May is a big month for kickboxing. Later this month we get two major shows from Glory and the resurrected K-1. Those shows contain a wealth of big fights including the opening rounds of two separate 70kg Grand Prix tournaments, the K-1 returns of Badr Hari and Mirko Cro Cop, and the pound for pound #1 Giorgio Petrosyan in action.
This past weekend, May kicked off in earnest with a pair of smaller, but still notable shows from It’s Showtime and SuperKombat.
Top European organization It’s Showtime was in action on Saturday with a show in Belgium. The biggest name on the card was It’s Showtime Heavyweight champion Daniel Ghita, who took on Brian Douwes. Ghita defeated Douwes via KO in the 2nd round. With that win, Ghita is now on a 5 fight win streak, with a number of those wins coming via impressive stoppage. Because the Heavyweight division was essentially shut down in 2011, it’s hard to create accurate rankings at the moment, though I see Ghita as the #2 Heavyweight in the world right now behind Semmy Schilt (though some may argue for Ghita at #3 and Badr Hari at #2). Another great win for the young star.
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Also on the It’s Showtime card, 85kg champion Sahak Paparyan successfully defended his title with a Unanimous Decision win over Andrew Tate in a close fight, while Sergei Lascenko continued his resurgent run with a KO win.
Full It’s Showtime and Super Kombat results, plus video of Ghita vs. Douwes and more in the full entry.
The weekend’s other big show was from SuperKombat, an Eastern European organization that has been around for some time, but is now beginning to assert themselves as a true player in the international kickboxing scene. The main feature on their card was a one night 4 man Heavyweight tournament with the winner moving on to the SuperKombat Heavyweight Grand Prix this December. Raul Catinas emerged the victor in that tournament, defeating Daniel Sam by decision in the finals. Good win for Catinas. Also victorious on the card were Andrei and Bogdan Stoica and Alexandru Lungu. Full results from Super Kombat below.
And in one last weekend result, former K-1 great Alexey Ignashov was in action in Budapest. The one time phenom continued to struggle, losing a decision to Ali Cenak. Ten years ago, Ignashov looked ready to become the next big thing in kickboxing, but personal issues have derailed that promising career seemingly forever. He had a bit of a comeback in 2010, but even that comeback seems like a thing of the past now.
With two upcoming 70kg tournaments ready to start in just a few weeks and the pieces coming together for three separate high level Heavyweight tournaments before the year is out, it certainly looks like kickboxing is once again alive and well. And I couldn’t be happier. Now if we can just convince these organizations to start working with each other more…
Look for much more on the May Glory and K-1 events in the coming weeks.
It’s Showtime 56
May 12, 2012Cheick Sidibe def. Jason Wilnis, UD
Sonny Dagraed def. Eric Denis, UD
Sergei Lascenko def. Salahdine Kandoussi, KO R1
Sahak Parparyan def. Andrew Tate, UD
Rustemi Kreshnik def. Michael Duut, TKO R1
Daniel Ghita def. Brian Douwes, KO R2
SuperKombat World Grand Prix II Qualification
May 12, 2012Semi-Final: Raul Catinas def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, KO R2
Semi-Final: Daniel Sam def. Sam Tevette, KO
Benny Adegbuyi def. Patrick Liedert, KO R2
Sebastian Ciobanu def. Redouan Cairo, TKO R2
Andrei Stoica def. Rodney Glunder, Dec
Alexandru Lungu def. Wieslaw Kwaniewski, SD
Bogdan Stoica def. Ivan Stanic, UD
Final: Raul Catinas def. Daniel Sam, UD
Daniel Ghita vs. Brian Douwes
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