JLB vs. Abidi ++ SPOILER

[smacktime]

Few thoughts in my head after watching the fight twice.

some weird calls from the judge.
Abidi's standing count in the 3rd or 4th seemed abit over the top and not at all worthy of a count.
Middle of the third round JLB put down Abidi and he got up, but didn't put his gloves together and was on the ropes struggling to stay up. Ref let them fight on but he was clearly out of it for a good 30 seconds after that. I think in Japan that would have been the end of the fight.
Finally the ref called off the fight, but all JLB did was push him over. No strike was made at all. Maybe he was in a bad position but from the cameras angle there was no strike that put Abidi down.
While I am glad with the result I come to the conclusion that Abidi is one tough F$%^ker and can't be put down to easily! He never gave up..

[Paul T]

I think that fight would have stopped in the U.S. when JLB put
Abidi down for real, and even though Abidi fought on with
heart, that would have been stopped then, I think that was
the 3rd round. Also, on the other side, with that huge bump
on the head, I think it would have been stopped by a Dr. at
the end of the 4th. It was a great fight, so since it made it
through the 2nd and 4th rounds, too bad it was stopped with
10-15 seconds left in the 5th. The right man still won, but
too bad it ended that way.

HUGE props to both fighters. JLB is now proving he is back in form
really for the first time in 2 years, and Abidi earned A LOT of respect.
JLB took kicks on the left arm, and did not re-injure it.

I hope they both celebrated on the way to the Hospitals :-)

[( o Y o )]

I think the ref should loose his license to ref.

Not only did he completely disreguard all fighter safety issues, he fucked up so many calls it wasn`t funny.

If you watch the first down in round two you can quite clearly see Abidi slipped after a headbutt......he gets called down while LeBanner gets a doc check 10 seconds later....DUHhhhh!

4th round and Abidi lands a decent counter and they are both pounding away and suddenly Abidi gets called down....WTF? Mid exchange?

5th round push down to end a fight in which LeBanner has about 3kg of extra forehead, is cut and bleeding, and Abidi couldn`t form a fighting stance in the third round....yet after a push down with just 10 seconds left on the clock, SUDDENLY Abidi has had enough?

The fight probably should have been stopped early in the third for leBanners egg. It should have been stopped late in the third for Abidi not being with it after the huge knockdown. It should not have been stopped in the 5th after a push.

The ref showed complete incompetence, lack of observation skills, and a disregard for the fighters safety.

The fight itself on the other hand, was fun to watch though.

[krs]

More and more I belive k1 Refs work took "marketing" and "scenario" extra class.
This fight is an exemple to add the the long list of recent bad judgings.

[smacktime]

Yeah one thing I thought about the fight was that they didn't want it to finsh up quickly. Thus letting Abidi continue in the 3rd when he was wobbling everywhere.

[El Presidente]

Exactly whose cornerman entered the ring?

From the PbP it sounded like one of JLBs... but in the official review they say it was one of Cyril's cornermen.

[MexicanFighter39]

Seen The Fight, Its One Of Le Banner's Cornermen.

[( o Y o )]

Exactly whose cornerman entered the ring?

From the PbP it sounded like one of JLBs... but in the official review they say it was one of Cyril's cornermen.


It is 100% one of LeBanners men. It says Abidi either by mistake, or perhaps to stop the NC calls that may otherwise occur.

[sparkles]

That referee doesn't look to smart ... I assume it was however a difficult fight to judge, but for such a fight they should have indicated an experienced referee like kakuda ... btw isn't this the same referee as in Choi vs Koaklai?

[( o Y o )]

It was the same ref.

Kakuda is good when he wants to be, but he is fully employed buy the company that wants to extend the entertainment value of fights like this and obviously enjoys his pay cheque.

[Cracked_Knuckle]

It was a great fight that the ref fucked up.

Both of these guys deserve respect for going way past what was expected of them. The fight should have been stopped at the end of the second round with LeBanners second head growing due to safety, and then in the middle of the third for Abidi being out on his feet.

The biggest shock I have was despite Abidi being very much out of it, LeBanner couldn`t put him away. Two points....Abidi has way bigger balls and a heart, as well as talent than most gave him credit for, and LeBanner hasn`t gotten back to near 2002.

Actually, one more point. If the French kickboxing federation can be so strict with who is allowed on the card, and even what trunks the fighters wear, the very least they can do is provide a fucking doctor that has a clue. That fourth round doc check was a joke.

And the ref should be fired. He has taken over the position of the ref willing to look the wrong way in the name of entertainment.

[OneTwoThree]

The biggest shock I have was despite Abidi being very much out of it, LeBanner couldn`t put him away. Two points....Abidi has way bigger balls and a heart, as well as talent than most gave him credit for, and LeBanner hasn`t gotten back to near 2002.


He hasn't gotten back to 2002 and prolly will never be, but he's not on his way to Bernardoization either. Meaning he's not washed up yet, still has agression and can very well be a force in today's K-1.

