OZKAN the new King

[allanf]

What can i say, a true champion, Gurkan Ozkan has proved it once again he is one of the best fighters on the planet, like it or not, one of the best fight's i have seen from him. You done it mate, just keep the work up and you will finish everyone off that's in your way.

[Andrew P]

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here and I'm not taking nothing away from Gurkan but beating a completely and utterly shot fighter doesn't enhance Gurkan much, it's a huge name on his record yes, but that's about it. Gurkan deserves praise for what he has done in his career anyway, beating the remains of Stan Longinidis should not be what makes people praise him.

[lex]

DAM well said andrew p . lets see when gurkan has to fight some one in there prime...hunt, lebana, hoost.?? he wants to fight with the big boys now..!!

[JANER]

What did people 'SEE' when Mundine beat Lester Ellis? If you can answer that question then you will realise where everyone is coming from.

[Michael Schiavello]

I agree with you Jezze Belle... why do people always seek to tear fighters down when they achieve something.

Gurkan fought Stan... and before the bout MOST people on here and every other website were saying he would be embarrassed and get his ass handed to him on a platter with a side serve of Greek dips! Both men had four months to fully prepare for this fight, and Gurkan did the hard yards sparring Mundine, Tosca, Kongaika and many more. He and Paul Fyfield, to whom MUCH credit must be given, worked out a gameplan which Ozkan hinted at days before the fight... they knew Stan's legendary lead leg was weakened after nine knee operations and two full reconstructions, and they knew Stan would expect Gurkan to simply come out and try to smoke him with fists in the first two rounds. So what did they do? They kept Gurkan at 86kg, kept him quick and honed his leg kicks to throw Stan off by kicking out his legs.

Now, I know Stan hadn't fought in two years, and coming back into the sport against a hot fighter like Ozkan is no easy task. I spoke to Gurkan last week and he said, "Mike, Stan's going to get a rude shock because he doesn't realise that when you're out of the sport for a while, the sport continues to move ahead. I've moved ahead with it. We're no longer where we were two years ago when Stan last fought, but if Stan comes in thinking that the sport hasn't moved forward and he's stuck back two years ago then he will be shocked."

Interesting observation by Gurkan. The guy is a lot smarter than many people give him credit for.

You can never please all of the people all of the time... every top athlete has their knockers... but I say 'fair is fair' and Gurkan deserves credit for 1) defying his critics who said that Stan would smoke him like an overdone souvlaki... 2) changing his game plan, evolving, adapting and sticking to a fight plan for once... 3) winning the mind games against the best mind-game master of them all - Stan is renowned for out-psyching ALL his opponents before a fight, just ask Grant Barker... 4) HAVING THE BALLS to step up and fight a legend. There are HEAVYWEIGHTS out there who say NO to fighting Stan, yet Ozkan stepped up to the plate and did it. Heck, the guy will fight anyone at any weight and will fight them under THEIR rules.

I'm not saying Ozkan is perfect... he may not be aesthetically as beautiful to watch as Mike Zambidis or Daniel Dawson who are two fighters I admire for their sheer skill and flawless technique, but what Ozkan does have is HEART, a lot of skill, power and courage. He has never said he wants to fight the LeBanners and Hunts and Hoosts... he has only ever said he wants to keep challenging himself. He took a personal challenge that few would have - to fight a legend - and put in the hard yards and did what he had to do. To that, I say well done to him. His courage is an example for all fighters, especially a lot of the backyard champions floating around.

For Stan, well, it was not the Stan of old in the ring, that is for sure. It is a pity that we had to see a legend of his status chopped down in such an ironic way. But that's the fight game... if Stan had connected harder with that punch in the first round and knocked Ozkan out cold, people would have said 'Stan is still number one! Stan still has it! Stan whipped Gurkan's ass easy'. It's all PART OF THE FIGHT GAME people. Anything can and often does happen in this game. Stan had his opportunities to win the fight, Gurkan had his. For the first four rounds they were trying to take each other's heads off with big shots. I've watched the fight several times since and there are many ways you can analyse it.

At the end of the day, well done to Gurkan on a good performance in which he showed plenty of courage, self-belief and skill. Comiserations to Stan. He is, was and will always be a legend and I still think he has some fuel left in the tank for another couple of fights... but on that night, Ozkan came up trumps.

[Sucuk]

sorry Michael you are half right. People thought they were going to see the stan of old and not the old dog stan is now... ozkan beat and old chump named stan
the rest you are on the money

[OShea]

Right on Michael. You summed it up well unlike some who still try to make it a black & white issue.

