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BONJASKY STANDS AND DELIVERS Written by Michael Afromowitz - muaythaimes@aol.com 27-year-old Remy Bonjasky showed the fight world why his promoters have repeatedly labeled him as the next great K-1 icon by defeating three consecutive opponents to take the K-1 "Battle At The Bellagio" championship. The single-elimination tournament victory advanced the Dutch kickboxer to the October 11th playoff in Osaka, Japan. Bonjasky needed little time to dismantle quarterfinal round opponent Vernon "Tiger" White, who attempted to overwhelm the two plus year veteran of K-1 with several flying knees. Bonjasky weathered the storm with his superior defense and fired back with a flying knee of his own. After backing White up with the blow, he sent the American to the mat with a hard straight knee to the body. White rose to his feet, but was met by dynamic agility when Bonjasky leaped forward and delivered a front kick to his opponent's head. The shot left White on the canvas and unable to beat the referee's count at 1:55 into the opening round. The semifinal round of the tournament saw Bonjasky face American Jeff Ford, who had been defeated at the hands of Rick "The Jet" Roufus one round earlier. Roufus was replaced by his opponent in the semifinal round, though, when he announced that he would not be able to continue his bid for the championship in the next tournament round. Ford's demise was similar to that of White as Bonjasky continued his high-flying tactics. Ford took repeated knees to the body before Bonjasky executed a high roundhouse kick that landed on Ford's shoulder and put the American down in pain. In the middle of his count at the 1:28 mark of the first round, the referee saw that Ford had sustained a shoulder injury and called a halt to the bout. Bonjasky's toughest challenge fittingly came in the championship round of the event when he met 2002 K-1 USA and 2002 K-1 World Grand Prix Semifinals victor, Michael McDonald. McDonald, who was eliminated from the May eight man K-1 USA draw by eventual champion Carter Williams during their quarterfinal round bout, returned to top form in the Bellagio event as he had stopped his first two opponents with little trouble. During the opening round of action opposite Bonjasky, he put together western boxing combinations that frustrated his opponent early on before Bonjasky unloaded several kicks. Bonjasky remained on the defensive during much of the second round as McDonald began to go both upstairs as well as downstairs with his punches. The final scheduled round saw Bonjasky go on the offensive and catch McDonald with a flying knee to the chin. A splendid exchange of kicks and punches brought a close to the round. After the bout was declared a draw, it was sent into an overtime "sudden death" round. McDonald went to the body with his punches again, but was staggered by Bonjasky, who penetrated his opponent's guard and scored repeatedly with punches to the head. Bonjasky's brilliant performance during the added three-minute round convinced the judges to award him the victory. OTHER RESULTS: Reserve Tournament Fight: Kelly Leo vs. George Randolph In the bout staged to name a replacement fighter in the case of an injury sustained by one of the quarterfinal round fight winners, Kelly Leo and 6 foot 7 inch George Randolph engaged in a see-saw battle that resulted in Leo scoring a first round knockdown on Randolph. Randolph recovered and stunned Leo with a punch combination followed by a hard kick to the head. The third round saw Randolph open a large cut on Leo's head with a straight punch. As the cut opened and blood poured from Leo's head, the doctor stepped in to attend to the wound before declaring Leo unable to continue. Quarterfinal Round: Michael McDonald vs. Jefferson "Tank" Da Silva A rejuvenated McDonald entered the ring in style with a new black and silver sweatsuit that covered his customary gladiator-style shorts that were also colored black and silver. McDonald fired a big roundhouse kick to the body of Brazilian opponent Jefferson "Tank" Da Silva in the opening seconds of the first round and followed up the attack with a big punch combination to Da Silva's body. . In the following round, McDonald put Da Silva down with a punch combination, but the fall was not scored a knockdown. A McDonald right hook sent Da Silva down. The Brazilian beat the count, but the referee called a stoppage at the 2:22 mark after he felt Da Silva was not able to continue. Aziz "Boom Boom" Khattou vs. Raul "The Terminator" Romero In his K-1 debut, Mexico's Raul Romero displayed surprising capabilities as he aggressively pursued tournament circuit veteran Aziz "Boom Boom" Khattou of Belgium. Romero's repeated knees and attempted head kicks wore down Khattou before the Belgian fighter began to score in the second round with his own offense. By the middle of the second round, Romero's aggressive strategy took a toll on his wind. Heated exchanges saw both fighters reach the level of exhaustion by the middle of the third round. Both fighters displayed exceptional heart as they spent what little gas remained in their tanks until the final bell sounded. Khattou was awarded the judges' decision. Rick "The Jet" Roufus vs. Jeff "Big Diesel" Ford Six-time world kickboxing champion Roufus looked as poised as he did in May when he placed as tournament runner-up for the second straight year. Opposite Ford, he was the busier of the two fighters and intelligently picked his moments to throw his western boxing combinations. In the second round, Roufus' game plan paid off when he scored with an axe kick that sent Ford down. Ford stood up, but Roufus attacked with punches to the head. Roufus, seemingly in pain from low kicks that Ford threw earlier, circled the ring and fought cautiously in the final round before gaining a unanimous judges' decision. Semifinal Round: Michael McDonald vs. George Randolph Randolph was able to take advantage of his reserve bout win when Khattou declared that he would not be able to compete in the semifinal tournament round. Randolph's hopes of a championship were put to a quick end, however, when McDonald pounced on him with his polished boxing combinations. A straight right hand put Randolph down. Randolph beat the count, but was finished with a left hook that sent him to the canvas. Superfight Results: Cung Le defeated Phil Petit - four-round unanimous decision Carter Williams defeated Dewey Cooper - three-round unanimous decision |
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