SUNDAY, August 17, 2003, AT 2:00 PM, PT

Remy Bonjasky
Osaka Bound
Sapp KOs Kimo, Taunts Tyson
By Monty DiPietro, K-1

LAS VEGAS, Nevada, USA, August 15:
Remy Bonjasky (Right) defeated Michael McDonald in a hard-fought, extra-round final to win the eight-man elimination tournament at the K-1 Battle at the Bellagio.
"Since my loss [to Semmy Schilt] in Fukuoka in July," said the 27 year-old Dutch fighter afterwards, "my training with Andre Manaarrt has focused on always doing something quickly, and that helped me tonight." With the victory, Bonjasky qualifies for the first stage of the K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Finals in Osaka on October 11.

It was a thrilling night at the Bellagio -- also on the card was long-anticipated American debut of K-1 sensation Bob "The Beast" Sapp, who went up against challenger Kimo Leopoldo. At the pre-event press conference, Sapp repeatedly asked the other assembled fighters: "How would you like me to knock Kimo out?" Kimo was nonplussed by this, but kept his cool -- that is, until Sapp threw a glass of water on the tattooed Californian. This led to words, a shoving match, and eventually a clumsy melee which only ended when trainers and officials and even K-1 USA President Scott Coker intervened, amid cries from the room full of media people that the two testosterone-charged men "Save it for the ring!"
Story on their bout below the tournament.

Eight-man Elimination Tournament
The youngest of the lot, Brazilian Muay Thai fighter Jefferson Da Silva, came up against 2002 K-1 USA Champion Michael McDonald in the evening's first quarterfinal. McDonald exited early in the USA GP this May: "I made some mistakes with my diet and put on two or three kg the day before the fight," he said before his dance with Da Silva, "but this time I've been much more careful, and I'm very ready." McDonald, who closed as the 7-5 favorite to win this tournament, did not disappoint here, dominating from the first bell. His first strike was a fast high kick which Da Silva was just barely able to block. As the round wore on, Da Silva, who is 13 years younger than McDonald, looked the more fatigued fighter, and took to holding in an attempt to avoid his opponent's punishing kick and punch attacks. For this he was cautioned, then penalized a point. In the second, after McDonald got a great tight right hook in to score a down, the referee took a look at Da Silva's eyes and decided the outclassed fighter had had enough.

In the second matchup, promising Belgian fighter Aziz Khattou met a spirited opponent in Raul Romero, who had a loud "Viva Mexico!" cheering section ringside. Romero showed a lot of heart in the early going, taking the fight to Aziz. But experience made the difference in the second round. While Romero did connect with a number of good hard strikes, and got the leg up quite well, Aziz was able to come in quickly with the technical one-two-three punch and kick combinations that score points with judges, and then retreat just as quickly to avoid Romero's counters.
Late in the second it appeared that Romero's left leg was gone, but, despite Aziz's attempts to focus his strikes there, the Mexican somehow recovered. Romero got a high kick up that stunned Aziz near the end of the round, but could not follow up.
In the third both fighters were exhausted, clinching frequently, and there was little in the way of action. It was a tough fight, and judges gave it to Aziz by majority decision.

In the third of the quarterfinals, Bonjasky showed the form K-1 insiders have long believed he is capable of, overwhelming American Vernon White. Bonjasky was a fireworks display of explosive knee and kick attacks, and seconds after a flying knee clocked White, an airborne Bonjasky snapped in a vicious right kick to the side of White's jaw. The crowd jumped to their feet, White collapsed to the canvas, and it was all over.

The last of the quarters pitted 36 year-old American kickboxing legend and current IKF World (International Rules) Champion Rick "The Jet" Roufus against fellow American Jeff Ford, who was a late substitute after Brit Gary Turner failed his eye exam. Roufus was cool and focused, hitting with good straight punches and low kicks, and throwing in some fancy stuff to effect -- ax kicks and spinning kicks and punches. A right-left punch followed by a left high kick put Ford down in the second, and from there it looked like all Roufus had to do was hang on for the win. But Ford came out aggressive in the third, connecting with a number of good hard low kicks, which set Roufus to limping a bit. The Jet avoided contact as well he could to get out of the round with the unanimous decision, but Ford's low kicks had exacted a price.

At the start of the semifinals, it was announced that Aziz Khattou was unable to continue in the tournament due a leg injury suffered in his fight against Raul Romero. And so the task of stopping McDonald fell to George Randolph, who had came through in the reserve fight after opponent Kelly Leo suffered a gash over his left eye which led to a doctor-stop.

Alas, Randolph was not up to the job. McDonald made short work of the big guy, softening him up with hooks, then, after encountering minimal resistance, laying in with the haymakers. It was a right that dropped Randolph, who barely beat the count, but need not have bothered. Just a beat after referee Cecil Peoples restarted the bout, McDonald came in with single left hook to drop Randolph for good and advance to the final.

In the second semifinal, for the second time, a substitute was required after the quarterfinal victor was unable to continue. Roufus' oft-injured left-knee was blown, and under K-1 rules (in lieu of the reserve fight winner) Jeff Ford, who had lost to Roufus, continued in his place. And, for the second fight in a row, the action lasted scarcely a minute. This time it was Bonjasky who buried his opponent, earning a KO victory when Ford went down in pain after a kick caught him on the right shoulder.

