You Know Who Was Awesome? Andy Hug Part 2

I apologize on the delay on this post. The original idea was to write one of these a week and unfortunately I've put this off for almost two months. I will continue these with some greater regularity in the future. It's been incredibly busy with MMA news that I've put posts like these on the back burner in order to keep up to date with the current landscape of MMA/JMMA/Kickboxing. The previous post can be read here to catch yourself up on where I left off.

Where I left you, Andy Hug was attempting to bounce back from his loss to Peter Aerts at K-1 '97 Hercules. He had gone 1-1-1 in his next three fights with the last resulting in the loss to Francisco Filho, a man who had completed two 100-man kumites in 1995, at K-1 Dream '97.

Andy made his return at K-1 Grand Prix '97 two months later. It would kick off the promotion's largest event of the year with 16 of the best kick boxers in the world invited to compete. The incredibly deep field included names such as Jerome Le Banner, Peter Aerts, Ernesto Hoost, and Mike Bernardo. Andy was matched up with Pierre Guenette, the former Taekwondo world champion, in the first round. The fight plays out as expected with the highly skilled Hug facing a fighter who was set up to lose. Guenette almost immediately clinches with Hug and lands a pretty solid jumping knee. Once he is punched in the face he quickly realizes just how out-skilled he really was and starts to run away from Andy. He is dropped twice in just over a minute and looks physically uncomfortable with his situation in the ring. A failed head kick attempt by Hug only delayed the inevitable and at a minute and forty-nine seconds, he is knocked out with a right hook. It was possibly the sloppiest fight of Andy Hug's career and that is because of Guenette's inability to compete with one of the greatest K-1 athletes. Below is the fight, it's short and sweet. 

The rest of Andy's career and final thoughts on the man after the jump...

The win provided Hug a ticket to the quarter finals of the Grand Prix Finals. The event took place in front of 54,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome. Andy was set to face Seidokaikan Karate training partner and K-1 veteran Masaaki Satake in a rematch of their fight that took place at K-1 Starwars '96. While the first fight went to a five round decision for Andy, the rematch was incredibly short. Andy ends the fight with a brilliant head kick. There's really not much else to say so just take a look at the fight: 

The fifteen second knockout was fastest of Andy's career and allowed him to enter the next round as a fresh fighter. His opponent would be two time K-1 King Peter Aerts, the man who defeated him earlier in the year at K-1 Hercules '97. Aerts was coming into the fight off a hard fought battle against Mike Bernardo, a fight that ended in knockout midway through the third round. If Hug/Guenette was one of the sloppiest fights of Hug's career, the rematch with Peter Aerts would prove to be one of the most technical. When two K-1 champions fight, the audience is usually treated to fireworks and Aerts/Hug would deliver in spades. Hug would throw his patented ax kick and spinning low kick with ease and the end of round three would have both fighters fight in the clinch with Aerts using knees while Hug threw punches to the body. It was brilliance and one of the most technical displays between two masters.

It is said in combat sports that your biggest rival will often bring out your best performance and that is what happened when Andy Hug met Ernesto Hoost in the Grand Prix finals. Andy Hug was looking to win his second straight K-1 title while Ernesto was looking to attain that which had escaped him on four previous attempts. Ernesto had the fight of his career that night. Everything he threw landed with power and he was throwing incredibly creative combinations from both the clinch and range. Andy hung in there for the full three rounds but the fight was decidedly Ernesto's. I don't want to break down the fight as I don't believe I can do it justice. But watch for yourself.

Where 1997 began on a loss, 1998 would start on one of the best wins of Andy's career. He would face then rival Peter Aerts at K-1 Fight Night '98. The event served as a qualifier for that year's Grand Prix with Stefan Leko winning the one night tournament. The fight between Peter and Andy would be for Andy's World Super Heavyweight Muay Thai title and was fought under Muay Thai rules. It would go to a five round decision with all three judges scoring the fight for Hug. Andy would win his next three fights including a win over Mark Russell to advance to the quarter finals of the '98 Grand Prix. His opponent would be the iron jaw'd Ray Sefo who was riding a fantastic win over Stefan Leko in the opening round. Ray Sefo was extremely heavy handed and was willing to take a leg kick in order to land a combination to Andy's head or body. He muscled Andy around in the clinch but looked to tire in the second round. Ray ate a three punch combination which put him on wobbly legs and was knocked down with a straight left. Ray was able to answer the eight count but couldn't survive the barrage of punches while against the ropes forcing a referee stoppage due to the two knockdown rule. 

