The K-1 has recently (2007/01/26) announced that they will introduce title belts. Since 1993, they have crowned a champion each year by way of an 8-man tournament called the Grand Prix. The new system will give the K-1 two company champions: a tournament champion and a single-match champion. 

Many sports leagues have 2 championships. The NHL (National Hockey League) has the President’s Trophy and the Stanley Cup. The team with the best regular season wins the President’s Trophy and the team that survives the playoffs wins the Stanley Cup.

The K-1, however, is not a league. It is a kickboxing promotional company. If boxing promoters Don King and Bob Arum created a D-K Grand Prix and a B-A Grand Prix, we would marvel at their audacity. Yet, no on blinks an eye when kickboxing promoter Kazuyoshi Ishii creates a K-1 Grand Prix. Now if the boxing promoters took it one step further and created a single-match company title (snubbing the WBC, WBA and IBF) the boxing world would be in an uproar.

Kickboxing is different from boxing. The K-1 is so wealthy compared to other promotional companies that they have a near monopoly on the heavyweight top 20. The kickboxing sanctioning organizations (IKF, WKA, ISKA, WAKO, etc.) squabble amongst themselves and can’t agree on the most basic aspects of the game such as weight divisions, rules and scoring. The environment is perfect for a renegade promotional company to create its own company title.

As odd as it is for a sport to have company champions, the concept is not entirely new. In fake-wrestling it is the standard. The WWE (formerly the WWWF and WWF) is a fake-wrestling events company with no need whatsoever for a sanctioning organization. It is not even a sport. MMA follows the fake-wrestling business model. Pride, UFC and K-1 Hero’s all have created their own champions. In short, in the bizarre world of the K-1, creating a company belt is no stranger than, say, paying ringside commentators more than the fighters in the ring (Yes, they do.)

Now, the first question to come to mind was, WHY? What possible reason could the K-1 have for complicating the championship? The answer is not entirely difficult to deduce. Japanese ace, Akio “Musashi” Mori can no longer compete at the heavyweight world class level. Since his Cinderella appearances in the final of the 2003 and 2004 Grand Prix tournaments, he has suffered serious beatings that suggest that his chances of recovering are remote at best. At the 2006 Eliminations, the K-1 matchmakers had one last chance to support Mori before the tournament draw left him on his own in terms of opposition. They selected Chalid Arrab who won the K-1 USA by replacing Carter Williams in the final. He suffered 4 knockdowns and broke his hand again (an injury that forced him to leave boxing). Arrab looked like the most vulnerable opponent in the mix and the perfect choice to guarantee Mori a berth in the Grand Prix.

Arrab, however, came to win and eliminated Mori from the Grand Prix. The K-1 then matched Mori with Peter Aerts in the GP reserve match where the Japanese ace received the most damaging KO loss of his career. Forgoing any kind of medical suspension (60 to 90 days would have been expected), the K-1 tossed him back in the ring that same month. They were a bit merciful in that his opponent was a shot putter instead of a fighter.

So now with their only competitive Japanese representative in a career tailspin, the K-1 is frantically trying to salvage their assets. K-1 MAX 2003 Grand Prix champion Masato Kobayashi is considering retirement. K-1 Hero’s 2005 champion Norifumi Yamamoto has retired to pursue a 2008 Gold Medal in the Olympics. K-1 Hero’s 2006 Champion Akiyama has been suspended for applying a lubricant to his legs in an MMA match. The K-1 Japanese reps in both sports in all weight divisions are either out or on the way out.

So, if Mori has no chance to win the championship, one solution is to create a championship of his own out of thin air. To keep Aerts, Schilt and Bonjasky from hospitalizing him for the new title, they created a 100kg weight limit. Now, Mori needs to survive Fujimoto (easy) and the winner of the youngsters Karaev-Hari rematch (difficult). If he makes it this far and wins the K-1 World Title, he will have Arrab and Leko waiting for their shots at the title. Champions have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Magomedov is on his way as well. Unfortunately for Mori and the K-1, the under 100kg will be no less competitive to the open class.