O'Shea

[erco]

Yes ozkan beat stan but the thingz people are saying is all pure bull**** and jelousy, Stan was in top shape as well as Ozkan.
(Turkish blood prevailed once again)

[krama]

Michael - brilliantly said - I agree 100% - a key point being this is the fighting game and results like these do happen.

Erco - piss off to another forum!! you sound like a racist ****head!!
Turkish blood prevails again!! you absolute ****er!! - you sound like a stupid, uneducated, lowered Commodore with SHUbby driving, 'Everlast' tshirt 'I'm a try hard kickboxing maggot. Racist slaunts are not welcome on this forum

by the way - Mr Turkish hero - where the F**& was Baris??
Get a life!!

[JANER]

krama come one buddy I was just learning to respect all your comments. That wasnt called for.

DOnt mistake passion for rasiscm. I am a true turk so just be a little carefull man.

[paul c]

Poor Gurkan,
The guy just can't seem to get 'Any Respect'
Prior to the fight, he was the underdog and was going to have his legs broken. Now all of a sudden he's fought someone that shouldn't have been in the ring.

Can you guys imagine the amount of concentration it takes to stay the hell out of the way of a bomb.
I get friggen exhausted and sweat like a pig trying to catch shots nice and safely out of the ring. Imagine how much it would drain you being in there with a killer who wants to knock you out.

[JANER]

You are right Paul, Gurkan cant get no respect <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle>

[Andrew P]

You guys don't get it. The general oponion among outsiders might have been Stan would win easily because a GLIMPSE of the old Stan was expected. People didn't know Stan wasn't looking good anymore and didn't have it. But you guys, including Schiavello, should ask people close to Stan whether THEY, the people who really new what was going on, were confident of Stan's chances. I'll say it again, Gurkan desreved credit for his career anyway, beating up on that guy yo saw on Monday night shouldn't be what makes him get it.

[krama]

Janer - you're right I went a little over the top for nothing!

I just like the old racial ****! Its ok to be passionate but I believe the general public are slowly pulling away from the ethnic side of it. There was less of the greek v turk theme on Monday night which was great to see.
I'm an Aussie with greek heritage - and the ten of us who went on Monday had nothing but praise for Ozkan - we took nothing away from him - we were saddened by what we saw but ultimately accepnted the fact that Stan should have retired. I will admit though 5 years ago when we were young heroes the wog thing meant alot and we backed ozkan agianst non wog opponents - but that has now changed.
Janer I respect your comments and you keep ripping out some pretty extreme views - it would be good if newcomers follow the general consensus about racsim.

[Axekick157]

Gurkan, should be respected, he has never said that he is perfect but has never sidelined a fight and always puts in 110%, he has the heart of a Lion and the balls of an elephant to match.

I take my hat off and congratulate Gurkan for all his achievements. Well-done champ.

As for Krama, Baris is retired and I'm sure you would never use that tone if he was standing next to you so just be careful on the comments you make, people just may take offence to it.

And no I'm not Turkish but a close friend of Baris's.

[JANER]

Krama, no problems brother! I once thought I was a wog sick arse fighter! lol Hanging out at the local bus stop with my singlet on... lol Those were da little days! You are right about the "ethnic" backing... I didnt hear much of a chant at all from the greeks!! Hahah Krama, what did you mean by extreme views? Even in real life i cop **** like that. To be honest my views change like pendulum!

Axekick you make me laugh! Serioulsly i love the way you describe things "the balls of an elephant to match." lol ALso, are you a security guard by any chance?? I aint seen baris at northlands for the last few months.

[krama]

Axekick - steady as she goes!

If many of us on this forum were to say 90% of the comments in front of the fighters, we'd all have our arses kicked!

What I was trying to demonstrate to Erco was how ridiculous it is to bring ethnic sides into the comments - basicly saying not everybody is perfect - incl Turks and Greeks! - nor should we expect them to be.

[erco]

Krama you can go get fuked u ****aa, ur the try hard fuken hero u pooof, we dont need fagss like you in this forum.

[Axekick157]

It's cool Krama,

I know what its like when people frustrate you, look at Janer his always frustrating people with his Gurkan antics - lol

But I do believe that this Erco is a complete ****er his last post was "we don't need people like you in this forum", I had to laugh because this is from someone that has 4 posts next to his name.