If the semifinals had been anticlimactic, there was a bright side here -- the two finalists, McDonald and Bonjasky, were fit, focused, and fresh for their showdown.
This was a near-perfect technical fight, both fighters light on their feet, Bonjasky staying outside with low kicks, McDonald getting in with punch volleys, among them many body blows. McDonald was lightening quick, but with both fighters blocking well, there looked to be minimal damage in the first. McDonald launched some dandy quick punch/kick combinations in the second, and kept coming in with the body blows. "I think," Bonjasky would remark after the bout, "that Mike was trying to get my hands down so he could come at my head. Mike is a very tough and smart fighter, and I was thinking too much in this fight, not fighting instinctively, and that was a mistake."

Indeed, although Bonjasky finally got the knees going late in the fight, McDonald answered every attack and the bout was too close to call after three. (Although McDonald was ahead on two cards, he had only a half point margin on one of them, and so was just a hair away from what he needed to take a majority decision.) In the extra round, Bonjasky turned it up a notch, and was able to do enough to eke out a one point advantage on two cards and take the win. A great fight, although the result had to be terribly disappointing for McDonald, a first-class fighter who has too often had to settle for second. Bonjasky paid full credit to McDonald, and pledged to work on his boxing skills in advance of the Osaka tournament.

Also on the card, in a San Shou Rules Superfight, IKF World Light Heavyweight Champion Cung Le took on Canadian challenger Phil Petit. (San Shou rules combine kickboxing with throws and takedowns.) Petit was good with the jabs here, but Le was able to chuck the Canuck at will, scoring three downs in the first round, and a couple more in the second and third. But Le seemed to lose some momentum in the fourth and final round. Petit tried to put something together here, working the knees and missing with a number of straight punches, but it was Le who always had the upper hand. How does Le manage to be so cool? "It's simple, I wake up every morning and I feel blessed," explained the San Jose-based fighter, "I want to do my best at everything I do, whether it is being a father or being a fighter"

Former IKF USA National Amateur Champion Carter Williams is already Osaka-bound, so there was no pressure on the 2003 K-1 USA Champion in his Superfight against Dewey Cooper. The bout might have been one of those unspirited affairs, but, as it happened, Cooper had come to fight. From the start, he was dancing, deking, coming in with the kicks. Williams had the harder stuff to be sure, but didn't put a whole lot of heart into the fight. Cooper, meanwhile, was always in motion, attacking, and when Williams moved inside Cooper was excellent with his counters. Judges gave the decision to Williams. Afterwards, Cooper said he was both surprised and hurt that one judge had scored Williams up by three full points. Actually, many in the crowd also felt Cooper had been short-changed -- the decision was answered by a fairly loud chorus of boos.

In the undercard fights, Travis Johnson beat Adrian Foster by 2R KO, Amanda Pera beat La Tasha Marzolla by unanimous decision, Brian Warren beat Albert Torres by split decision, and Brian Schwartz beat Zack Day by unanimous decision. K-1 USA President Scott Coker and his team put on a first-rate show for the sellout crowd of 4,108 (who paid up to US $250 a seat). The event was broadcast live nationwide on ESPN Pay-Per-View, which will also bring the K-1 Osaka and Tokyo Dome events to the American market this year. In Japan, the event was same-day broadcast on the Fuji TV network.

Bob "The Beast" Sapp Vs Kimo Leopoldo.
Sapp was a heavy favorite going into this fight, which started out as one might have expected, Sapp marching forward in his trademark NFL-meets-gladiator style, mixed martial arts veteran Kimo fending him off with low kicks. But it soon became evident that Sapp had added some new weapons to an arsenal previously comprised almost exclusively of big ol' haymakers. Sapp threw kicks, and got a knee up and in which stunned Kimo. Sapp's new attacks, however, tended to leave him open to counters, and Kimo exploited this to get in with a left straight punch and set the Beast to wobbling midway through the first. This was not the most graceful fight, but there was plenty of excitement, and the crowd came alive when Sapp scored a down with a sort of double ear-box attack, and the crowd erupted when Kimo came back with punches to score a down of his own toward the end of the first.

The ringside doctor examined a cut near Sapp's left eye during the break, and there was some question as to whether he could continue. This doubtlessly appealed to those in the crowd who had taken the 6-1 odds the Bellagio board posted on Kimo, as he was ahead on two judges' cards at the break. But the fight did go on, and in the second a revitalized Sapp beat on Kimo with hooks and hammer punches, before delivering the coup de grace -- a questionable blow near the rear of the head -- to lay Kimo out and take the KO win at 1:11.

This being the main event in the Grand Ballroom of Las Vegas' most prestigious hotel, there were many celebrities in attendance -- rap singer Dr Dre, basketball legend Michael Jordan, actor David Michaels -- and a boxer named Mike Tyson. Now, when Tyson made his way into the ring to join in Sapp's victory celebration, for some reason, the Beast saw red.
"What are you doing here?" bellowed Sapp as he lunged toward Tyson, and now we had another melee. "You want to fight me too, big boy?" laughed Tyson, "OK, get me a pair of shorts and gloves and I'll fight you right now!" This seemed to further inflame the Beast, who threatened, "You mess with me and I'll put your lights out!" And so the gauntlet was thrown. "Sign a contract," challenged Tyson, "and we'll go!" Rarely outdone, Sapp was just as quick to answer: "Don't worry, Kid Dynamite, I'll sign it in blood!"

Just hours after the Battle at The Bellagio's last bell, the K-1 organization announced that it had entered into "a relationship with Mike Tyson," and that further details would be forthcoming.
"I think it will be interesting," said Sapp, "Tyson represents boxing, which he believes is the best fighting sport. I don't know what rules will apply if/when he fights in K-1, but hopefully we'll see which style of fighting is superior."
Indeed, we'll see.

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