06-12-2008
Remy Bonjasky “The Flying Gentleman” reclaims his champion’s belt!
In the 16th edition of the K-1 Final a new champion will be crowned. Many of the so called new generation fighters achieved the final 8 and were eager to become the new K-1 champion. The mix of the new and the established fighters promised to give a blend of extraordinary quality fights.

“The Flying Gentleman” had trained very hard on his physical, tactical and mental skills. Armored with good tactics, a legendary coach Ivan “The Hydro” Hippolyte and his well experienced boxing trainer Eric Warmerdam and his mental coach and manager Charles Heus “The Flying Gentleman” started the tournament. Remy had promised himself and to his fans to win the K-1 Grand final and leave a period of three years of misery in his private life which showed inside the ring behind him.

Remy began his first match against Jerome Le Banner. Fighting in a tournament a fighter needs other tactics when fighting a single match. Remy fully understands that the main objective in this match against Jerome is to win with as little damage as possible.

After a good first round from both fighters Jerome had to give up in the 2nd round with an under arm injury. This due to the hard body kicks of Remy. In the 2nd match Remy had to fight the young talented Turkish fighter Gokhan Saki from Team Golden Glory. Gokhan who is well known for his hard low kicks started the fight with respect for the kicking techniques of Remy. The Dutchman gave his Turkish opponent some space in the first round. In the 2nd round Remy went airborne and with a well placed flying kick to the ribs Gokhan couldn’t continue the fight and was counted out by the referee.

With a TKO and a KO Remy “The Flying Gentleman” stepped into the finals facing Badr“ The Boy Boy” Hari, who achieved the final with a double KO. The final match seemed to be the ideal fight for the fans, as two technical hard fighters would step up and fight for the Champion’s belt.

Remy knew that this fight was not going to be an easy task, but he would give nothing less than his best. The first round started with Badr “The Bad Boy” Hari mostly executing boxing combinations and Bonjasky countered with hard well placed low kicks. Just before the end of the first round Remy landed a solid left hook on the chin of Badr and the “Bad Boy” went down to the canvas. After Hari received 8th counts from the referee Remy did not rage into a slug fight, but calmly overlooked the situation with his guard up. Remy knew that a toe to toe fight could easily endanger himself.

The 2nd round started fierce with both fighters eager to show their skills and claim the K-1 2008 champion’s belt. Combinations were executed from both fighters! Suddenly there was a scrimmage and Remy landed flat on the canvas. The referee stopped the fight in order for Remy to stand up and continue the fight. Then it happened, an enraged Badr “Bad Boy” Hari gave “The Flying Gentleman” two punches and a kick in the face while Remy was lying on the ground. There was absolutely no reason for this action. Remy who off course did not expected the punches and kicks as it is strictly forbidden in the K-1 to make any contact with a fighter while laying on the ground, got hit by the actions.

As Remy did not see these actions coming the impact of the kick was much bigger than it seemed. Badr received a Yellow card for the illegal action. He got disqualified as Remy could not continue the fight due to the kick to the head, while lying on the ground. As a result of the disqualification of Badr “The Bad Boy” Hari Remy “The Flying Gentleman” Bonjasky was pointed out as the winner of the match and therefore the K-1 Grand Final 2008 winner.

Deeply touched by this moment of despair and powerlessness , Remy cried as he worked extremely hard the last three years to reclaim the K-1 champion’s belt and this was not the way Remy expected and wanted to win the title. It felt like the glance of the Belt was taken away by his opponent who did not fight in a sportive way! Nevertheless Team-Bonjasky can look back at a great tournament and another title for Remy “The Flying Gentleman” Bonjasky can be added to his glory list.

USH









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