We should all thank him for his huge contribution to this forum - NOT!!

[erco]

Axekik im a newbie mate, so u thing ur something with a 125 posts you got congratulations mate im happy for you, ur another kunt who i thought had reasonanble posts, oh im not nasty i just be nasty 2 people who r nasty 2 me Thanx

[Axekick157]

It's not about you Erco its about the unethical comments you have made in your posts, there is just no need for the swearing and stupidity that you use, we are on here to chat about KB and related subjects not racial issues, you should think about that before you make your next post.

[kpj746]

I dont think it matters who won the fight, any combat sport is difficult and to get into the ring is a big decision and congrats to anyone who gives it a go.

Im more worried about the image of the sport and where it can progress to. For awhile kickboxing in all its forms seemed to be a breath of fresh air when compared to the joke that boxing has become. Particularly in the heavyweight divisions.

Now it seems kickboxing is going down the same round, poor undercard, poor judging, worries that some fights seem unclean and promotors who talk far too much.

If we want combat style sports to appeal to the wider community with the resultant bigger matches, better purses and overseas fighters (apart from Thai's who are on their last legs). These matters need to be addressed but more pressing is the need to do something about the perceived ethnic divisions of the sport.

If you want to see a sport ruined by poor official management and ethnic tension just look at soccer. This sport has been consigned to the scrap heap and lags way behind AFL, Rugby League/Union. The people who run soccer couldnt run a hot bath. It would be sad for kickboxing to go that way.

I dont give a rats arse whether such and such a fight was won by a Greek or a Turk. I wanted to see a good contest between two blokes who have trained their guts out and are ready to give it a go and I want this to be the highlight of the night with the tension being built up by some corker undercard fights where new talent is unearthed. And at the end of the night I only want to hear from the fighters not some piss poor impression of Don King.

[HHH]

The blood, (race) of a fighter does not entirely win
the fight for them on its own!! Race only takes a fighter
so far! It would be a fair assumption to say that certain
races are more suited to certain sports, (Hispanics, African
Americans- Boxing / Chinese- Ping Pong, Afican Americans- Sprinting etc). Do not get me wrong, every other nationality on the
face of this planet also have people that already excell
or have the potential to excell in these particular
sports! If the race of a fighter was such a big
reason for their achievments, then every Greek, Turk
Aussie or any other race would excell in their particular sport.
This is definatley not the case! A fighter wins a fight
depending on their skill, power, and heart, ring experiance,
aggressiveness etc!!!! So when I hear people saying silly things like Turkish Blood wins again, or Greeks rule or Aussies are
number 1 it makes me laugh!! If people disagree then that is there
opinion, I respect that but answer this. If a greek, turkish,
aussie etc gets beated in the ring, does that mean that the race of
their opponent is more supreme!!! I THINK NOT!
The key word here is training, it all depends on who works harder
in the gym boys, not the race!

[Axekick157]

Well said HHH,

I liked the way you layed it on the line.

Regards,

Ax

[HHH]

Thanks man :)

[mick]

very well said HHH hopfully we can get rid of the racist from the forum

[MissV8]

Bottom line is that Gurkan won and Stan lost. For whatever reason.
I'm not going to hide that I was supporting Stan and always have but I'm not going to shoot Gurkan down in flames just because he beat the one I was barracking for.

I'm not a fighter and don't claim to be so I'm not going to sit here and analyse the fight even though I too watched it on pay per view but one thing I can say...

If you are all supporting either Stan or Gurkan, regardless of whether their blood is red, pink, purple, Greek, Turkish or Eskimo, if the fans followed the fighters' example this forum would be alot more civil. That is: One congratulated the other and I truly believe they were oth concerned at the extent of injuries inflicted.

So leave the racial slurs out of this. Sport does not discriminate based on race, why should the fans???

[Lucy Tui]

<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>I have just finished reading the last 23 posts how the hell did it get so out of hand...man Michael Schivello summed it up perfectly ..what on earth happened after that,stay<img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle>
guys this is only a discussion about Stan Vs Gurkan,we should be supporting both of the fighters.....Gurkan won fair and square
to me it was NOT RIGGED,IT WAS A FAIR DINKUM FIGHT...
Regards
Lucy Tui

[lex]

DAM i always thought you were a shy guy HHH.!!!! lol
But well said.

[sethridge]

kpj746.. What do mean by saying "The thais are on there last legs" please explain your uneducated comments!

[paul c]

Hehe Seth.


You tell him.