Post by K1power on Dec 27, 2014 14:46:44 GMT 1
Usually I do these once the new year has actually started, but it looks like January will be a busy month for kickboxing for a change. There also aren't any big events planned for the remaining few days that are left in 2014.
I somewhat believed three times would be the charm with 2011, 2012 and 2013 being pretty weird years for the sport of kickboxing and that things would stabilize in 2014. Boy was I wrong. While 2014 has been a very busy year with lots of developments, it sure was yet another very wacky year and since there wasn't a big event to finish the season - something that has become a tradition over the past two decades - the year ended rather anti-climactic.
That's not to say we haven't seen a bunch of great fights. As a matter of fact; so many events were held in just as many organisations this year that I'm probably forgetting to incorporate half the stuff that has happened into my picks..
But oh well, let's kick things off!
Fights Of The Year
1. Robin van Roosmalen VS Davit Kiria III
2. Davit Kiria VS Andy Ristie
3. Joe Schilling VS Simon Marcus III
4. Tyrone Spong VS Saulo Cavalari
5. Benjamin Adegbuyi VS Hesdy Gerges
Honorable Mention(s): Anderson 'Braddock' Silva VS Sergei Kharitonov II
Upsets Of The Year
1. Joe Schilling VS Simon Marcus III
2. Kiria VS Ristie
3. Jason Wilnis VS Wayne Barrett
4. Enriko Kehl VS Buakaw II
5. Ernesto Hoost VS Peter Aerts VI
Honorable Mention(s): Zack Mwekassa VS Pat Barry, Joseph Valtellini VS Marc De Bonte
Fighters Of The Year
1. Artem Levin
2. Robin van Roosmalen
3. Davit Kiria
4. Joe Schilling
5. Gökhan Saki
Honorable Mention(s): Rico Verhoeven
Breakout Fighters Of The Year
1. Saulo Cavalari
2. Enriko Kehl
3. Benjamin Adegbuyi
4. Kaew Fairtex
5. Gabriel Varga
Honorable Mention(s): Joseph Valtellini, Maximo Suarez, Zack Mwekassa, Alex Pereira, Ilias Bulaid, Paul Daley (as a kickboxer), Lorenzo Javier Jorge (for finally having a consistent year), Ismael Lazaar
Knockouts Of The Year
1. Raymond Daniels VS Francois Ambang
2. Taiga VS Takeru
3. Redouan Cairo VS Ali Cenik
4. Kaew Fairtex VS Yuta Kubo
5. Saenchai VS Ghilas Barache
Honorable Mention(s):
Jonathan Tuhu VS Chad Collins
Comebacks Of The Year
1. Davit Kiria VS Andy Ristie
2. Ernesto Hoost - For coming back to the sport at 49 to beat Peter Aerts
3. Errol Zimmerman - For getting his career back on track
4. Andrei Stoica VS Moises Baute
5. Lorenzo Javier Jorge (Career)
Honorable Mention(s): Sergei Lascenko (Career), André 'Dida' Amade (Career)
Controversies Of The Year
1. Buakaw walking out at the K-1 MAX Finals in Thailand
2. Controversial decisions being made at the S-Cup in Japan
3. Jamal Ben Sadik pulling a 'Badr' on Hesdy Gerges
4. Patrice Quarteron being pulled out of the fight against Badr Hari for not being 'Family Friendly'
5. Joe Schilling getting the decision against Wayne Barrett
Honorable Mention(s): Remy Bonjasky getting the decision against Mirko Crocop, Joseph Valtellini getting the decision against Marc De Bonte
Events Of The Year
1. K-1 World GP in Japan [65KG] - Classic K-1 in Japan feeling > Everything else in kickboxing
2. Glory 17 Los Angeles - A very stacked and entertaining double event
3. A1 World Combat Cup - Final 8 [70kg] - A great event that unfortunately did not get the exposure it deserved
4. Glory 18 Oklahoma - A solid event that gave us Robin van Roosmalen VS Davit Kiria III
5. Glory 15 Istanbul - This one could have been higher on the list without some of the disappointing injury stoppages
Honorable Mention(s): Glory 16 Denver, SuperKombat Final Elimination in Switzerland
As you can see, we actually did get a lot of good stuff this year. Here's hoping Steven aka lord gaul will create another 'year in kickfighting' highlight like he did last year.
But more importantly, what are your picks?
