Israel Adesanya took out the King In The Ring crusierweight (86kg) tournament for a second time last Saturday night. Adesanya stopped all three of his opponents to take his professional kickboxing record to 44-2.
The event took place at the ASB Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.
In the first round, Adesanya stopped Extreme Muay Thai trained fighter Kim Loudan in the third round before progressing to the semi-finals to defeat Australian based English fighter Mark Timms via TKO. On the other side of the bracket, Sydney based Simon Maait defeated both Zak Fatamaka and Zane Hopman via unanimous decision.
Unfortunately an injury suffered in his semi-final bout forced him out of the final. With semi-final replacement Hopman also unable to continue, Pati Afoa stepped up to take the fight. He proved no match for Adesanya though, with the Nigerian born, Auckland based fighter securing the TKO stoppage, only 63-seconds into the bout.
The win came only a fortnight after Adesanya claimed an eight-man boxing tournament. The 24 year-old, Adesanya also 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.
86kg Tournament Quarter Final:
- Zane Hopman def Kurtis Pegoraro via Decision (Unanimous)
- Simon Maait def Zak Fatamaka via Decision (Unanimous)
- Israel Adesanya def Kim Loudon via TKO, Rd 3, 0:46
- Mark Timms def Pati Afoa via Decision (Round 4 Extension)
86kg Tournament Semi-Finals:
- Simon Maait def Zane Hopman via Decision (Unanimous)
- Israel Adesanya def Mark Timms via TKO, Rd 2, 1:58
86kg Tournament Final:
- *Israel Adesanya def Pati Afoa via TKO, Rd 1, 1:03
Other bouts:
- Blood Diamond def Francoise Sanchez via TKO, Rd 2, 2:17
- Sone Vannathy def Pumipi Ngaronoa via TKO, Rd 2, 2:47
- Nato Laauli def Pane Haraki via Decision (Unanimous)
- Chris Eades def Jordan Syme via Decision (Unanimous)
*Finalist Simon Maait was unable to continue due to injury. His semi-final opponent Zane Hopman was also unable to continue due to injury so Pati Afoa stepped in)
