K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final

K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final
Information
Promotion K-1
Date December 6, 2003
Venue Tokyo Dome
City Japan Tokyo, Japan
Attendance 67,320
Event chronology

K-1 MMA in Brazil K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final K-1 Spain Grand Prix 2003 in Barcelona

K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final was a kickboxing event promoted by the K-1 organization. The event was held at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday,December 6, 2003 in front of 67,320 spectators. It was the eleventh K-1 World Grand Prix final involving ten of the world's best fighters (two being reservists). The eight finalists had almost all qualified via preliminary events, while two additional fighters were invited as reserve fighters (for more detail on this see bulleted list below), with all bouts being fought under K-1 Rules (100 kg/156-220 lbs). As well as tournament bouts there was also an 'Opening Fight' between Yusuke Fujimoto and Matthias Riccio and a 'Super Fight' between Martin Holm and Jan Nortje, both fought under K-1 Rules. In total there were fourteen fighters at the event, representing ten countries.

The considered favourite leading in was Stefan "Blitz" Leko, who was on a five-fight K-1 win streak throughout 2003, and had beaten Peter Aerts, Mike Bernardo and Francisco Filho leading up to the World Grand Prix. However, due to contractual disputes that arose prior to the tournament final, Leko was pulled out of the competition and replaced by former boxer Francois Botha. It would be a man who had previously lost to Leko that won the Grand Prix.

The tournament winner was Remy Bonjasky who defeated Musashi in the final by third round unanimous decision. Both fighters would be making their first ever K-1 World Grand Prix final appearance, with Remy Bonjasky winning on his first visit to the finals.

Qualifiers - Finalists

Qualifiers - Reservists

K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final Tournament

K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final Elimination Quarter Finals Semi Finals Final
South Africa Francois Botha    
France Cyril Abidi DQ     France Cyril Abidi DEC  
Brazil Francisco Filho       South Africa Francois Botha *    
Germany Stefan Leko DEC       France Cyril Abidi    
Australia Sam Greco         Netherlands Remy Bonjasky KO  
Australia Peter Graham TKO     Australia Peter Graham    
United States Bob Sapp       Netherlands Remy Bonjasky TKO  
Netherlands Remy Bonjasky DQ       Netherlands Remy Bonjasky DEC
New Zealand Ray Sefo  DEC       Japan Musashi  
United States Carter Williams       New Zealand Ray Sefo    
      Japan Musashi DEC  
        Japan Musashi DEC  
Belarus Alexey Ignashov  KO       Netherlands Peter Aerts    
South Africa Mike Bernardo       Belarus Alexey Ignashov        
Netherlands Peter Aerts DEC     Netherlands Peter Aerts DEC      
Netherlands Jerrel Venetiaan    

* Francois Botha replaced Stefan Leko in the Quarter Finals due to contractual disputes and unconfirmed "injury"

Results

Trivia

  • This is the first of three K-1 World Grand Prix's won by Remy "the Flying Gentleman" Bonjasky.
  • This would start the beginning of a 7 fight win streak during the K-1 World Grand Prix by Bonjasky (which spans from the 2003 to 2005). As of 2006 only Ernesto Hoost has won that many fights in the K-1 World Grand Prix but Bonjasky's win streak started with his debut appearance in the K-1 World Grand Prix (2003) while Hoost's win streak occurred years after his K-1 World Grand Prix debut in 1993 (his streak was between 1999–2001).

See also

References

  1. ↑ "K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final Results". K-1 Official Website. Archived from the original on 2009-10-31.
  2. ↑ "Results: K-1 WORLD GRAND PRIX 2003 FINAL". K-1sport.de - Your Source for Everything K-1.
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