but you have to confess that knocking himout didn't prove a whole lot.

iggy vs carter was definitely the highlight fight of the night. carter definitely
stung iggy with a few punches and performed well. it was good to see iggy forced
to be aggressive and finally throw some knees again.
the japanese video i saw didnt show any of the gur veneetian fight. how was that?
it was funny that azziz knocked down botha with the first punch he threw! but he spent most of the fight running away. botha did land some decent shots, but never
really hurt azziz. azziz landed some kicks but they werent a big factor. botha was
back to square one with his straight boxing style and not even trying to evade kicks. but it was a relatively competitive and entertaining fight.
i was never a mike bernardo fan, but i did feel sorry for him. he seemed tentative and let jan set the action. jan did get the first knockdown with a nice
knee to the chest. the next two were from punches. i never thought i would see jan
outbox mike b. it probably is time for him to hang it up.
sapp is sure starting to become a little "chinny". with all the hoopla about
showing sapp practicing kicking and looking decent at it, he still had the same
basic game plan as before. i think when he gets around to facing a real puncher
it will be lights out.
i also only got to see highlights of hoost-bajhrami. how did the "old man" look?
the less said about musashi- akebono the better. but was that ray sefo sparring with akebono in the pre fight footage?

vennetiaan was a little faster than gur but sergei rocked him with a few haymakers. those basically put gur in the center of the ring and jerrel circling the ropes. overall, a very close fight in terms of strikes but the reaction to the strikes gave gur a slight edge.

bernardo is in a huge slump. for sure. i wouldn't fire him though. i'd demote him. in other words, put him in the lower tournaments. he might get his spirit back. at the worst, he'd give the rookies a rough learning experience. he did beat gur recently, didn't he? soundly if i remember correctly.

there are a lot of fighters like sapp. what they do in the gym looks very competitive but they never put it together with a real competitor. then you get guys like andy hug who got a little roughed up by his sparring partners but took it into high, higher and highest gear for real fights.

my biggest question regarding sapp is "how the hell are they going to justify putting his ass in the osaka gp?" if you've got a reasonable answer for that let me ask another: "how the hell will they justify putting his opponent [a guy with a 0-1 record] in the osaka gp?"

xhavit has fought hoost twice before and gone the distance both times. he was very confident. the clips you saw showed him at his best but there were enough unanswered exchanges to give hoost the lead and thus the win.

carter was in heaven talking to hoost. after ernesto left carter looked at me and said "did you hear what mr. hoost said to me? this is so cool."

Felix,

Thanks for the information about Carter, I am very interested about getting as much data as possible, about every fighter in the K-1. So I appreciate that you are taking the time to share your experience and knowledge.

So Carter has the big dream about fighting Hoost. I am sure that many fighters in the K-1 has it as a nightmare, standing face to face with Mr. Perfect in the ring. That is one fight that I also would love to see, but I think that Carter Williams and his team has to work fast, if they want to realize that dream, because this could very easily be Hoost last year as a K-1 fighter? Hoost is properly going for the 5th belt in the Dome in December, and then I think he will retires.

I totally agree about knocking out Bregy didn't prove a whole lot, and I also agree that knocking out Iggy will prove without a doubt to everyone watching the game, that carter's power and not Iggy's chin caused the KO. But still no one has managed to prove, that their power is stronger than the Ignashov chin - even do many of Ignashov opponent have strong hands. I know that one is going to be the first; still I would respect Ignashov, his style and his chin if I were to battle him, knowing that this man has never been kissing the floor in over +20 fights.



What did Hoost say to Carter?

he said that carter was a future star and that the united states should be proud to have such a great fighter.

[carter's mouth dropped open]

"it's true" he went on. the US is a big country and very important to the k-1. a big star like you is important to the sport.

[carter's mouth shut briefly to swallow then drops back open]

you are a very good fighter and i know you will do well.


[they shake hands and hoost walks off. carter regains consciousness. hoost scores a KO.]



iggy did take an 8-count from skelton in 2000. he will see the canvas. it is just a matter of time.

Felix,

I know that is a matter of time, the question is just who is going to be the first to knock him out cold?

