After an 18-year hiatus, the K-1 World Grand Prix officially returns to Italy. The last time was in 2006 in Milan, and the heavyweight tournament was won by Belarusian Sergei Gur of the famous Chinuk Gym. This time, the event will be held in the far south of the country, in the marvelous baroque square of Rosolini, where for years the dynamic promoter Bruno Botindari has been organizing world-class combat sports events under the stars.
The card will, of course, focus on the eight-man heavyweight tournament, with a $20,000 check and a ticket to the World Grand Prix finals next December in Tokyo for the winner. In the quarter-finals, Greek fighter Pavlos “the wall” Kochliaridis will face the tough Brit Rhys Brudenell. Hungarian Marcel Horvath will fight Italian Samuele Pugliese in a two-stoppage winning streak. Romanian Florin Ivanoaie will be the opponent of the other Italian in the competition, Agostino La Rosa, while Frenchman Konta “the monster” Malang will battle the Swiss-Iranian Badawi Ali. The tournament favorites are Brudenell and Badawi but in Italy they warn that Pugliese, who qualified by winning the selection tournament in Budapest, could be the big surprise of the event.
A tournament to secure a spot in the K-1 World Grand Prix finals in Tokyo alone is enough to give the event global visibility, but the Rosolini card will offer much more.
Sicilian Giuseppe “The Assassin” Gennuso, WKU Muay Thai world champion in the -57kg category, will defend his belt against the Moroccan El Haboudi, while his compatriot Luciana Germano, after winning the European title, has been granted the chance by ISKA to fight for the -55kg Oriental Rules (K1) world title against French champion Elodie Mabire.
Known worldwide is the Nak Muay Toscano Enrico Carrara, winner of several titles including the Lion Fight belt. This time, he will fight for the -75kg ISKA Intercontinental Muay Thai title against Franco-Moroccan Mohamed Bahi, aiming to then have a chance for the world title in the category.