K-1 World MAX Final 2004: Rise of the White Lotus
2003. Finally, the land of the rising sun is on top of its own K-1 mountain.
Japan's very own Kobayashi Masato won the K-1 World MAX tournament final. The 70kg version of the world famous Grand Prix was created in 2002, on the heels of Masato’s rise to fame and rivalries with his fellow countrymen.
The MAX (Middleweight Artistic eXtreme) brought excitement to the fans with high paced, action-packed fights in a weight class full of elite fighters. The win saw Masato go from very well known kickboxer to superstar in his home country, after the fans waited for a full decade to finally get its K-1 World GP champion in the big boys ranks.
2004
25-year old Masato was rightfully riding the wave in 2004, confident in his abilities to continue his accomplishments in the years ahead and the retire as a legend of the sport. Cute plans, but kickboxing loves nothing more than to ruin happy endings. The party was coming to an end, almost as soon as it started.
Eight fighters qualified for the World Tournament Final, including Masato. Other favourites were his two rivals Kohiruimaki Takayuki, and the inaugural champion Albert Kraus of Holland. Mike Zambidis, from Greece, had a fair shot at the gold, having KO’d Kraus and acquitting himself well in a close decision loss to Masato in 2003.
Alongside this group, Muay Thai standout John Wayne Parr was widely recognized as being a strong threat to Masato's crown.
The last three fighters were relatively unknown and unproven on kickboxing's biggest stage.
Jadamba Naratungalag came so close to upsetting Albert Kraus in the qualifying match that K-1 decided to grant him a wild card for the tournament. Russia's Shamil Gaidarbekov earned his place in the tournament. Last but not least, Thailand had its representative, as always.
After sending a Lumpinee stadium champion who lost in the in 2002 final to Albert Kraus (Kaolan Kaovichit) and a Rajadamnern stadium champion whom Masato KO’d in 2003 semi-finals (Sakhetdao KT Gym) they sent a former Omnoi stadium champion to compete in the 2004 tournament.
That fighter was Buakaw Por Pramuk. Buakaw beat Jordan Tai, a strong fighter from New Zealand, to get a chance at gold and do his country proud. Few people thought Buakaw would do well, given the history of the previous Thai fighters and their inability to adapt their fantastic skills to kickboxing.
The stage was set for a superb tournament, filled with seven killers ready to go at the King of Japan.
QUARTER FINALS
Mike Zambidis (GRE) vs Kohiruimaki Takayuki (JPN)
The first quarter final had Greek puncher 'Iron' Mike Zambidis take on Japan's number two ranked fighter Kohiruimaki 'Kohi' Takayuki. A wide clash of style between the lanky Japanese karateka with dangerous knees and the smallest but most powerful guy in the tournament. Mike possessed the kind of punch that makes you think about your choices in life, but Kohi had a good game plan: stay the hell away and clinch when the KO machine got too close. This made for a messy, close fight. Zambidis was down in round 2 from a knee, but far from out and determined to win. After 3 rounds, Kohi was awarded the judges nod.
John Wayne Parr (AUS) vs Buakaw Por.Pramuk (THA)
Next up were two fighters that were obviously going to produce more of a Muay Thai fight (without elbows) than a full blown kickboxing one. John Wayne Parr was quite known in the combat sport world: A very good Nak Muay who spent years in Thailand fighting the very best.
Buakaw, 22, won the Toyota marathon a year prior, beating Japanese legend Satoshi Kobayashi in the finals.
This fight was a very close one with each fighter showing extremely good defensive skills. Neither pulled away after three rounds—and the extra round was razor close too—with Buakaw finally taking advantage of very game but slowly gassing JWP. The judges were split, with 2 of them pulling for the Thai to go meet Kohi in the semis.
Masato (JPN) vs Jadamba Narantungalag (MON)
The champion entered the ring like a rock star—literally—with almost 15,000 people cheering like crazy, waiting for him to run through his opponent.
Jadamba was having none of it.
Quickly, Masato (and the crowd) began to understand that the Mongolian fighter wasn't gonna go down easy. Instead, he was bringing the fight to Masato and forcing an early war. The defending champion, although a smooth fighter with beautiful combinations, was also a fierce combatant, always ready for war, and simply too good for Jadamba in the end. The fight was very close, with two judges awarding Masato the win, while the last saw a draw. You be the judge once you have watched the footage.
