Head Kick Legend: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
Around SBN: College Football Preseason Top 25 Rankings

Watanabe Ready to Knock Out the "Guy Who KO'd KID"

Watanabe at a public workout.

Watanabe at a public workout.

Kazuhisa Watanabe, the Japanese boxer turned kickboxer is ready to knock the block off of Korean fighter Jae He Cheon. Cheon is best known as the man that derailed KID Yamamoto's return to winning to the world of fighting with a devastating left hook. Cheon was a hand selected opponent for KID Yamamoto, with the purpose to be dissected by Yamamoto and be a glorious return wo the winner's circle. The problem was that nobody sent that memo to Cheon, who went in looking to score the quick knockout and did just that.

Watanabe held a public workout, another in a long line of public workouts to hype up the K-1 World MAX 2009 Finals and talks about how he never goes "easy" in training, specifically that he has destroyed a punching bag or two in preparation for meeting Cheon's face with his fists. He also mentioned working on his kicks more to help round out his skillset a bit better. Watanabe himself is coming off a win over KID protege Atsushi Yamamoto.

K-1 World MAX 2009 Finals coverage

0 recs  |  Comment 5 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

Don't Overlook Cheon

Watanabe is the more outsized personality, and it’s easy to think of Cheon as “that guy who showed how far Kid has fallen” but this is a really close fight. For Watanabe to win here he has to focus up and not rely on his goofball persona. People continue to underrate and overlook Cheon, but I think he has this one.

by Fraser Coffeen on Oct 22, 2009 4:36 PM EDT reply actions  

I'm with you

Cheon was overlooked in his fight with KID and will be overlooked here, too.

Head Kick Legend
Twitter @HeadKickLegend

by Dave Walsh on Oct 22, 2009 4:47 PM EDT up reply actions  

It bothers me when someone says…. I’m working on my kicks more to round out my game. It’s kickboxing. Granted, boxing is a huge part of it, but the kicks should always be a staple of your skill-set in K-1.

And Cheon wickedly snapped off that combo on Yamamoto’s face. He might do the same here.

Follow me on Twitter @lelandroling
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein

by Leland Roling on Oct 23, 2009 9:17 AM EDT up reply actions  

Oh totally

Watanabe is a rather one dimensional fighter and by all means should be considered the underdog going into this. I’m not sure K-1 is promoting it that way, as they are pissed at Cheon for taking out KID, still.

Head Kick Legend
Twitter @HeadKickLegend

by Dave Walsh on Oct 23, 2009 4:56 PM EDT reply actions  

FEG really screwed up the KID comeback. First a Team Quest wrestler then some unknown Korean that it turns out has skills.

K1 is huge in Korea right? Even with all the racial tensions you’d think FEG would want to build up a credible Korean fighter, not feed him to every Japanese prospect. I hope it bites them in the ass again.

by omigawda on Oct 23, 2009 7:57 PM EDT up reply actions  

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

Coverage on the world of Kickboxing, Muay Thai, MMA and other combat s
Start posting on Head Kick Legend »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

Connect_with_facebook

SBNation.com Recent Stories

via Zuffa

Karo Parisyan Returns To UFC, Will Face Dennis Hallman At UFC 123

BOSTON - AUGUST 28:  Randy Couture reacts after defeating James Toney in the first round of their UFC heavyweight bout at the TD Garden on August 28 2010 in Boston Massachusetts.  (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Press Release: Fight Metric Becomes Official Stats Provider Of UFC

Photo link

Bellator 27 Weigh-In Results - All Fighters Make Weight

More from SBNation.com >


Managers

Small Dave Walsh

Headkick-lg_small Fraser Coffeen