Will Hari compete at the 2012 Olympics?

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K-1's Golden Boy Badr Hari is apparently considering an interesting move.  Sources indicate that Hari has been approached to represent Morocco as a boxer in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.  According to Simon Rutz, Hari's manager and the head of It's Showtime, Badr is considering accepting the offer and views it as a great honor.

Hari himself alluded to this idea a few months ago in an interview before his fight with Mourad Bouzidi:

Is boxing your cup of tea? Because it was said that you have plans to represent Morocco at the Olympic Summer Games in London (2012) in amateur boxing. Is that true?

Yes, we're working on it but it's not easy to realize this dream of mine. Negotiations are still going on.

But the qualifications for the Olympics already start at the beginning of next year.

Yes, but that's no problem. First of all, the Commission has to agree with me being an amateur boxer. We already had several conversations with the Olympic Committee and they will decide if I will be in consideration for it.

At this point, it looks like the door is open for Hari and it's his choice - if he wants the spot, it seems to be his.  This brings up two obvious questions: How would he do?  And is this a good choice?

To be honest, I am not sure about that first one.  Hari is a good puncher, and clearly one of the best kickboxers in the world, but boxing and kickboxing are two different beasts.  Some kickboxers almost solely rely on their hands, but Hari is not one of those - he uses kicks in his arsenal and he uses them well.  Take those away, and it's a different sport, one that Hari has virtually no experience in.  Is two years enough time to focus his boxing to get to an Olympic level?

Which bring up the second question: Even if he can try to compete, should he?  Should he take the time to train in boxing instead of kickboxing and focus all his energies on this Olympic opportunity?  When considering this, the name that I keep hearing in my head is Kid Yamamoto, a cautionary tale against pursuing your Olympic dreams if ever there was one.  At the end of 2006, Kid was considered one of the top P4P MMA fighters in the world.  Then he stepped away to try and gain an Olympic bid.  He didn't make it, and upon his return, the "old" Kid was gone.  In his stead was a less dynamic fighter, who has lost his last 3 pro fights.  Kid took a break from top level MMA at the height of his skills, only to see nothing come of it except the permanent loss of his P4P status. That's not to say this is exactly what will happen to Hari, but you have to recognize that it's a possibility.

From a business standpoint, Hari would be taking a calculated risk if he accepts.  If he does well, his stock will go through the roof.  But if he fails, and fails spectacularly, he will loss precious time at the peak of his career, and potentially permanently tarnish his reputation as a top-level fighter.  It's undoubtedly a very hard decision to make, no doubt made tougher by personal feelings of patriotism and pride in your heritage. Also potentially making the decision difficult - any influence by K-1, as whatever financial risk Hari takes here, K-1 also takes.  You have to think they will have some thoughts about how one of their most popular stars handles such a major decision.

Thinking about it myself, perhaps it's selfish, but as a Hari fan, I want to see him competing in the sport he excels at, against the best in the world.  Not putting those Grand Prix chances on pause in order to fight as an amateur boxer.  If it truly is his dream, I would certainly not begrudge him pursuing it, and would root for him to take home the gold.  But I would also be nervous about the possible long-term impact on the legacy of the definitive K-1 fighter of this era.

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Jerome Le Banner's camp has been somewhat busy as of late with various news of the fighter's scheduled and desired fights for 2010, and some of it is pretty weird.

First up, what is confirmed: we already know Le Banner will fight Ruslan Karaev in Yokohama in April.  To prepare, JLB just finished training with Georges St. Pierre and Denis Kang in Montreal (fans may remember them training together late last year) and is now working with Thom Harinck in Amsterdam.  This is good news, as Le Banner was supposed to train with Harinck before last year's GP, but it fell through and the end result was a poor performance.  Hopefully a tough, seasoned trainer like Harinck will help push Le Banner here.  After that, Le Banner will face his sometimes training partner Brice Guidon in France on June 5.

Now, here's where things get a bit more strange...

Apparently, Le Banner has been clamoring to get a 2-fight contract with UFC.  His hope was to come in for 2 fights only, then return to K-1.  For understandable reasons, neither the UFC nor FEG were much interested in this, so it fizzled out.  But that doesn't push his MMA hopes aside.  In his goals for 2010, Le Banner has stated that he wants to face both Alistair Overeem and Tim Sylvia in MMA fights.  Overeem should come as no surprise due to the MMA v. K-1 angle he pushed last year, while the Sylvia fight is a rehash from a few years ago.  During Sylvia's UFC HW title reign, some heated words were exchanged over the internet between Sylvia and Le Banner, including Le Banner stating "I will fix his chicken legs with some good low kicks" and insulting Sylvia's boring style.  Affliction reportedly considered the fight at one point, though in the end nothing ever came of it.  Well, apparently Le Banner remembered and is ready for the fight now.  And to be honest, now's not a bad time for it.  Given each man's fading star, a clash in Dream is not as bizarre an idea today as it was in 2006.