Masato advanced to the semi finals, but took a bit more damage than expected.
Albert Kraus (NL) vs Shamil Gaidarbekov (RUS)
The last quarter final saw the first World Max GP winner Albert Kraus take on Shamil Gaidarbekov . The fight was very similar to the prior quarter final, with Shamil doing everything he could to disturb Kraus disciplined style but to no avail. Once again a close fight, Kraus winning the fight with the exact same scorecards as Masato, whom he was about to meet for the fourth time in two years.
SEMI FINALS
Takayuki Kohirumaki vs Buakaw Por Pramuk
It all started with smiles and respect. Only Mama Kohi—in the crowd as always—looked worried. The motherly sixth sense perhaps.
Buakaw took the hunter approach, going after Kohi. The Japanese fighter then possibly made the most legendary mistake ever in kickboxing.
He pissed Buakaw off.
After he caught a middle kick, Kohi swept Buakaw to the ground. The Thai wunderkind's mood changed dramatically: he switched to destruction mode.
He started by avenging the outrage no less than half a dozen times, sending Kohi to the canvas in every single way possible. Thereafter, he ruthlessly kicked Kohi's legs, and then proceeded to unleash a furious three knee combos from the clinch, the last one forcing the first eight-count of the night. The round ended in an old fashioned whooping for Kohi, who tried to start the second frame by standing his ground, only to be sent back right at it with another barrage of knees. A final blitz prompted the stoppage, with the Thailand representative reaching the finals.
A savage statement by Buakaw who returned to the locker room fired up, awaiting for the winner of the war to come.
Masato vs Albert Kraus
The inaugural champion versus the defending champion. Two very evenly matched fighters who went 1-1-1 in their previous encounters. Masato won their last bout in the 2003 final with a devastating KO, so the form was on his side.
The fight started with the pair being cautious, both fighter well aware of each others power. Towards the end of the round, Masato connected hard on a huge left hook to Kraus' forehead, forcing him to take a knee. ‘The Hurricane’ was now behind on the scorecards and had to catch up.
He tried his best during the last two rounds but Masato was not giving enough room for Albert to score something strong enough. A good back and forth fight won by Masato, but not without sustaining additional damage. Not a good thing going into the final, right?
FINAL
Masato vs Buakaw Por Pramuk
Japan versus Thailand! Masato was one step removed from his dream to repeat as the champion. But what a step! The champion looked kind of battered coming into the final, while Buakaw looked superfly. And soon enough, everyone would find out the true nature of Buakaw, who had come into the tournament as an unknown.
They started the fight quickly, light on their feet, but the Thai wasted no time to take over with a furious barrage of strikes, using a lot of teeps to keep Masato at bay.
The second round was more of the same, but Buakaw built on the success of the first round and started punishing Masato, beating him up all over the ring.
But Masato never gave up, and connected hard with a right hand that wobbled Buaakw for a second.
In the third frame, Buakaw controlled the action, with Masato not having much more left in the tank.
It's very clear we have a new champion after three rounds…
BUT the K-1 judges weren’t prepared to let the crown go to Thailand just like that. An incredulous Buakaw listens to the speaker announce a majority draw, sending the warriors to an extra round. An exhausted Masato and a seemingly angry Buakaw met again in the center of the ring for three more minutes. Buakaw started aggressively, kicking the hell out of the defending champion, and throwing him to the mat. Masato was absolutely spent and had nothing left but his courage. The Thai dynamo spent the last minute just showing off, taunting a little bit. This time around, the judges got it right : Buakaw was declared the winner, and the K-1 World MAX 2004 Champion. A fantastic achievement for a fighter with only 2 fights under kickboxing rules under his belt.
The Masato era as a champion came to an end much quicker than expected. A fantastic fighter rose from the shadows to claim the throne.
As my good friend and legendary K-1 Film maker Shunsuke once said, 2004 is the year MAX evolved. Masato is the reason that MAX happened. Buakaw is the reason why MAX became a world wide attraction.
And the reason why this writer gave kickboxing much more attention.