That is big words from one champ to another. Now I know why Carter was in heaven - that most be the biggest inspiration and respect Carter could get. Hoost is gentleman and an excellent ambassador for the sport, inside and outside the ring.

Reading your message above Felix, makes me think back in time, back when I was on Kyokushin karate training camp together with Andy Hug. I was a young fighter myself at the time, when I had the chance to spend five days together with Andy Hug, and to learn from him. In the five days I was together with Andy, I had many conversations with him, and I remember that I bombarded him with tons of question, all from training tips, injuries, sparing, tournaments etc. – simply to learn and develop myself as a fighter, but also a human.

The training camp was in 1989, two years after Andy became 2nd in the 4th Kyokushin World Open tournament, so I asked him how important it was to him, to win the belt next time, and finally become champion of the world. Andy told me, that before you can be a champion, you first have to learn to live like one.

First I understood nothing? I simply didn’t get or understood his point before the day after, where we were talking again. Being a champion is many things Andy told me; taking the time to talk to you is a part of it, taking the time to learn and teach is a part of it, being humble and polite is also a big part of it, spending more time in the dojo than your opponents is part it, and so he kept on telling me about what a champion is….

It sounds to me that Hoost is from the same old school as Andy was. I wounder if a fighter like Jerome, would have taken the time to say the things?

carter met jerome last year at tokyo dome. jerome's fighter lost to fujimoto.

they shook hands but nothing inspiring was said. of course, being the shit disturber that i am, i told carter that jerome snubbed him.

carter said that his favorite was andy hug too. a guess you two have something in common.

Felix and Sperlign thank you very much for the insight information. I really appreciate it and I will see to that I spread the positive messages the next time I commentate K-1 on EuroSport.

Thanks again.

Osu.

Hej again Thomas Larsen (Another Dane here on Ax:)

Thanks for the kind words, and for your job on Eurosport. As I told you on the K-1 USA board Thomas, and in the private mails between you and me, then I highly respect finally having a fighter to commentate K-1 on Eurosport.

I guess we all appreciate all the information everyone here on Ax is sharing. At the end of the day, that is what all this is about, to learn and give. And Felix is indeed a great provider of information’s.

Thomas, when will you be on Eurosport the next time, and will you show the K-1 Saitama 2004 on Eurosport? Please confirm.

I hope to see you some where in Copenhagen Thomas.

I was on this Monday: K-1 Scandinavia and they will televise it again soon - check http://www.EuroSport.dk.
About Saitama I don't know - I only know about a week in advance normally!:(

Thanks for the kind words mate.

As regards possible opponents to put Iggy on his bottom, then any of the chaps who fight in K1 will have a chance, as they all know what they are doing and they are BIG men.

I would have said Mark Hunt and LeBanner would have the best chance, but saying that I thought Carter would have had as good a chance as any.

carter did rock him with some punches. normally iggy smiles and nods at his opponent when he gets tagged ( as if to say "good shot") as he did when pavel majer almost took his head off with a kick. but one of carters punches really
woke iggy up.

maybe im being hard on bernardo, but hes not a serious contender to make the g.p.
anymore. he looked so bad in his fights against filho and jan that it was painful to watch. i wish he had left steve k. earlier and been coached to use his whole
game more instead of 90% punches like most of steve k.'s fighters.

i dont know what they are going to do with sapp. they are dong well with just having him fight mma guys with virtually no kickboxing experience. but even
these guys are close to beating him.. maybe theyll put him the qualifier tourney
against another guy that doesnt deserve to be there. but hes starting to get knocked down by just about anyone that puts a glove on his chin.

How much of that is real though, as Sapp is prone to doing comedy wobbles before he goes down. It looks to me that it is sometimes for crowd entertainment and Sapp is happy to get paid to do that.

Phil,

I also have Mark Hunt and Jerome on my list, as fighters there will the first to KO Ignashov. To be honest, I had this feeling that Carter would be the first, but his time will come.

Another dark horse on my list is the strong Swede Martin Holm. His style and power is very similar to Crater Williams. So if Holm gets the chance, I will be ready to put a couple of dollars on the Swedish Viking.