On Friday, 19 September 2014, the King Of Kings 2014 kickboxing event took place for the first time in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.
Emotions ran high at the packed Manej Sport Arena which the viewers of FightBox HD could see for themselves thanks to a live broadcast.
The tension was building up with each successive fight. The show began with a fierce clash between Sirbu Dmitri from Moldova and Romania-born Silviu Cosmin Podariu representing Italy. The Moldovan fighter dominated this highly dynamic, though slightly chaotic brawl from the start and scored with body blows and counter kicks. The judges awarded the fight to Dmitri by unanimous decision.
Then, we saw two light heavyweights battle it out. This is a category where you really start to feel some pain. Daniel Alexandru from Romania managed to get a knockdown in the first round by driving his knee to the Ukrainian Mubriz Kurbanov’s head. Kurbanov was ultimately counted out in the second round after receiving a series of blows and a spinning backfist.
We had a lot of expectations for the next fight between Michał Turyński (Wrocław, Poland) and Maxim Bolotov from Moldova. The Pole had made a very good first impression with a strong low kick but that didn’t last too long. As the fight progressed, the Moldovan gained more and more advantage by boxing better, anticipating Turyński’s moves with jabs and clinching cleverly. However, during the three even rounds the Moldovan fired off two illegal kicks which hurt Turyński and resulted in an extra round. Then, Turyński showed somewhat improved sweeps. Bolotov was losing point because of Turyński’s kicks but he regained them with boxing.
And that’s probably why the judges awarded Bolotov the victory by unanimous decision.
The best fight in this part of the event was the cruiserweight bout between Pavel Voronin from Moldova and Serghei Liubcenko from the Ukraine. This incredibly fierce battle began with Voronin completely demolishing his opponent in the first round. It seemed the final bell was just a matter of time. In round 2, the Donbas fighter focused on heavy kicks and began to dominate, although the Moldovan kept pressing till the end. Ultimately, he proved better and won the best fight of the night fair and square.
This part of the event ended with another Romanian-Moldovan clash in the heavyweight category. Stepan Cirlig from Moldova and Dorin Robert from Romania gave it all they had. For three rounds, Robert kept the pressure on and gained a seeming advantage but it was Cirlig who scored with more precision. It was surprising to see such a great pace and so many exchanges in this fight. In the end, Cirlig scored more points and was declared the winner by unanimous decision, although it would be more fair to call it a draw or have Cirlig win 2:1.
The second part of the KOK World GP 2014 in Chisinau will be rebroadcast on our channel during the fall/winter season.
Full card:
65 kg: Dmitri Sirbu (Moldova) defeated Silviu Cosmin Podariu (Italy) – unanimous decision, 3:0
85 kg: Alexandru Daniel (Romania) defeated Mubariz Kurbanov (Ukraine) – TKO, 2nd round
+95 kg: Maxim Bolotov (Moldova) defeated Michał Turyński (Poland) – 3:0, extra 4th round
91 kg: Serghei Liubcenko (Ukraine) defeated Pavel Voronin (Moldova) – unanimous decision, 3:0
+95 kg: Stepan Cirlig (Moldova) defeated Dorin Robert (Romania) – unanimous decision, 3:0
