If this guy makes a good transition from K-1 to boxing...

[nomadman]

I think the Samoan guy you're talking about is Mo or Hunt. Still though if Sapp went to Boxing he would have lost to top 100 Boxers, Sefo and Crocop tkoed him as well. If Sapp charged at Tua like that Tua would have koed/tkoed him in a minute

No, I know who Mo and Hunt are. The guy I was talking about had a full facial tattoo and was knocked out by Glaube Feitosa.

[Phil Ivey]

He's exciting as hell, great fighter. K-1 is dead now days especially without Hari. Too bad he'd need 4-5 yrs to even be considered a threat to the Klits.. and by that time the bros would be old/retired. Who knows he could prove me wrong and become a huge threat in 2 yrs, Richardson sees something in him which should count for something.

Oh and you don't have to worry about Hari ducking anyone, he's a maniac who would fight anybody.

[nomadman]

No.

K-1 is fun, but those guys have some serious flaws and it's not like Vitali would be a fish out water with some cross-training.

Take the K-1 GP finals in 2009, guys getting dropped by jabs.

The reason you see guys getting dropped by inconsequential shots in kickboxing and MMA is due to two things:

- balance: when you're throwing a kick or priming yourself to throw a kick you're more susceptible to flash knockdowns.

- anticipation: when you're not sure how your opponent is going to attack you your brain is less prepared for a shot. You may be expecting a kick to the leg and instead you receive a punch in the face and vice versa. When Ray Mercer tried K-1 he was dropped and nearly put out by an inconsequential head kick from Musashi, simply because he wasn't expecting it. Fracois Botha was getting put down by silly little punches because he was so focused on not getting kicked in the legs.

Vitali's a great combat sports athlete but he's old now, and has had knee problems in the past. You can't just switch sports like this after such a long time and expect a little cross training to see you through.

[Someone88]

The skills and attributes required to make it in K-1 are different from those required to make it in boxing. Someone like Shannon Briggs or Corrie Sanders would have had more success than Vitali IMO because of how fast and aggressively they started. K-1 fights are only three rounds, five max, and fighters have to focus a lot more on all out aggression. They can't afford to take a round off or wear their opponents down or implement long term gameplans that pay dividends later in the fight because there is no later.

I disagree with you about Sefo though. He had very respectable hands, one punch power, good athleticism and an excellent chin. Unfortunately, like a couple of other K-1 guys, he took boxing on as a sideline, didn't apply himself fully to the sport and got KOed by some journeyman called Chester Hughes. That's what I mean about determination and focus. Skelton was a slug, but after he left K-1 he had nothing to lose and just threw himself into the sport. This is a guy, let me remind you, who was outboxed and KOed in one round by Le Banner whilst he was still in his prime.



Put the Hari of today against the young Vit of his kickboxing days under K-1 rules and I don't see anyone but Hari emerging victorious. Put the Hari of today in with the Vit of today under K-1 rules and I see Vit limping out the ring with possibly permanent leg damage. I'm not dissing Vitali here, but he would not beat Hari in kickboxing. Like I said, different sports, different outcomes.

Some good points I didn't meant Sefo wasn't good he was but I was gonna bring up how he did in Boxing but you already talked about that and I get what you're saying, Sefo could have done better in Boxing I agree I think Hunt as well he was very talented if he trained harder he'd have been a lot better.

Also Tua with his power and style would have done great in K-1 as well, about Hari and Vitali we gotta also consider that Vitali likely wouldn't just go there without cross-training when that is factored along with his excellent Boxing skills that's why I see Vitali winning.

No, I know who Mo and Hunt are. The guy I was talking about had a full facial tattoo and was knocked out by Glaube Feitosa.

Ok I don't know then so are you Kazak?

[Phil Ivey]

A lot of Fighters who don't even have close to Vitali's Boxing skills have done very well in K-1. Fighters like Sapp, Choi, Mo, Rampage, Sefo and Hunt did good there but in Boxing they wouldn't have even been top 70 with their skills.

Vitali would smash Hari he was a Kickboxing Champion now he is a Boxing Champion, I'm not arguing with you or anything you're a good poster just saying that the talent gap is a lot between Kickboxing and Boxing along with that Vitali at heavyweight is a top two Boxer

Lol @ Vitali being Kickboxing Champion... its called paper belt buddy. Hari would destroy Vitali in kickboxing just like Vitali would destroy Hari in boxing. Please do not embellish Vitali's achievements as a kick boxer. K-1 and boxing are different, there are fighters who will do much better in one sport than the other.


You mention some K-1 fighters (Rampage and Mo are not k-1 fighters ffs, Rampage has 2 wins in kickboxing calm down) that would do much better in K-1. So what David Haye would get annihilated by a journeyman in K-1 too but he's a top HW in boxing, it goes both ways buddy.

[Someone88]

Lol @ Vitali being Kickboxing Champion... its called paper belt buddy. Hari would destroy Vitali in kickboxing just like Vitali would destroy Hari in boxing. Please do not embellish Vitali's achievements as a kick boxer. K-1 and boxing are different, there are fighters who will do much better in one sport than the other.


You mention some K-1 fighters (Rampage and Mo are not k-1 fighters ffs, Rampage has 2 wins in kickboxing calm down) that would do much better in K-1. So what David Haye would get annihilated by a journeyman in K-1 too but he's a top HW in boxing, it goes both ways buddy.

I was actually following K-1 a lot before, but for a while I've been following Boxing more and I follow MMA a lot too. What I'm saying is I'm not talking it down, I'm just making some points I know Rampage wasn't a K-1 fighter but he went in there and won two fights against Abidi. There are fighters in K-1 and I mean the heavyweights that did very well there but wouldn't have done anywhere near as good in Boxing.

It doesn't have to do with the discipline so much it has more to do with the talent pool Boxing is the bigger Sport which means generally the better athletes and fighters go there, Haye and Vitali would likely do better in Kickboxing than a Kickboxer would do in Boxing. If you don't get me I will explain more

[White_Knight]

All I saw in the vid was a wild flailing of arms. He squares himself up with his opponents, doesn't show any defence, and throws no jabs or straight rights.

He is big and fit, though. I'll give him that.

[-Lowkey-]

For all this talk of how bad or good his technique is I cant believe noone has mentioned the best thing hari has going for him.

The dude is still young. Only 26yrs old. With the klitschkos in their 40s dominating then hari has a good 6-7 yrs to develop and make a huge impact. Especially under the proper guidance.

He is 27 and that is ancient in terms of becoming a boxer he is going to have picked up a lot of bad habits during his time in MMA I think the chances of him or anyone making a successful transition are incredibly slim.

The fact that people are even talking about this guy is testament to how weak the heavyweight division truly is. Not to mention the guy has had 89 K-1 fights and been knocked out 7 times he's not going to be the freshest of fighters.

[gmc_rfc_06]

Don't see it myself.

Big Overeem is a very good striker, but mainly with his legs. He flattened Badr with a left hook, he is often far too open.

[Chaos]

If he had a better chin I would be excited.

Still, he is an interesting prospect and he seems to have legit power. But like i said, he's been hurt by jabs, so we will see.

If you're referring to the Schilt fight then you should also mention that he was fighting a 6'11, 300lb guy, who's left handed but fights orthodox. Also it's not like he was knocked out, he got up relatively quick.