TOKYO —

It seems that if you want to become K-1 champion, you have to be Dutch. Twelve of the 15 K-1 Grand Prix champs to date have been from the Netherlands. The 34-year-old Semmy Schilt became the latest when he won his third consecutive GP, overpowering 37-year-old compatriot Peter Aerts.

The road to the K-1 Grand Prix in Yokohama on April 13 is already underway, and the question now is who can compete with the giant Dutchman. Some answers may be forthcoming in the upcoming World Grand Prix series of matches, when Schilt will be back in action.

Schilt’s opponent in Yokohama could not be tougher, despite having not fought in K-1 for nearly six years. New Zealander Mark Hunt returns after a dalliance with the now-defunct PRIDE series. Hunt has always been somewhat of an enigma, showing enormous strength but a seemingly lax mental attitude in his fights. At 34, he won’t be too old for Schilt, and at 178cm, he won’t be too tall. But at 130kg, he weighs almost the same and packs as big a punch as anybody. The question will be how badly he wants to win. If he’s fit and up for the fight, Schilt might have a contest on his hands, but Hunt needs to be really, really hungry to defeat the K-1 champion.

The tournament features two other fighters who should have made a bigger impression on the sport. When it comes to Ray Sefo, you have to ask the same question that you ask Hunt, a fellow Kiwi: How much do you want it? Sefo is so beautifully dominating at times, it’s hard to understand how he hasn’t made it to a K-1 Grand Prix final since 2000. Sometimes you see him in the ring and think “no one can beat this guy,” but then the next fighter he meets trounces him. It sounds trite, but the five-time world Muay Thai boxing champion only has to think he can do it, to do it. He has all the equipment, and a knockout punch that is unmatched.

The last of the big guns in tournament action at Yokohama is Mighty Mo, who like Hunt is of Samoan descent. Mo is armed with a devastating punch, possibly the hardest in the sport, and will be up against K-1’s Young Japan champion Keijiro Maeda, who is just 21. Although the 37-year-old won the K-1 Grand Prix in Hawaii last year, he is another of the sport’s underachievers — you expect someone with such an innate fighting ability to go all the way — but his many fans in Japan will be urging him on in Yokohama.

Also fighting on April 13 will be South Korean giant Hong Man Choi, who has gone 3-3 in his last six fights, including a stunning loss to Mighty Mo a year ago at the same tournament. Joining him on the undercard will be veteran Japanese fighter Musashi, who, unlike some mentioned here, has actually overachieved in his K-1 career. After a dreadful 2006, Musashi found some of his old form again in 2007, although you have to think it will be hard for him to make another Grand Prix final.

6 Comments

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  spudman at 09:36 PM JST - 30th March

  poor Fred, having to report K1, this not really sports. Japan Times could use his knowledge on real sports. Who cares about this rigged fighting.

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  paolo27th at 11:24 PM JST - 30th March

  Agreed. K1 is rubbish. But how about some reporting on Shooto? We could start from me, me... ME!!

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  alphawolf at 02:22 AM JST - 31st March

  It seems that if you want to become K-1 champion, you have to be Dutch. Twelve of the 15 K-1 Grand Prix champs to date have been from the Netherlands.

  Well, they have excellent warriors in the Nordic countries. Decendent of the vikings. Even the heavyweight boxing champions are all nordic Russians.

  aw

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  outhousejt at 03:31 AM JST - 31st March

  Speaking of culture, ethnicity. The Netherlands is not a Nordic country. Russians are not Nordic. Nordic countries are the Scandinavian countries and Finland. Many of the Dutch K-1 fightrers are immigrants with non Dutch ethnicity.

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  notimpressed at 08:41 PM JST - 5th April

  I wouldnt call it rigged fighting, but the judging does often go a bit strange..to say the least. I would love to see mark hunt back in the ring. Dude can rumble. By the way, mo, hunt, and sefo are all samoan. I think Sefo is past his best by a long shot though. Hes only good against an obviously inferior opponent. Any one who so much as matches him- and he starts to give up, like its too much work for him. Hes never wanted it bad enough.

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  notimpressed at 08:42 PM JST - 5th April

  oh and I hope Mark Hunt knocks semmys head off. Semmy is a boring champ.

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