I wouldn't say needle as both were gentlemen and not inclined to much trash-talking or disrespect of their opponents. Masato did enter the ring to publicly call him out for his retirement match when Petrosyan won the Grand Prix in '09. I think he is actually lucky Giorgio injured himself in training for that, because while the reward of defeating Petrosyan would've done wonders for his legacy it was improbable that he would. Taking on Souwer as his backup choice was best case scenario, as he got to avenge his previous two defeats and 'slay the bogeyman' as it were, a win that was nearly as good for his legacy and more realistically doable (especially seeing as he actually did it :yep) than defeating a healthy Petrosyan in his prime. I would've definitely favored the Armenian-Italian, though it would have been a tough, fun chess match - reason being that Masato really is kind of like Buakaw Lite. So if Petrosyan fought on close to even terms with the superior version who did just about everything better, it stands to reason that he would have the edge with a lesser practitioner of that same dynamic multidisciplinary style with the strong Muay Thai base. Speaking of rivalries!!! - Buakaw and Masato fought twice, splitting a pair (their rematch is considered among the ATG kickboxing matches) and never had a rubber match, which is nearly as frustrating as Petrosyan vs. Masato or Petrosyan vs. Buakaw II never materializing. I don't know that it would have been Pacquiao vs. Mayweather territory, especially since kickboxing never quite moved away from the convention of heavyweight being the "glamor division" the way boxing has at times (in the era of Robinson, the Fab-4, etc) - and while the World Max 70kg division in K-1 did become very popular I feel the heavyweight GP always got more attention from the media and fans. The equivalent of a massive super-fight would therefore have to be some heavyweight match-up or another. It would've been huge all the same, though. Hard to say. I don't honestly follow the sport all that closely anymore. When the Ristie upset happened, my first thought was "seriously? Petrosyan lost to whom?? :blood" (although he did have a few brights spots on his résumé already: beating Drago via UD and knocking out Albert Kraus, which has only happened 4x in over a hundred bouts and is very impressive) - it just came from left field and while decent he wasn't the sort you'd expect to be the one to finally dethrone the Doctor. It turns out he's legit. Petrosyan looked alright in his comeback a couple of months ago versus Erkan Varol - his timing seemed mostly intact, hand speed maybe a little diminished, and his confidence in pressing the attack perhaps slightly dulled from before - overall not too badly ruined by the loss, though. Not much can be gleaned from the performance, since it was his first time reentering the ring and the opposition was lower quality than normal for him. Varol is a former welterweight Euro champion but is really Turkish domestic level, failing most every time he steps up to international competition. The real litmus test will be a week from Saturday, when Petrosyan takes on Enrico Kehl. That will tell us whether Petrosyan is still near his prime form, as the German is a top middleweight at present and is currently the last person to defeat Buakaw (and the first since Andy Souwer in 2009) in their rematch last October, though it was controversial. Kehl and Buakaw fought to a three-round draw, which under K-1 rules means it goes to an extra tiebreaker 4th round. Buakaw had already left the ring believing the fight to be over with the result a draw, and consequently lost by forfeiture simply because he wasn't present to answer the bell for the fourth. atsch ...but the bottom line is that Kehl is a very stiff test, anyway.
Mate, that was an EXCELLENT reply! Thank you very much! ;-) See, when this forum is like this, it is damn good. That's why I love the classic room so much - just super knowledgable posters and great discussions. Anyway, Buakaw really was something. How do you you reckon a rematch between him and 'The Doctor' would have gone? Also, would it be fair to say that 'The Doctor' is the best striker on the planet?
:good Hard to say. Each had qualities to neutralize the other. If they fought a dozen times you could end up with ten draws. :yep (or under K-1 rules, going to an extra round a bunch of times) Maybe. I was dead certain that he was about 5-6 years ago.
Petrosyan and Kehl not only have a recent common opponent, he is the last man both of them fought. Comparison to preview next week: Giorgio Petrosyan vs. Erkan Varol, in January http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAhfWSBktyU Enriko Kehl vs. Erkan Varol, in February http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuzmVsTyef0
Thanks for the reply! That's a hell of a long time to be considered or amongst the greatest striker on earth. Thanks for the vids, man. I'll watch them sometime today and get back with a review on them! ;-)
I'm still looking to find out whether Oktagon 2015 is going to be televised anywhere (EuroSport in Kehl's home of Germany seems like a safe bet) - hope so.
RVR beat Ristie by UD in their rematch. Ristie, who is now 0-2 in challenges for the Glory Lightweight Championship, had previously kayoed van Roosmalen in 2013 @ Glory 12 in NYC in the Finals of the same Lightweight Tournament where he knocked out Petrosyan in the semifinals.
The doctor is still in!!! (video is of him defeating Jo Nattawut last month in his first action of 2018) This content is protected
Anything good on the horizon? I'm outta the loop. (even more so than I was a few years ago when I made this thread) @UnleashtheFURY
Kickboxing is has been forced underground again. K-1 is still lingering but last I checked it was Chinese owned and focused largely on the lower weights(nothing wrong with that) it's not as easy to follow as it once was though. Then there's Super Kombat which is based of Romania, then Kunlan and Glory of heroes also based in China. If I'm honest my attention has sort of drifted away from kickboxing due to it even more underground presence and lack of important matchups. HW kickboxing is the worst it's ever been. Rico Verhoeven is a great talent but he's a big fish in a small pond. a rematch with Hari is in the works for later in the year and that could be interesting depending on which version of Hari showed up. He looked solid enough against Gerges in March to where the fight while heavily leaning in Verhoevens favor is probably the most interesting fight that can be made in the current landscape. Daniel Ghita announced a comeback bid after years out of the ring, and while that certainly has to go against him it wouldn't shock me one bit if he emerged as a top contender again considering how solid he was 5-6 years ago and the current state of the division. Not really a whole lot to fill you in on tbh! Kickboxing is pretty much on life support. Glory is still easily the #1 and they've consistently tread along since picking up that mantle from K-1 almost a decade earlier, although the last couple of years have been much quieter. As far as Glory goes Sitthichai, van Roosmalen and Verhoeven are probably the big 3 to watch as you probably already knew - as they've got enough skill and are active enough to remember. Welterweight just might be the most exciting division with there being the chance of a perpetual hot potato between Grigorian, Groenhart and Doumbe(check their records!) Holzken being in that mix would make it even more interesting, but his heart seems to be in boxing now. I'd recommend peeping the Wiki below and scrolling through. The Glory, K-1 and other kickboxing orgs. Although as I've said there's not a whole lot going on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:2018_in_kickboxing
Tenshin Nasukawa who you're obviously well aware of is probably the most skilled guy out there now though. Just needs a couple of good dancing partners.... That's going to be a problem.
M1 show headlined by Sergei Kharitonov vs. Frédéric Sinistra airing in a couple of hours on Матч! Боец from Russia.
Really? Kharitonov just fought on the last M-1 card just 6 days ago and it went to the cards due to eye poke(Kharitonov being on the receiving end)