Beyond this, Le Banner wants kickboxing fights with Schilt, Hari, and Overeem in 2010.  Finally, he wants to face boxer Jean-Marc Mormeck in a boxing match, however it appears Mormeck has turned down the fight.

A lot of this is pretty delusional, but you have to give Le Banner this - with his time at the top rapidly drawing to a close, he's definitely trying to scratch out every last big fight he can.

Manny Pacquiao; hero of the Phillipines, but for how long?

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The megafight between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao has gone through a lot of ups and downs, with there being a lot of money on the table, almost too much, and both men's pride on the line. When Mayweather asked Manny to submit to more rigid drug testing was when things fell completely apart. Is it a matter of pride for Manny Pacquiao, who believes submitting to such drug tests an insult, or is he dodging being marked as a cheater and all of his career accomplishments ignored? Tommy Hackett looks at some of Manny's motivations, and why in the end we can still only blame Manny for this megafight not happening.

In fact, according to media reports like this one from Robbie Panglinan, Pacquiao was estranged from his father throughout his career. Rosalio Pacquiao in fact attended one of his son’s fights for the first time last year. He cannot claim credit a similar credit for Manny’s development — and neither can the world of amatuer and Olympic boxing. Its tight reign on a fighter’s weight management, its strict drug testing, and its sometimes puzzling scoring are all probably as foreign to Pacquiao as they are to many of his fans, who are reacting with horror to Mayweather’s demand, admittedly unprecedented, for Olympic style drug testing in a pro bout.

But I see it differently. It’s the right thing to do.

Perhaps its unfair to expect Pacquiao to step out of his comfort zone, shed a tablespoon of blood, and take the tests as Mayweather demands — giving boxing fans what we want. But life isn’t always fair, and that shouldn’t keep you from doing the right thing. It’s hard to imagine, given his upbringings, that Manny Pacquiao hasn’t already learned that.

Peter Aerts will compete in his 17th K-1 World Grand Prix this year, and with recent talks of retirement from fighters like Musashi and Aerts being 42 years old, there is speculation, of course, as to if this will be his last World Grand Prix or not.

Aerts recently had a sit down with the K-1 crew to discuss this, as well as his family's support for his decision to continue fighting in K-1 competition. Aerts is hard on some of his performances in the past few years, but says he has been training harder than ever. Peter loves his family and of course the art of fighting, and will continue competing at the highest level possible before he considers retiring.

The K-1 main page has a story up claiming Ghita's time for the tournament last week was a dazzling 5:15 from beginning to end, with Ghita stopping all of his opponents in stunning domination. This breaks the previous record held by Peter Aerts in 1998 of 6:43 for the World GP.

The level of competition was surely different then than now, and if Manhoef would have moved on who knows what the outcome would have been, but for now Ghita has made K-1 history. It would probably be a good setup for Aerts/Ghita for a later stage in the 2009 World Grand Prix. Hopefully you caught this show on HDNet over the weekend, as it doesn't look to be replaying again this month. On the plus side, the Asia GP will be airing this weekend and we'll get some more K-1 MAX before the next MAX show in October (which is still without a card, sadly). News on the K-1 front has been slow of late, but keep checking and we'll have news as it comes.

Peter Aerts is one of the true legends of K-1 and kickboxing in general. The 38 year old kickboxer has an astonishing 122 professional kickboxing fights to his credit and shows little signs of slowing down. For the past few years there have been talks of Aerts scaling back his appearances inside of the K-1 ring, but Aerts was a finalist in both the 2006 and 2007 WGPs. Last year Badr Hari crushed Aerts in the second round in December before moving on to be disqualified against the Flying Dutchman, Remy Bonjasky.

It is safe to say that in the past few years Peter Aerts has slowed down a bit, with his deadly high kick not finishing a fighter off since late 2007. Before talk of Cro Cop's deadly high kicks were in full spin mode, there was Peter Aerts:

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What is there to say about Melvin Manhoef? He is nicknamed "No Mercy" and for a very important reason; Melvin is a mass murder machine inside of the ring. To step in front of Melvin is to step in front of 198 pounds of raw fury and aggression. Melvin not only competes in kickboxing, but Mixed Martial Arts as well, fighting in FEG (K-1's parent company)'s very own DREAM. Melvin is known for having very heavy hands and an incredible style that always entertains. Melvin comes into his fight on 8/11 against the Russian Muay Thai sensation Ramazan Ramazanov.

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