Andy would face Sam Greco in the semifinals. Greco scored the biggest win of his career by forcing a corner stoppage in his fight with Ernesto Hoost in the previous round. This unfortunately turn of events would set the stage for the biggest fight of Greco's career. Greco put forth a valiant effort landing some heavy punches in the first round. Unfortunately he was unable to adjust to Hug's non-traditional attacks. Hug was close to finishing the fight in the second round but ran out of time as the bell rang. He was able to outwork Greco in the third round to win a majority decision. Also note that the Japanese audience was extremely vocal for the whole fight due to their love of Andy Hug. It's the opposite that we've come to expect when discussing Japanese crowds who are often quiet, only cheering for a feet or technical brilliance. 

The win propelled Hug into his third consecutive Grand Prix finals. His opponent would be Peter Aerts, who had a fairly easy road to the finals with wins over Masaaki Satake and Mike Bernardo, both fights ending in the first round. A physically exhausted Hug was no match for the fresh Dutchman. Andy was on the receiving end of some brutal knees from the clinch and was unable to get any offense going. A left high kick ended Hug's run and won Peter Aerts his third K-1 title. This was a case of an extremely talented fighter benefiting from an easy road to the finals. Hug was just too exhausted to defend himself. 

Hug would bounce back from this devastating loss by going on a four fight win streak over such names as Ray Sefo, Stefan Leko, and Maurice Smith. This run set Andy up for the K-1 World Grand Prix '99 opening round where he was paired with Hiromi Amada, who despite a 5-1 record, was invited as a K-1 Spirits '99 semi-finalist. Sporting a pompadour, Amada was the aggressor early in the fight throwing combinations. Unfortunately, none landed clean and he never defended any of Hug's leg kicks. On two occasions, Hug was able to drop Amada with kicks to his legs. The third and final knockdown occurred when Hug landed a beautiful back kick to Amada's face. It was a case of a highly outmatched opponent being thrown into the shark tank that was Andy Hug's kicks. 

Andy would meet his rival Ernesto Hoost in the K-1 Grand Prix Finals '99 quarter final round. Where in the previous fights Andy would remain competitive despite losing, this night was a complete route. Ernesto Hoost dominated all aspects of the fight and put on a Thai Clinch clinic. Andy showed great heart but wasn't able to really in this fight. Hoost gave him an absolute beating and the frustrated look on Andy's face in the third round told the story of the fight. When the bell rang, Hug knew he was defeated. It would be the first time since winning the K-1 GP in 1996 that Andy had failed to make to make it to the finals.

The kick boxing world didn't know it at the time but 2000 would be Andy Hug's final year alive. He would fight four times that year with the most notable fight occurring at K-1 Fight Night 2000 in Zurich, Switzerland. Andy's Muay Thai title was on the line in his fight against Mirko Filipovic, a fight that took place under Muay Thai rules. The fight would go to a five round decision with all three judges scoring the fight for Andy Hug. 

Andy Hug was diagnosed with acute leukemia on August 17th, 2000, two months after his fight Mirk Crocop. The cancer took hold of his body and he fell into a coma on August 23rd. It was only 22 hours later that he died of organ failure. Before he died he wrote a final letter to his fans:

I think you will be shocked when you hear in what kind of state of health I am. When the doctor explained the facts to me it was even for myself an enormous shock. But I will inform you about my state of health so that I can fight with you against this disease. This illness is the most difficult opponent of all my fights. But I will triumph. And in the same way as in the ring I will have new strength from your cheers and defeat this strong opponent. Unfortunately I am not able to take part in the tournament in October. I will fight against this illness in Japan and one day I will stay in front of you again. Let's hold out!

Greetings Andy Hug

He was a national hero in Japan and after his body was cremated, his ashes were stored at the Hoshiun Temple, in Kyoto, Japan. His death sent shockwaves through not just the kick boxing world but also the country of Japan. He was Kazuyoshi Ishii's greatest student and one of the pioneers of the sport. 

My final thoughts on Andy Hug are that he was an extremely talented man. He wasn't supposed to succeed in life and the fact he did speaks volumes to his ability to overcome adversity. Many consider him an all time great and I would tend to agree. However, it must be stated that he benefitted greatly from his connection to the K-1 brass. They spent time developing him, even going as far as providing him winnable fights in their Grand Prix tournaments to milk his popularity. There were rumors of K-1 fixing fights to bolster the popularity of their main stars who were coming off of losses in order to rebuild them in the audience's eyes. While I do not personally buy into this discussion, I need to bring it up. There is no denying his heart or his abilities as a fighter and dying at 35, there will always be the question of "what else could he have accomplished?"

And with that ends the second part of "You Know Who Was Awesome? Andy Hug". The next fighter I plan on profiling is Funaki. I begin my research today.