On his way to the € 50.000 tournament jackpot, Van Roosmalen defeated Chahid Oulad el Hadj, Chris Ngimbi and Artur Kyshenko.
After the four quarter finals the odds seemed to be in favor of Ukrainian Kyshenko, who really showed some high class kickboxing in his fight with Gago Drago. Pushing the pace right from the start, Kyshenko put a lot of pressure on Drago, who couldn’t get into the fight. Kyshenko repeatedly punched to the liver of ‘Mr. Entertainment’, and in round 2 Drago made a brave effort to tell Kyshenko to “Come on”. Maybe not the best decision in Drago’s career, as Kyshenko started round 3 in a way that lived up to the tournament’s name: fast and furious. Early in the third, Kyshenko scored a down. After the second series of powershots from Kyshenko, Drago couldn’t beat the 8 count; Kyshenko winner by TKO.
Harut Grigorian was seen by most people as the outsider, but he put some serious pressure on Andy Souwer from the very start. With his trademark hard and long series of punches, he put Souwer into the ropes, winning the first round. The second round showed some great combinations from both sides. With both fighters showing great heart, the round turned into a slugfest. With an advantage for Grigorian going into round 3, Souwer knew it was his turn to take the initiative. In a fantastic round Souwer managed to turn the fight into a draw, resulting in an extension round. The fourth round saw tournament veteran Souwer coming in, looking for the clinch to launch his knee strikes. Again the round was marked by some slugfests and both fighters showed amazing stamina. After four rounds of action, the judges scored the fight 4-1 in the advantage of Andy Souwer, but Harut Grigorian really left a lasting impression against one of the best fighters in the world.
The third quarter final of the evening featured the second rematch in this tournament. The current IT’S SHOWTIME world champion 70kg max, Chris Ngimbi, won his title by beating Murat Direkçi in December 2010, so Direkçi was looking for revenge. Dancing his way to the ring, Ngimbi seemed relaxed, but in the ring it was all business. He launched some of his notorious flying knees, but Direkçi managed to neutralize the knees a couple of times by sweeping the legs of ‘The African Warrior’. Direkçi tried to go for the quick KO with powershots. However, from the very start of round 2, Ngimbi showed he has some power of his own, launching a big right hand which led to a knockdown for Direkçi. Immediately after Direkçi beat the 8 count, Ngimbi tried to finish the fight and flying knees came in from both sides. With a cut above the eye and a bleeding nose, Direkçi ended the round still being on his feet. Direkçi needed a knockdown or knockout to win the fight, so he tried to launch his dynamite punches and soon hooks were flying all over the place, turning the fight into a brawl. Ngimbi took the unanimous decision in another action-packed fight in this tournament.
Chahid Oulad el Hadj and Robin van Roosmalen showed the fans some great combinations in a tough, but technical, fight. Chahid tried to switch to southpaw, but he clearly was stronger in orthodox stance. In the second round, Van Roosmalen put pressure on Chahid, but although Chahid stood there with his back against the ropes, he seemed to shake off the punches. The shaking off didn’t last very long, as Van Roosmalen kept firing hard punches and scored a knockdown. After the 8 count, Chahid’s corner threw the towel into the ring, probably as a result of Chahid getting 3 of his teeth knocked out.
The first semi final featured two of the very best fighters in the world in the weight class under 70 kilograms. Kyshenko immediately took the center of the ring, working Souwer into the ropes in a technically great round for both fighters. Souwer, who’s known to be a slow-starter, really woke up from a nice shot by Kyshenko and started attacking. After Souwer got hit in the groin, he could continue and suddenly became the hunter, pushing Kyshenko into the ropes. Unfortunately for Souwer, he fell and most of the threat for Kyshenko was gone. Kyshenko scored a knockdown in the third round, as it seemed like Souwer injured his leg. As Kyshenko went in for the kill and turned the fight into one-way traffic, Souwer lasted the storm but quickly received his second 8 count of the round. Souwer managed to end the fight with what later appeared to be a broken shin. Kyshenko took his spot in the final by defeating Souwer by unanimous decision.
The second spot in the final was reserved for either Chris Ngimbi or Robin van Roosmalen. Both left nothing unanswered. When one fired a combination, the other immediately fired back. Ngimbi took some shots, but laughed at it. The stamina showed by both fighters was amazing, and they seemed to be able to fight another 15 rounds. Van Roosmalen threw a lot of vicious punches, while living up to his nickname ‘Pokerface’. Even when he gets hit, it doesn’t seem to affect him. At the end of the round he connected well, tried to finish the fight but he lost momentum before the bell rang. Round 3 was more of the same, but it means more of the same amazing action! Keeping his defense tight, Van Roosmalen worked his punches from different angles. Ngimbi showed a great chin in this fight, taking shots, laughing and answering with a flying knee, but it was Van Roosmalen who landed more punches, taking the 4-1 decision.
And then…the final. There was only 1 question flying around in Forest National: who would win the IT’S SHOWTIME ‘Fast & Furious 70 max’ 8 man tournament and the € 50.000 jackpot?
