Popular New Zealand kickboxing promotion King in the Ring returns on April 11 with the event to feature an eight-man Trans-Tasman cruiserweight tournament.
The event will take place at the ASB Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand with all eyes on local fighter ‘Style Bender’ Israel Adesanya who will look to replicate his 2014 tournament win.
Originally from Nigeria, and now training at the City Kickboxing gym in Auckland, Adesanya (41-2) claimed the King In The Ring cruiserweight belt in August, 2014 defeating Slava Alexeichik, Pati Afoa and Jamie Eades en-route to the tournament win. The 25 year-old will be the second youngest fighter in the field but also the most experienced. He is coming off an eight-man boxing tournament victory in late March.
Looking to stop him will be New Zealand fighters Pati Afoa, Zak Fatamaka and youngster Zane Hopman. On the Australian team, knock-out artist Kim Loudon will be looking at taking home the tournament win, as well as Simon Maait, Kurtis Pegoraro and Australian based British fighter Mark Timms.
The fights will be contested under K-1 rules and the first-round match-ups will be drawn on the night with neither fighter knowing who to prepare for in the lead-up.
The event will be broadcast live in New Zealand on Sky Sports 3, while fans outside of New Zealand will be able to stream it live via an online stream pay-per-view.
Tournament Participants (New Zealand):
- Pati Afoa (27-12-1)
- Israel Adesanya (41-2)
- Zak Fatamaka (15-5-1)
- Zan Hopman (17-2)
Tournament Participants (Australia):
- Kim Loudan (32-11)
- Simon Maait (12-3)
- Kurtis Pegoraro (31-8)
- Mark Timms (10-4-2)
Superfights:
- Francoise Sanchez vs Blood Diamond
- Sone Vannathy vs Pumipi Ngaronoa
- Chris Eades vs Jordan Syme
- Nato Laauli vs Pane Haraki
Photo Source: Calden Jamieson Photography
