YOKOHAMA, Japan, June 30 — With a strong sense of déjà vu or “been there, done that,” K-1 MAX fans at Yokohama Arena tonight were witness to another final between the most dominant 155-pound kickboxers from the Japanese promotion over the past two years.
News that these two were set for a rematch after last year’s exciting final bout — when Sower fought three hard rounds and two extra rounds to earn a split decision and the belt over Buakaw — sent waves reverberating throughout the arena.
Yet one thing was for sure at the moment these two entered the ring: The fighters were the same but the road was different.
Sower opened the quarterfinals with an amazing display of heart and skill during a victory over boxer-turned-Kickboxer Virgil Kalakoda.
The South African dominated early in the first round with inside boxing, landing a nasty 1-2 combination to Sower’s head and finishing with thunderous body shots. Sower tried to answer the storm with his patented counter low kick combinations. However, Kalakoda kept the pressure high up until catching Sower with a straight punch for an early knockdown.
With the judges’ score working against Sower and his left eye starting to look like a ping-pong ball, the Dutch fighter, once again, came out of his usual slow start by using counter punches mixed with inside low kicks and knees.
With his speed, Sower managed to catch Kalakoda, dropping him to the canvas to level the knockdown score with the judges. Kalakoda beat the count but he was clearly hurt and started to back down over the ropes as Sower followed with a barrage of punches and kicks. The referee stopped it at 2:30 of the third round to award Sower the KO victory.
With clear damage from the fight against Kalakoda, including a huge cut under his left eye, Sower came back to face K-1 MAX poster boy Masato in the semifinals.
Both fighters started very cautiously, but this quickly changed as Sower countered the more active Masato with low kicks. Sower suddenly found his second wind and cornered Masato against the ropes, but Masato displayed good defense while catching a few inside punches and low kicks here and there.
Sower continued to chop Masato’s legs with low kicks and scored with a knee to the head followed by punches. Sower kept the pressure and scored with a flying kick that send Masato’s head bouncing back. Yet Masato pushed forward and both fighters traded on the inside until Sower suddenly stopped and complained to the referee about a head butt.
After taking time to recover, Sower picked up where he left off and caught Masato with a straight punch that sent the Japanese star down. Masato, smiling, beat the count at eight but the damage was done and the final belt tolled.
The judges scored the fight 30-29, 30-28, 30-28 in Sower’s favor, placing him in the for the second year straight against Pramuk
On the way to the finals Pramuk displayed what Sherdog.com’s Jason Nowe has been saying since last year: improved boxing skills and killer instinct that help him inflict damage quickly to the opponents.
Paired in the quarter finals against current K-1 MAX Japan tournament winner and new K-1 MAX “baby face” Yoshihiro Sato in a battle of Muay Thai specialists. But this one was a short affair for the Japanese fighter.
Sato started with very soft shots, trying to gauge his distance but Buakaw wasn’t going to sit around and wait. Instead, he started to display his new boxing skills, putting Sato off balance with nearly every shot.
Sato came forward with a well placed knee but Buakaw countered with one of his own followed by a huge straight to send the Japanese fighter down.
Sato beat the count at seven but Buakaw pushed forward with punches and counters, leaving Sato with a leaky nose.
The second round saw Sato come out with a knee, but Buakaw countered with a huge left hook that sent Sato down hard. Sato stood but it was clear he couldn’t keep his balance. The referee stopped the contest 18 seconds into the second round.
Buakaw came back one more time to the ring for his semifinal fight against Armenian kickboxer Gago Drago. The Thai looked a little different in this match, mostly trying to save energy for the finals and just playing a “macho game” with Drago, returning everything — punches, high kicks, knees and even spinning back kicks — Drago threw at him.
The judges unanimously gave the fight to Buakaw (30-27, 30-28,30-28) after three rounds.
Coming into the finals to decide the K-1 MAX 2006 champion, Buakaw was the fresher of the two, especially after his short fight against Sato and how he imposed his rhythm over Drago.
Sower came to the finals like he did in the semis: with the most visible damage out of the two fighters, including two bad cuts under both eyes and several bruises over his face from the wars against Kalakoda and Masato.
Sower started aggressive with big hooks over Buakaw but the Thai fighter keep his composure and fired away with jabs to set up middle kicks.
Between the exchanges, Buakaw managed to put Sower down but Sower quickly complained to the referee. At the moment, it was difficult to understand exactly what the reason was behind Sower’s complaints.
Sower came back aggressively with knees mixed with hooks, but Buakaw connected with a straight that sent Sower down again.
Sower beat the count, however the damage from Buakaw and the last two fights is so visible that finally, after fighting his heart out in the tournament, he began to show signs of being hurt.
Buakaw followed with a straight right for the final knockdown and knockout.
With the result, Buakaw Por Pramuk became the first two-time champion in K-1 MAX history.
In earlier tournament results, Masato defeated Takayuki Kohiruimaki after three rounds by unanimous decision (30-28 three times). Drago defeated Albert Kraus after three rounds by unanimous decision (30-28 three times).
Fernando Calleros defeated Kozo Takeda after three rounds by unanimous decision (28-26, 28-26, 28-27). Tatsuji defeated Yasuhito Shirasu after three rounds unanimous decision (30-28, 30-28, 30-29). Yodsanklai Fairtex defeated Kamal El Amrani after three rounds unanimous decision (30-26 three times). And the reserve fight saw Artur Kyshenko defeat Rayen Simson after three rounds by unanimous decision.