The taller Kyshenko made the first move, but just like in his previous fights, Van Roosmalen fired back. Despite of Kyshenko’s advantage in height and reach, Van Roosmalen managed to find his range, coming in with hard punches and landing a beautiful left hook to Kyshenko’s head, scoring a first round knockout in this tournament final.
Not only did Van Roosmalen win this prestigious tournament in an impressive manner, but he also catapulted himself to the upper regions of worldwide rankings. ‘Pokerface’ suddenly lost his neutral expression as tears of joy ran down his face. The man who took the place of the original favorite (Giorgio Petrosyan), took that place in great fashion by winning the IT’S SHOWTIME ‘Fast & Furious 70 max’ tournament.
As usual on the events of IT’S SHOWTIME, there was a world title at stake. The Russian Artem Levin successfully defended his world title 77kg max as he knocked out Murthel Groenhart in the fifth round. In what appeared to be kind of a referee’s nightmare, Groenhart and Levin put up a strange fight. It was hard, but at times very sloppy. Not many clean hard shots were landed, but the majority of them were from the Russian. Being a Muay Thai stylist, Levin is used to fight 5 rounds and when the championship rounds began, Levin got stronger. After a not very spectacular fight, the unorthodox Levin knocked out Groenhart with a well placed knee to the body.
Also on the main card, 2 superfights. In the first, Yassin Baitar and Marat Grigorian started off very slow and passive, but round 2 saw some more action. Baitar preferred to use his punches in the second, while Grigorian put in some variation with knees and kicks. In the third round, Baitar seemed more passive as he tried to keep Grigorian at distance with front-kicks. Grigorian came in with some big punches, pushing the pace and trying to force a knockout. Baitar tried to fight back, but he simply didn’t have enough stamina to put Grigorian in trouble. The judges scored the fight 4-1 in favor of Grigorian.
Rustemi Kreshnik started in southpaw stance in his heavyweight superfight against Spanish Moises Baute. In a spectacular attempt to score a flying knee after his punch landed, Kreshnik almost ‘flew’ out of the ring. There was not enough momentum to score a KO in the first round, but Kreshnik had a mission. In round 2 both fighters scored with punches and as Kreshnik’s nose started to bleed, he also started to get more aggressive. Kreshnik ended the fight with a huge punch, leaving Baute on the canvas. Kreshnik can add another knockout victory to his record.
Part 1 of the show saw Andy Ristie taking the number 1 reserve spot for the tournament, as he outworked William Diender. Diender’s start was way too slow and Ristie’s smarter style was too much for Diender, who got countered throughout the fight. Diender realized in the third round that he was far behind on the score sheets, so he started a ‘do or die’ attack. Knowing he has a good chin, he just went in to take one to give one. Hard hooks put Ristie in trouble for a moment, but the young protégé of Tyrone Spong managed to recover. As wild haymakers from Diender flew all over the place, the third round was an entertaining slugfest, but Diender couldn’t force the knockout. Andy Ristie took the unanimous decision in a fight that caused an injury to his foot and ankle, so for Ristie it probably wasn’t too big of a deal that all of the tournament quarter final winners could advance to the semi finals.
Arman Hambaryan got the nod from all 5 judges in his fight against Ali Abrayem. This method of victory was followed by Sonny Dagraed, who defeated Abdel Fakiri. The second reserve fight was a prey for Nordin Benmoh, as the doctor called a stop to his fight with Fatih Ozkan, due to a cut close to the right eye of Ozkan.
Prelim action in the three opening fights of the night. Patrick Beya defeated Mohamed Abdi by TKO in round 3. Thomas Vanneste knocked out Kirk Krouba in the third round of their heavyweight contest after punishing the liver of Krouba. Vincent Gloris defeated Saidane Nordyne by knockout in round 2.
Many fans got what they have been waiting for after the traditional summer break, with this night so full of action. BFN Group, Music Hall Group and IT’S SHOWTIME managed to set up a tournament that was even better than expected. First event down, many left to go…
- By Sebastiën van Dusschoten
Complete Results:
Quarter Final: Artur Kyshenko def. Gago Drago, TKO Round 3
Quarter Final: Andy Souwer def. Harut Grigorian, Dec ER
Quarter Final: Chris Ngimbi def. Murat Direkci, Dec
Quarter Final: Robin van Roosmalen def. Chahid Oulad el Hadj, TKO Round 2
73kg Super Fight: Marat Grigorian def. Yassin Baitar, Dec
Semi Final: Artur Kyshenko def. Andy Souwer, Dec
Semi Final: Robin van Roosmalen def. Chris Ngimbi, Dec
77kg Title Match: Artem Levin def. Murthel Groenhart, KO Round 5
95+kg Super Fight: Rustemi Kreshnik def. Moises Baute, KO Round 2
Final: Robin van Roosmalen def. Artur Kyshenko, KO Round 1
For the photos of this event, click http://www.itsshowtime.nl/index.php?p=media&id=3&tab=0
