Vegas K1 Fight Features 2 Wrestlers

Ssireum (Korean wrestling) athlete-turned-K1 fighter Choi Hong-man (26, 218cm, 158kg) will face off with pro-wrestler-turned-K1 fighter Predator (36, 198cm, 139kg) in Las Vegas on April 30. The competition will be held as a qualifying round for the K-1 World Grand Prix main round, which will be held near the end of this year. Choi, a quarterfinalist in last year’s event, will advance to the final-16 stage of the tourney by default. In Las Vegas, Choi will participate in a separate event called the “Super Fight.” It will be an arena where his strength and weakness will be on full display for the first time this year.

Sylvester “The Predator” Turkay is a powerful athlete. A graduate of North Carolina State University majoring in political science, Turkay used to play for his school as a heavyweight wrestler.

In his professional wrestling days, his persona was of a cruel brute who threw merciless blows to his opponents’ heads with a fist wrapped in metal chains; thus he earned the nickname “The Predator” after the man-hunting alien in the Schwarzenegger movie. With his wrestling career based in the U.S., Turkay first entered Japan’s K-1 arena in 2003. He lost by decision to Remy Bonjasky, a World Grand Prix champ, at 2005’s K-1 Premium Dynamite, but left a lasting impression. Displaying solid fundamentals, Predator landed many effective blows on Bonjasky during the match. The judges’ vote that eventually raised Bonjasky’s hand came so close, and left many believing that Predator would have won the match if the decision was based on the blow counts and intensity rather than technicalities.

Bonjasky has also defeated Choi Hong-man by decision at last year’s Grand Prix quarter finals. Choi exposed some weakness during the bout against Bonjasky. It is often pointed out that, while his knee-kick should rightfully be feared, his punches and low kicks have not been proven effective.

Lee Seong-ho, the editor of the fight magazine Mfight, opinioned, “It’s too early to say whether Choi’s skills have improved or not. The fighters he will have to face in the Grand Prix will vary in their techniques and characteristics. Choi will have a hard time if he neglects basic skills and fails to introduce some effective new weapons.

Since the Hong vs. Predator match will not likely be about speed, there might be a slight advantage for Choi, who is the stronger of the pair. But there is no telling that Predator will be weaker than Choi in actual event, since his skills are based on a solid foundation. The upcoming fight will put Choi’s newly learned contact skills to the test. The bout will air live at 11 a.m. on MBC ESPN.

Won-Hong Lee bluesky@donga.com