Japanese kickboxing sensation, Takeru, was in unstoppable form on November 3 to cemented his status as the worlds premier featherweight by conquering the K-1 World Grand Prix on homesoil in Japan.
Takeru defeated British kickboxer, Jamie Whelan in the opening quarter final by unanimous decision (UD), in a bout which as Whelan’s camp had previously predicted, would determine the eventual K-1 WGP featherweight champion on the night. In the semi final Yun Qui would then be knocked out by Takeru who, would advance to the final and triumph again via UD over Ozawa Kaito.
The K-1 Word GP featured 4 Japanese kickboxers being matched-up against 4 foreign fighters in the opening round of the 8-man tournament. Interestingly, Josh Tonna who, had won the inaugural K-1 World amateur championship in 2014, was one of those four overseas fighters. Unfortunately, he was stopped by the K-1 WGP runner-up that night, Kaito.
Japanese kickboxers continue to have a stronghold of the lighter end of the scales in K-1 rules kickboxing. However, the Japanese based K-1 events only continue to motivate the new generation of lighter kickboxers globally since the “Golden era” of heavyweight kickboxers dominating world kickboxing fandom.
K-1 World GP Featherweight Grand Prix – Results:
K-1 World GP Featherweight Reserve bout:
Hirotaka Asahisa def Yuta Otaki via UD
K-1 World GP Featherweight Quarter Finals:
Ozawa Kaito def. Josh Tonna by Rd1 KO
Elias Mahmoudi def. Ryuma Tobe via UD
Yun Qi def. Shota Kanbe by Rd3 KO
Takeru def Jamie Whelan via UD
K-1 World GP Featherweight Semi Finals:
Ozawa Kaito def. Elias Mohmoudi via UD
Takeru def. Yun Qi by Rd2 KO
K-1 World GP Featherweight Tournament Final:
Takeru def. Ozawa Kaito via UD – Takeru crowned K-1 WGP featherweight champion, 2016
K-1 WGP Non-tournament bouts:
Yasuomi Soda def. Fawad Seddiqi via UD
Yuta Kubo def. Keita Makihira via UD
Sanny Dahlbeck def. Yashuhiro Kido by Rd2 KO
