 Choi Hong-man, left, lands a punch on Mighty Mo's face Saturday during the K-1 World Grand Prix Final 16 at Olympic Gymnasium-1 in Seoul. Choi won the bout by a 2-0 decision. / Yonhap |
Choi Wins Rematch With Mo
By Jonathan Sanfilippo
Staff Reporter
When Choi Hong-man walked into the ring to compete in the final match of the K-1 World Grand Prix Final 16 on Saturday night, it was clear he was the man most of the 16,652 spectators came to see.
Fans, some paying more than 1 million won per ticket, gave him the loudest applause of the night. Some chanted his name or even held up signs welcoming the South Korean back to his homeland.
And Choi, in return, delighted the crowd with a victory. Fighting in Korea for the first time in more than a year, the 2.18-meter tall, 161-kilogram giant, known as ''Techno Goliath,'' escaped with a win over Mighty Mo of the United States on a controversial 2-0 decision at Seoul's Olympic Gymnasium-1.
''I wanted to beat him by knockout, but beating him by decision is good in another way,'' Choi said through a translator.
Choi and Mo exchanged blows throughout the bout with neither fighter having a clear-cut advantage. At one point in the second round, Choi delivered an apparent low blow toward Mo's groin, but the referee did not call a timeout and issued a standing count, instead. In the end, the judges ruled in Choi's favor, enabling the Korean to improve his K-1 record to 13-3 and avenge a loss to the American earlier this year, while Mo (14-6) became frustrated with the way the bout was handled.
''I feel like they stole the fight away from me,'' said Mo, who knocked out Choi in the fighters' previous meeting in March. ''They gave it to Choi Hong-man. I felt that I was the aggressor; all he did was throw this kick, that I blocked. I pushed the fight, and they still gave it to Choi Hong-man. I feel I was robbed. I should have won. ''
Sadaharu Tanikawa, the event producer for K-1, a Japanese organization that was holding the Final 16 outside of Japan for the first time, also commented on the bout.
"The main card didn't end on the note that we'd hoped for,'' he said. "Mo insists that it was a low blow, and we'll go over the tape. We're considering using an instant replay from now on.''
Meanwhile, Choi celebrated his victory and soaked in the cheers from his fans. He _ and the Final 16's seven other winners _ qualified for the World Grand Prix Final, which will take place Dec. 8 in Yokohama, Japan.
''I want to give it my all and not focus on what happens next,'' said Choi, who was born on Jeju Island and won a Ssireum championship before joining K-1.
Earlier in the night, Peter Aerts of Holland defeated Ray Sefo of New Zealand by technical knockout when Sefo was unable to start the second round. Aerts (88-24-1), who won the K-1 World Grand Prix championship in 1994, 1995 and 1998 and finished runner-up last year, had landed several first-round hits on Sefo (31-18-1), who had been hampered by an illness heading in the bout.
''It is what it is and there's nothing I can do about it,'' Sefo said. ''I was feeling sick, but I thought that I would see what happened. I know that Peter is a great fighter. He's a great warrior.''
Aerts wasn't the only fighter from Holland to earn a victory, though. Dutchman Semmy Schilt (23-2-1), the two-time reigning K-1 World Grand Prix champion, knocked out Paul Slowinski (69-8-1) by kneeing the Australian in the head 2 minutes, 26 seconds into the first round. Then in the next match, Holland's Remy Bonjasky (28-9), who won the K-1 World Grand Prix title in 2003 and 2004, earned a knockout by delivering a knee to the face of Germany's Stefan "Blitz" Leko (55-16-1) with 2:50 expired in the first round.
''My mother passed away recently, and winning this fight was like giving a trophy to her, so I'm really glad,'' Bonjasky said.
Another high-profile fighter, Jerome Le Banner of France, got an easier match than expected when his scheduled opponent, Ruslan Karaev of Russia, was injured in a car accident and was replaced by South Korea's Park Yong-soo, a young fighter competing in just his fourth K-1 bout. Le Banner (52-13-2), who has fought in K-1 for several years, knocked out the less-experienced Park (2-2) by connecting with a right hook to his face just 1:54 into the first round.
''I'd never heard of Park before,'' Le Banner said through a translator. ''I realized he's young. But when I saw his other fights, I realized I couldn't take him lightly. I knew he was going to come with kicks, so I had to be careful.''
In the Final 16's other matches, Morocco's Badr Hari (63-5-1), an up-and-coming star in K-1, knocked out New Zealand's Doug Viney (18-6) with 1:23 expired in the second round; Brazil's Glaube Feitosa (14-13-1) defeated Germany's Chalid "Die Faust" (6-5) with a 3-0 decision; and Japan's Junichi Sawayashiki (14-3) knocked out Japan's Yusuke Fujimoto (24-15) with 1:34 expired in the second round.
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