BADR HARI saved the best until last as he stopped Sem Schilt inside a minute in the main event of the
It's Showtime mega card at the Amsterdam ArenA.
European
Fighting Network's annual carnival of kickboxing at the home of Ajax football club featured 17 elite matches.
And Hari fittingly provided the highlight in the final
fight of the night by ambushing three-time K-1 champion Schilt to win the It's Showtime world super heavyweight title.
Hari was booed from the ring on his last appearance at the stadium four years
ago when, after a flamboyant entrance, he was knocked out in the first round by a Stefan Leko spinning kick.
But he left it a hero this time following a breathtaking destruction of Schilt
in an electric atmoshphere.
The 23-year-old pounced
on the 6ft 11in giant from the off, raining punches on him for a quick eight count as only a grab for the top rope prevented
Schilt from going down.
Hari immediately continued
his two-fisted assault when the bout resumed, dropping Schilt on his back in a neutral corner from another flurry finished
with a right hand.
Schilt wobbled upright but referee
Joop Ubeda caled a halt, sparking manic celebrations in the ring and stands.
While Hari took the plaudits, Tyrone Spong was given a hard time by the demanding ArenA crowd
in his workmanlike points win over Attila Karacs in the chief support.
Spong was supposed to fight Gokhan Saki - the only man to beat him since his move to heavyweight - and then
Ruslan Karaev but both contests fell through due to injury and visa problems.
Karacs - due to fight Rustemi Kreshnik on the card - stepped in and his safety-first style, added to Spongs's
single shots, failed to impress a large portion of the 20,000 in attendance.
Scattered first round whistles turned into slow hand claps in the second, with the final bell greeted by more
catcalls.
The discontent continued as Spong said
over ring announcer Jeroen Post's microphone: "I had two other opponents and I did my best but it's hard to change
tactics. But still, thank you."
Spong's all-round
skills may be more appreciated by purists than armchair fans as he gets used to carrying the extra bulk, but Andy
Souwer is a man who pleased both camps in his three round beatdown of an outrageously game Chahid Oulad El
Hadj.
Souwer suffered a rare and controversial
points defeat to Giorgio Petrosyan earlier this year and was unable to win a third K-1 Max title in 2008.
But he showed he could still be the man to beat with the Final Eight approaching
in July as he cut El Hadj under the left eye with a first round knee and raked him to the body and head for a standing count
on the way to unanimous victory.
Chahid did tremendously
well to last the course after shipping some heavy shots and will only benefit from the experience following an impressive
display against Nieky Holzken in his previous fight.
In an intense low kick battle of two East European heavyweights, Romania's K-1 hopeful Daniel Ghita
impressed in chopping down Czech Tomas Hron's right leg for an emphatic second round stoppage.
The first three of seven fights on the closing part of the bill were beset
by unfortunate endings through cuts and injury.
An
inspired Stefan Leko was ahead on points against unusually subdued Melvin Manhoef, slamming
in the low kicks before hobbling out with a broken left foot in the third round.
Manhoef was unhappy with the manner of his victory and offered Leko a rematch after the result was announced.
Improving heavyweight Mourad Bouzidi was awarded a first
round victory over Errol Zimmerman when a high right knee caused a cut over the 2008 K-1 Europe champion's
eye just as things were hotting up.
K-1 Max tournament
finalist Gago Drago was another cut eye stoppage winner, this time in the third round over previous conqueror
William Diender after another right knee did the damage.
Drago looked ahead after landing several push kicks flush to the face, although a devastated Diender - who
shoved the referee in his disappointment - was applying pressure at the time of the finish.
In a scrappy encounter, Orono Wor Petchpun captured the It's Showtime 65 kilo world title
with a unanimous five round decision over Hassan El Hamzaoui on part one of the show which featured standout
wins for Joerie Mes and Murat Direkci.
Wor Petchpun was too ringwise and crafty throughout, nullifying the Belgian's balletic kicking game and
flooring him with a jump knee for a count in round four.
El Hamzaoui's compatriot Direkci pulled off a second round stoppage win against always exciting Brian Lo
A Njoe.
And Mes' rejuvenation continued
as he floored Shane Campbell twice and forced two eight counts to leave the the Canadian bent double and
unable to continue in the third round from left hooks to the body.
Giorgio Petrosyan - tipped by many to win this year's K-1 Max - was given a good run for
his money by Faldir Chahbari before emerging a points victor.
And heavyweight Ashwin Balrak marked the eve of his 34th birthday with a second career
points win over Bjorn Bregy, forcing an eight count on the final bell of their extra round after a
tepid opening three rounds which the judges scored a draw.
Towering heavyweight Rico Verhoeven, 20, weathered some uncomfortable moments in the first round of
his clash with Ricardo Fyeet to score a knockdown in his resounding unanimous points win.
Sahin Yakut outscored veteran Perry Ubeda
at middleweight and heavyweight Rustemi Kreshnik stopped late substitute Christiano Delgado
with a third round left hook.
Sem Braan
was too fast and diverse for right-hand-happy Imro Main and Chris Ngimbi scored a knockdown in
another points decision over Denis Schnedmiller in their show-opener.
Pre-programme results: Sylvana Pruymboom bt Kelly Lefever pts; Zakaria
Zouggary bt Nick Frese TKO; Maik Redan bt Levon van Geest pts; Marat Grigorian bt Tarik Mokhtar pts.
Badr Hari-Sem Schilt photo (above top) by Ben Pontier