[krs]

it seems they wanted the fight to last long indeed. maybe because kakuda's one was so short, and probably for the entertainement too. the ref just followed that ligne.

the ones saying lebaner "played" with cyril probably didnt see the fight. he tried (and mainly succeed) to land how many powerful punches as he could since the beginning of the fight.

about the doctor, cyril's corenermen told me they saw him trying to convince lebanner's cornermens and the referee to stop the fight, and that it's the ref who didn't care at all and said "fight". so it's not completely the doc's fault it seems.

in this fight if everything turned the way it should, the ending sould have been either:
- fight stop for medical reasons on lebanner in the 2nd
- fight stop for cyril being out in the 3rd
- no fight sop at 10 secs of the end, and lebanner's victory by JD.

crappy, independently of the fighters themselves...

[smacktime]

I don't really think that they needed to stop the fight in the second round due to JLB's mutant growth. It wasn't that bad, but by the end of the 3rd it had doubled in size.
Wasn't the doc stop in the second for a cut to JLB's eye/nose area? I can't remember I need another look.

[krikit]

Just watched the ref, horrible horrible ref. The standing 8-count in round 4 is extremly weird.

[-=[DM]=-]

The ref should have stopped the fight in the third round when Abidi was clearly out of it, even ernesto hoost commentated on it.

And Le Banners hematoma (or whatever it's called) looked really bad, I'm suprised they let him continue to fight with that lump on his head.

[CentralKickboxing.Org]

Did anyone notice the number of headbutts abidi threw? I counted 7 in the second round. French rules are tough to justify.

[OneTwoThree]

7? I only noticed two, one at 2:00 of the 2nd round leading to the swell ahead of JLB's eye, the second landing on Jérôme's jaw 30 seconds later.

[Jules]

Did anyone notice the number of headbutts abidi threw? I counted 7 in the second round. French rules are tough to justify.

I saw a few in all rounds, and by both fighters. LeBanner constantly moved into every close exchange with his head in Abidi's face, hitting with each swing.

I haven`t heard of either fighter complain about them yet as they are both guilty, Abidi's were just a bit more obvious.

[krs]

I asked about it and most of them (except 1 that he recognize was a little more "pushed") are accidental from Cyril's part. He told me Lebanner boxed with his head really up in order to protect his jaw better, and as they fought very close the headbutts were not really possible to avoid.

I also saw lebanner sending a knee at one moment (it was in a corner), but I'm not sure as I saw the fight only once. Can someone who has the video confirm or tell me if I am wrong?
It's not really important, that said.

[CentralKickboxing.Org]

Thanks krs,

I saw those headbutts and immediately got flashbacks to when Cyril advanced to the semi in 2000 by ripping Peter's eyebrow to shreads. I don't want to leap to any conclusions. I just have a photographic memory.

[krs]

well, he admited one was still "kind of intentional" : )
but i guess like ( o Y o ) said you can see some on both side! lol

[El Presidente]

Cyril would do great in Burmese Boxing :) jab , cross , headbutt , highkick

[K1power]

I just returned home and watched the fight. My Comments;
It was a great fight and I'm really impressed with Cyril's chin and heart. He was hit with vicious shots but never gave up, showed tons of heart and even came back with flurries of his own. The ref. should be fired btw. Also you could see that Cyrils foot injury really gave him trouble moving around well and it might also be the reason why Cyril wasn't as wild as he usually is. I think they should definitely rematch in a couple of months, with Kakuda as the ref. and with both fighters a 100% injury-free. Also I feel like they should put the ref. of the Abidi-LeBanner fight in a super fight against his fellow ref. Kakuda with no ref. at all. It should be a great experience for him getting some pointers from Kakuda, first hand :)

[( o Y o )]

Thanks krs,

I saw those headbutts and immediately got flashbacks to when Cyril advanced to the semi in 2000 by ripping Peter's eyebrow to shreads. I don't want to leap to any conclusions. I just have a photographic memory.

I believe that is the same one in which Ishii actually said words to the effect of "Being taller and more experienced, if Aerts got hit by a headbutt he can blame no one but himself" and then went on to invite Aerts to the GP. lol

[pirespece]

no news of aerts this year... Has he retired ?

[FieldingMellish]

It's VERY rare I watch any K1 but did make sure I saw this fight. And thoroughly enjoyed it. Seems a lot of the head clash stuff was due at least partially to LeBanner's head down style. Reminded me a great deal of Evander Holyfield that way. Abidi just showed so much heart too.

And like everyone else, I was disgusted witht he refereeing. He should be strung up by his thumbs for that performance. Or is that a bit of an over-reaction?

Also noticed LeBanner's corner seemed to have absolutely no idea how to even begin trying to bring that swelling down either. Not saying it's be easy but wouldn't some use of a proper Endswell have been better than just holding a bag of ice on its general area in a really half-hearted way? To be honest I don't think the fight should have been stopped becuas eof the swelling anyway - it wasn't affecting his vision and when it got really bad there were only potentially about one and a half rounds to go anyway. If his head had ballooned up like that int he first then yes, but not at that moment.