Tom Yum

From K-1 USA website:

Mercer To Face K-1 Champ Bonjasky in Korea
By Michael Afromowitz


[March 1, 2005] Former world heavyweight boxing champion, “Merciless” Ray Mercer (33-5-1 (25 KO’s), will square off with reigning K-1 king, Remy Bonjasky (48-10 (29 KO’s), in a three-round Superfight during the K-1 “World Grand Prix Seoul” mega-card in Seoul, Korea on Sunday, March 20th. The bout, along with the event’s eight man, single elimination tournament, will be televised on Pay Per View from Seoul’s 20,000-crowd capacity Olympic Stadium.

At 43 years of age, Mercer is a tireless ring warrior who has done battle with some of the greatest boxing icons of his era including former undisputed heavyweight champions Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield. On January 11, 1991, he captured the World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight crown by stopping Francesco Damiani in the ninth round of a matchup at Atlantic City, New Jersey’s Trump Taj Mahal hotel and casino.

Mercer’s final boxing bout came on February 28th of last year when he scored a third round technical knockout on Steve Pannell at the Seminole Casino in Coconut Creek, Florida. After announcing his retirement from the sport three months later, he made his K-1 debut in Nagoya, Japan on June 6th. During a matchup with Japanese martial arts fighting champion, Musashi, the American boxer was able to defend himself relatively well against the kicks and knee strikes offered by his opponent, but was rendered the loser of a unanimous judges decision after three rounds of action.

The 6 foot 4 inch, 240-pound Bonjasky of Holland will make his first start of 2005 after successfully defending his “World Grand Prix Finals” tournament championship inside Japan’s 70,000-crowd capacity Tokyo Dome on December 4th.

Touted as “The Flying Gentleman,” Bonjasky is one of the most exciting specimens of gladiator that the fight world has to offer. From flying knee strikes to leaping front kicks and somersaults, the 29 year old is known for being a fearless risk-taker in the squared circle. En route to the second major K-1 tournament title of his career, he defeated the man that has, to date, been acknowledged as the greatest K-1 champion of all time: four-time “World Grand Prix Finals” victor, “Mr. Perfect” Ernesto Hoost. The win during the opening tournament round seemingly fulfilled the widespread prophecy that the young star would be Hoost’s eventual successor.

The live broadcast of “World Grand Prix Seoul” will begin at 9 PM Eastern Standard Time (6 PM Pacific Standard Time) and will be available on iNDemand, DirecTV, and TVN.

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Tom Yum

The classic format of a recent heavy weight boxing champion against a top-ranked muay thai style fighter.

Any predictions?

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academian

the Boxer is going to get smashed!!!!!!!!!!!

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"In Karate there is no First Strike"
In Kenpo it is reversed:
In Kenpo there should be no Second Strike

Garland

I think tyson switched to children...better source of protein, I guess.

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academian

You mean like micheal jackson he likes liquid protien drink

__________________
"In Karate there is no First Strike"
In Kenpo it is reversed:
In Kenpo there should be no Second Strike

Garland

I think he takes the liquid protein as an exfolliation facial...that's why his skin seems bleached.

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homo homini lupus

academian

I think you deserve a beer after all that

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__________________
"In Karate there is no First Strike"
In Kenpo it is reversed:
In Kenpo there should be no Second Strike

Garland

God...I have stories you wouldn't believe.


man...even post-op trannies need love too.

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homo homini lupus

academian

It has been fun but I have to go to sleep now. so I will leave you with one more

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__________________
"In Karate there is no First Strike"
In Kenpo it is reversed:
In Kenpo there should be no Second Strike

thekuntawman

i think i prefer to see a real "recent" champion fight a K-1 fighter. Ray Mercer has not been at his best for almost 10 years. i think that maybe, he is broke and thats why he is fighting. i dont believe kickboxing always wins to boxing, and i dont think boxing always wins to kickboxing. but in these matchip you never see young, world class boxer against young world class martial artist. this is why kickboxing/martial arts doesnt get enough respect, because you beat a 40-50 years old kung fu man, and then brag that you beat a kung fu "master".

francois botha, ray mercer, even mike tyson? come on, up and coming kids can whip these guys. it will hurt K1 outside the martial arts community if they continue to bring in overweight, washed up fighters. remember the first UFC?

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chalambok

Kuntawman brings up some excellent points. Ray Mercer was a Marine Corps veteran and 28 years old before he started boxing professionally, if memory serves me right. Meaning he must be near 40 at least. In the early days of the MMA fights, the Gracies ran roughshod over everyone, possibly because at that time it was a big payday for BJJ stylists, and not much of a payday for professional boxers or muay Thai stylists from Thailand. And I am not denigrating the abilities of any of the early winners, more the undercards were not up to par. Once the money evened out, the quality of all competitors went up also. Then one style stopped being dominant, and more well-rounded fighters from all systems came to the fore.