So his career is over now in kickboxing where would you rank him of all time? And how would you analyse his career? He holds notable wins over Jerome Lebanner, Peter Aerts, Mark Hunt and Remy Bonjasky. Average? excellent? Hall of famer (if K1 has a hall of fame:huh) How do you asses Crocops carrer as a kickboxer?
He had a very good career. but it was a short one so it's hard to tell. He did pull a "randleman" once against MCdonald. (or maybe it's the other way around). His biggest problem (his nemesis) was Ernesto Hoost. But He truely was unlucky against that guy. and here's why... In his first fight...He was too young. (Hoost was his 2nd fight in his K1 career). In his 2nd fight vs Hoost , He had a broken rib...Hoost finished him with a left hook to the body and it was over... But on the same night , crocop had to fight Sam Greco and Musashi.... If it wasn't for the injury....who knows what would've happened. In his 3rd fight...it was very close..but he lost in the extra round. Crocop was K1's best kicker in the business along with Aerts , Hug & Feitosa. (though Aerts always had a higher KO ratio but both have different styles). I thought He should've won the decision vs Hug imo. Ironically enough...even though crocop never was able to beat Hoost... He had no problems against Aerts , Bonjasky , (the cheating) Sapp. Hoost was never able to beat Sapp (but yeah..sapp was cheating like hell and the japanese fans were loving it..and the ref never did **** about it..) Hoost never was able to beat Bonjasky.. and most surprising of all , Hoost also had 2 losses against Crocop's mentor , Branko Cikatic. Crocop's best wins are against Aerts Greco Musashi Feitosa LeBanner Hunt Bernardo Bonjasky his victory against Sapp was one of the most memorable in K1 because no one was able to beat Sapp at the time. Not because he was more skilled...But because when 360 lbs monster breaks all the rules and rushes towards you like a maniac...things can't always go your way..especially when the ref is not doing anything about it. My only regret as a fan...I would've loved to see a prime crocop vs prime Schilt. and also , a prime Ignashov
in a nutshell...yeah.. then I'd say LeBanner (prime lebanner) before his broken arm. and Ignashov is the biggest overall waste of talent. Ignashov could've been a top 3 ATG
In defense of Sapp, how is rushing towards you cheating? Surely its a good tactic, to prevent these powerful kickers from kicking your weak legs and chin?
rushing towards an opponent is not the cheating part...But whenever he'd do that , he'd generally block his opponents in a corner and start to use hammer fists opr hit them behind the head or continue the beating when the guy was on the ground.. Sapp violated many rules in his K1 career. and they used to ignore some of his bull**** antics because Sapp was a huge star over there. Personally... I don't hate the guy. I actually think that He could've had a fantastic career under MMA rules. (with a solid BJJ defense). He wasted most of his time in K1 though... On a side note , even though he's a sellout and even though he has done some pretty degrading things (in regards to his mockery of afro americans). He's a very smart guy too. Sapp thinks more like a businessman than a fighter though.
