Curly Howard
12-16-2003, 07:28 AM
Following the close of its 2003 season, K-1 will show a two hour portion of its November 18th World Max “Battle Of The Rising Sun” extravaganza on Pay Per View television at 10 PM Eastern Standard Time on Friday, January 16th. DirecTV, INDemand, Dish Network and TVN will carry the program.
Staged before a sellout crowd of 9,250 at Tokyo, Japan’s Nippon Budokan, the star-studded card was highlighted by a main event matchup between 2003 World Max Grand Prix tournament champion Masato (32-3-2 (18 KOs) of Japan and former International Boxing Federation (IBF) World Junior Welterweight champion, Vince Phillips (44-9-1 (32 KO’s) of The United States. Also a former International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) World Welterweight champion, the 24-year-old Masato has become a dominant figure in world-class K-1 and kickboxing competition in recent years. Phillips, 40 years of age, is best remembered for being the only man, to date, to defeat reigning undisputed junior welterweight champion, Kostya Tszyu. On May 31, 1997, he hammered out a 10th round technical knockout over Tszyu in Atlantic City, New Jersey to earn the IBF crown. Fewer than three months later, he stopped former world champion “Irish” Mickey Ward inside of three rounds to retain his belt. Phillips made two more successful defenses before suffering a fifth round knockout at the hands of Terron Millett on February 20, 1999.
Battle Of The Rising Sun also saw the return of American Muay Thai star Duane “Bang” Ludwig (30-3 (8 KOs) as well as a clash between the colorful Genki Sudo (7-4 (1 KO) of Japan and Muay Thai knockout artist Albert Kraus (24-5-3 (13 KOs) of Holland. Ludwig, who had reached the semifinal round of the July 5th Grand Prix tournament by stopping Kozo Takeda inside of two rounds, was brought back to Japan in the wake of his standout performance to square off with Japanese pugilist Toshio Matsumoto. Last year, Ludwig captured the inaugural K-1 Max USA tournament crown in his hometown of Denver, Colorado, a win which earned him a berth in the premiere K-1 World Max tournament event in Japan last May. There, the former International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) amateur national Muay Thai champion made an early exit at the hands of Masato during the opening tournament round.
Once, exclusively a circuit for superheavyweight fighters above 200 pounds, K-1 opened its arms to smaller size combatants last year by establishing its “Max,” or 160 pound limit, middleweight division. A total of six K-1 Max events have since been held.
Staged before a sellout crowd of 9,250 at Tokyo, Japan’s Nippon Budokan, the star-studded card was highlighted by a main event matchup between 2003 World Max Grand Prix tournament champion Masato (32-3-2 (18 KOs) of Japan and former International Boxing Federation (IBF) World Junior Welterweight champion, Vince Phillips (44-9-1 (32 KO’s) of The United States. Also a former International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) World Welterweight champion, the 24-year-old Masato has become a dominant figure in world-class K-1 and kickboxing competition in recent years. Phillips, 40 years of age, is best remembered for being the only man, to date, to defeat reigning undisputed junior welterweight champion, Kostya Tszyu. On May 31, 1997, he hammered out a 10th round technical knockout over Tszyu in Atlantic City, New Jersey to earn the IBF crown. Fewer than three months later, he stopped former world champion “Irish” Mickey Ward inside of three rounds to retain his belt. Phillips made two more successful defenses before suffering a fifth round knockout at the hands of Terron Millett on February 20, 1999.
Battle Of The Rising Sun also saw the return of American Muay Thai star Duane “Bang” Ludwig (30-3 (8 KOs) as well as a clash between the colorful Genki Sudo (7-4 (1 KO) of Japan and Muay Thai knockout artist Albert Kraus (24-5-3 (13 KOs) of Holland. Ludwig, who had reached the semifinal round of the July 5th Grand Prix tournament by stopping Kozo Takeda inside of two rounds, was brought back to Japan in the wake of his standout performance to square off with Japanese pugilist Toshio Matsumoto. Last year, Ludwig captured the inaugural K-1 Max USA tournament crown in his hometown of Denver, Colorado, a win which earned him a berth in the premiere K-1 World Max tournament event in Japan last May. There, the former International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) amateur national Muay Thai champion made an early exit at the hands of Masato during the opening tournament round.
Once, exclusively a circuit for superheavyweight fighters above 200 pounds, K-1 opened its arms to smaller size combatants last year by establishing its “Max,” or 160 pound limit, middleweight division. A total of six K-1 Max events have since been held.