Weekly Kicks: Spong vs. Bonjasky, Glory tournament set, Souwer wins S-Cup, more

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Welcome back to Weekly Kicks, Bloody Elbow’s regular round up of news from K-1, Glory, Superkombat, and the world of international kickboxing.

Glory announces Remy Bonjasky vs. Tyrone Spong

Big fight announcement this week courtesy of Glory. On February 16 the company will stage Glory 5 London. The main event: Remy Bonjasky vs. Tyrone Spong.

Let me just say – this fight is AWESOME. Bonjasky returned this year from his retirement, looking a bit rusty but still strong against Anderson Braddock Silva. Meanwhile, Spong has been steadily moving up the Heavyweight ranks in kickboxing and is currently coming off a win over Peter Aerts plus a successful MMA debut. These are two top 10 fighters in a very tough fight to call. Honestly, this is the most excited I’ve been about a Heavyweight fight in some time.

Also on the card are Jordan Watson vs. Steve Moxon and Liam Harrison vs. Mosab Amrani. More fights to be announced.

Heavyweight tournament set for Glory 4 Tokyo

In other Glory news, they announced the first round fights for their Glory 4 Tokyo show on New Year’s Eve and the big Heavyweight tournament. Here’s the line-up:

Semmy Schilt vs. Brice Guidon
Rico Verhoeven vs. Sergei Kharitonov
Raomoru vs. Gokhan Saki
Igor Jurkovic vs. Anderson “Braddock” Silva
Filip Verlinden vs. Remy Bonjasky
Jamal Ben Saddick vs. Errol Zimmerman
Mourad Bouzidi vs. Peter Aerts
Fabiano “Cyclone” Aoki vs. Daniel Ghita

These are mostly one-sided fights with a clear favorite, but that’s to be expected in the opening round. Of these fights, I’d say Verhoeven vs. Kharitonov is the closest, and Jurkovic is in the best position to score the upset. Once we move on to the 2nd round, it’s going to be pretty much nothing but top of the line fighters, which should make for a fantastic tournament. Schilt has to be the heavy favorite, though a Schilt vs. Ghita rematch in the finals could be a real tough one to call.

Glory also cleared up the rules of the fights. In the round of 16, plus the quarter-finals and semi-finals, fights will be 2 minute rounds in the style of The Ultimate Fighter – if there’s a winner after 2 rounds, the fight is over. If it’s tied after 2, they go to a 3rd. The finals will be 3 x 3 minute rounds with up to 2 extension rounds. Personally, I think two minute rounds is lame, and I would much rather have just an 8 man tournament with regular rules, but what can you do?

Regardless, great tournament on the 31st, great fight in February – things are cooking for Glory right now.

Andy Souwer wins 2012 Shootboxing S-Cup

This past weekend’s big tournament action was in Japan, as Shootboxing staged the S-Cup 2012. In a field that included MMA fighters Joachim Hansen and Gesias Cavalcante, Muay Thai fighter Kem Sitsongpeenong, plus numerous Shootboxing veterans, it was Andy Souwer who emerged victorious, claiming his 4th S-Cup belt. Souwer defeated his protege Henri van Opstal in the finals.

Elsewhere on the card, Bellator veteran and 2010 S-Cup finalist Toby Imada was successful in non-tournament action; Pride and UFC veteran Akihiro Gono was not.

The entire show is actually already available online thanks to the magic of YouTube. Check it out below.

Full results from the 2012 Shootboxing S-Cup, courtesy of Liver Kick:

Shootboxing S-Cup 2012 Results:

Reserve: Satoru Suzuki def. Akihiro Gono by KO in Round 1.
Reserve: Andy Ristie def. Hinata Watanabe by TKO in Round 1.
Quarter Finals
Hiroaki Suzuki def. Joachim Hansen by unanimous decision in an extra round.
Henri van Opstal def. Bovy Sor Udomson by majority decision.
Hiroki Shishido def. Gesias Cavalcante by majority decision.
Andy Souwer def. Kem Sitsongpeenong by majority decision.
Semi Finals
Henri van Opstal def. Satoru Suzuki by KO in Round 1.
Andy Souwer def. Hiroki Shishido by KO in Round 1.
Final
Andy Souwer def. Henri van Opstal by unanimous decision.
Super Fights:
70kg: Koutaru Mori def. Yuki Sakamoto by unanimous decision in an extra round.
HW: Magnum Sakai def. Shunsuke Inoue by KO in Round 3.
60kg: Kosuke Komiyama def. Masa Magaranchun M16 by unanimous decision in an extra round.
63kg: Kizaemon Saiga def. MASAYA by unanimous decision.
70kg: Toby Imada def. Mostofa Abdollahi by majority decision.

Kickboxing promoter shot and killed at event in The Netherlands

Finally, one piece of unfortunate kickboxing news. The kickboxing scene in The Netherlands has come under fire in recent years, with accusations of serious criminal connections that have started to drive the sport out of one of its homelands. Those critics received more ammunition last week, as local kickboxing promoter Youssef Sabbahi was shot and killed at an event in the town of Veghel.

Amsterdam, the kickboxing capital of Amsterdam, has instituted a law known as BIBOB that already severely limits the ability to promote kickboxing in the city, and led to It’s Showtime leaving the city last year. Incidents like this are not going to help promoters convince the government that kickboxing deserves a place in the country.

Kickboxing calendar