Kempo Chris
12-01-2003, 11:08 AM
K-1: Williams Returns - World Grand Prix Finals
Reported By: Boxing Insider - 12.01.2003 02:02 AM
from www.*************.com
Williams To Return To Japan For Saturday’s K-1 “World Grand Prix Finals”
Following his controversial loss in Osaka, Japan on October 11th, K-1 USA champion Carter Williams will venture to Tokyo to compete in a K-1 “World Grand Prix Finals” reserve bout on Saturday. Williams will face Bjorn Bregy of Switzerland during the Pay-Per-View televised martial arts fighting extravaganza.
“I feel good. I could probably do 10 rounds easily,” said the 23-year-old Williams, who battled New Zealand’s Ray Sefo during the Osaka K-1 “Final Elimination” card. “I stayed in shape (after the October bout). Since around October 20th, a week after I got back from Osaka, I’ve been training hard.”
Expected by insiders to be overwhelmed by the more experienced Sefo, the 6 foot, 240-pound Williams surprised onlookers by repeatedly imposing his will on the 2000 World Grand Prix Finals runner-up for the majority of two rounds, using his stiff left jab and hard roundhouse kicks to the thigh area. After two Williams knee strikes were ruled low blows by the referee and an illegal Williams elbow shot to the face, the referee momentarily stopped the bout to give Sefo a rest. Following Sefo’s announcement that he could not continue to fight, the bout went to the judges’ scorecards which had the New Zealander ahead on points.
As a reserve match contestant, Williams is not guaranteed the opportunity to compete in the eight-man World Grand Prix Finals tournament. The winner of the matchup between Williams and Bregy will only be admitted into the main event should a tournament fighter win a bout, but not be able to advance to the following tournament round due to an injury sustained in his previous fight. The winner of the reserve match will take the place of the injured athlete.
Williams’ opponent, 29-year-old Bregy, was admitted to the World Grand Prix Finals event as a reserve fight participant after he scored an impressive first round knockout over Canadian Muay Thai kickboxer Michael McDonald during the October card in Osaka. A 6 foot 8 inch, 265-pound Karate practitioner, Bregy also finished as runner-up during the May 30th K-1 Grand Prix qualifying tournament in Basel, Switzerland.
Since May, when he captured the K-1 USA crown by defeating three straight opponents including defending K-1 USA champion, McDonald, and six-time world kickboxing champion, Rick “The Jet Roufus,” Williams, who entered the Las Vegas K-1 event as an 18-1 underdog, has been on fire. In June, he defeated three more opponents in one night during an International Sport Karate Association (ISKA)-sanctioned eight-man tournament held in Villa Park, Illinois. In August, Williams returned to Las Vegas for a K-1 “Battle At The Bellagio” Superfight and earned a three-round unanimous judges’ decision win over fellow American Dewey “The Black Kobra” Cooper.
A well-versed fighter who holds a black belt in Taekwondo and who has dabbled in jiu-jitsu under trainer Gene Fields, Williams has demonstrated his athleticism in the professional boxing ring where he was victorious in both of his career appearances two years ago. Last July, the young fighter tried his hand in the game of mixed martial arts and was successful by way of armbar against veteran Gary Marshall.
K-1 is a martial arts combat sport that derives its name from its inclusion of a wide array of martial arts disciplines, including Karate, Kung-Fu, and Kickboxing (“K”), and its intent to determine one champion in one ring (“1”). After being staged for the first time in Japan in 1993 under the direction of founder Master Kazuyoshi Ishii, it later evolved into the country’s most popular sport and achieved popular culture status there as its athletes turned into larger-than-life celebrities.
Reported By: Boxing Insider - 12.01.2003 02:02 AM
from www.*************.com
Williams To Return To Japan For Saturday’s K-1 “World Grand Prix Finals”
Following his controversial loss in Osaka, Japan on October 11th, K-1 USA champion Carter Williams will venture to Tokyo to compete in a K-1 “World Grand Prix Finals” reserve bout on Saturday. Williams will face Bjorn Bregy of Switzerland during the Pay-Per-View televised martial arts fighting extravaganza.
“I feel good. I could probably do 10 rounds easily,” said the 23-year-old Williams, who battled New Zealand’s Ray Sefo during the Osaka K-1 “Final Elimination” card. “I stayed in shape (after the October bout). Since around October 20th, a week after I got back from Osaka, I’ve been training hard.”
Expected by insiders to be overwhelmed by the more experienced Sefo, the 6 foot, 240-pound Williams surprised onlookers by repeatedly imposing his will on the 2000 World Grand Prix Finals runner-up for the majority of two rounds, using his stiff left jab and hard roundhouse kicks to the thigh area. After two Williams knee strikes were ruled low blows by the referee and an illegal Williams elbow shot to the face, the referee momentarily stopped the bout to give Sefo a rest. Following Sefo’s announcement that he could not continue to fight, the bout went to the judges’ scorecards which had the New Zealander ahead on points.
As a reserve match contestant, Williams is not guaranteed the opportunity to compete in the eight-man World Grand Prix Finals tournament. The winner of the matchup between Williams and Bregy will only be admitted into the main event should a tournament fighter win a bout, but not be able to advance to the following tournament round due to an injury sustained in his previous fight. The winner of the reserve match will take the place of the injured athlete.
Williams’ opponent, 29-year-old Bregy, was admitted to the World Grand Prix Finals event as a reserve fight participant after he scored an impressive first round knockout over Canadian Muay Thai kickboxer Michael McDonald during the October card in Osaka. A 6 foot 8 inch, 265-pound Karate practitioner, Bregy also finished as runner-up during the May 30th K-1 Grand Prix qualifying tournament in Basel, Switzerland.
Since May, when he captured the K-1 USA crown by defeating three straight opponents including defending K-1 USA champion, McDonald, and six-time world kickboxing champion, Rick “The Jet Roufus,” Williams, who entered the Las Vegas K-1 event as an 18-1 underdog, has been on fire. In June, he defeated three more opponents in one night during an International Sport Karate Association (ISKA)-sanctioned eight-man tournament held in Villa Park, Illinois. In August, Williams returned to Las Vegas for a K-1 “Battle At The Bellagio” Superfight and earned a three-round unanimous judges’ decision win over fellow American Dewey “The Black Kobra” Cooper.
A well-versed fighter who holds a black belt in Taekwondo and who has dabbled in jiu-jitsu under trainer Gene Fields, Williams has demonstrated his athleticism in the professional boxing ring where he was victorious in both of his career appearances two years ago. Last July, the young fighter tried his hand in the game of mixed martial arts and was successful by way of armbar against veteran Gary Marshall.
K-1 is a martial arts combat sport that derives its name from its inclusion of a wide array of martial arts disciplines, including Karate, Kung-Fu, and Kickboxing (“K”), and its intent to determine one champion in one ring (“1”). After being staged for the first time in Japan in 1993 under the direction of founder Master Kazuyoshi Ishii, it later evolved into the country’s most popular sport and achieved popular culture status there as its athletes turned into larger-than-life celebrities.