Ground Zero 2007
Kenichi Ogata vs Albert Kraus
Andy Souwer vs Andy Ologun
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs Ali Ibrahim
Hiroki Shishido vs Big Ben
Gilbert Yvel vs Yuji Sakuragi
Faldir Chahbari vs Kazunori Yokota
Takashi Ohno vs Marco Piquet
Tomohiro Oikawa vs Hiyoyuki Abe
Kouichi Kikuchi vs Marfio Canoletti
Takehiro Murahama vs Takeshi Ishikawa
What a great event, for anyone that likes kickboxing, i suggest you check out some of these Shoot Boxing events, i've seen a couple now and i have been impressed.
Caesar Takeshi, the founder and promoter of Shoot Boxing, has really tried to put together some entertaining cards for his events, the main way i have seen is through cards which have centred on style match-ups, such as the recent Shoot Boxing vs Sanda (Cung Le's style), and Shoot Boxing vs MMA events, the latter of which featured mma fighters such as Shooto's Antonio Carvalho, and TKO's Mark Hominick and Adam Higson, all of whom were victorious in their fights which was cool to see.
Bigben has been brought back for this event, which features several mixed martial artists which im sure you've noticed, and rightfully so as he knocked out the reigning S-Cup champ Kenichi Ogata (who im not sold on), fellow Japanese darling (there a few of these) Hiroki Shishido will be the one fighting Bigben this time, no doubt looking for revenge against the Thai in the eyes of the Japanese fans.
As for some of the big names on the card, home made Shoot Boxing star and reigning K-1 Max champ Andy Souwer will take on Japanese media favourite Andy Ologun, younger brother of Bobby who you may or may not remember from K-1, Ologuns actually not bad, but he wont be beating Souwer either.
Gilbert Yvel will be fighting Kazunori Yokota in a suprising fight which will hopefully settle any lingering questions about a potential fight with Fedor popping up on the horizon any time soon.
"Mach" Sakurai has been booked for the event which i am very pleased to see, for those that dont know, Mach's striking background is in Shoot Boxing so he shouldn't feel too out of place. His opponent Ali Ibrahim who fought (and lost) to Caol Uno in Hero's, will do well to utilize Shoot Boxings scoring of throws, as i believe his forte is a background in Olympic level Judo, not that Mach wont be able to hold his own in that area, but i get the feeling Ali wasnt booked for his striking prowess.
Also on the card is the ever awkward Marfio Canoletti, who gave Andy Souwer a run for his money the 2 times they've met and it seems he has become the go-to guy for a solid match-up within the Caesar Takeshi booking formula. He'll be taking on another crowd favourite Kouichi Kikuchi, either man is capable of beating the other in this one i believe, so i look forward to a decent fight.
Also Takehiro Murahama is on the card, a K-1 veteran, Shoot Boxing stylist and definate crowd favouite due to his small frame and big punching power. I think Zambo has rained on that particular parade however as he hits about twice as hard as Murahama, but as crazy as it might sound, i believe Takehiro is actually an inch or two smaller than Zambidis. Murahama will fight Takeshi Ishikawa in a fight that should be entertaining regardless of the outcome, as are most of the fights featuring Murahama, who dropped a young Andy Souwer back in the day, a testament to the punching power of Murahama.
Former K-1 Max champ Albert Kraus will take on the reigning S-Cup Champ Kenichi Ogata in what promises to be the fight of the night. As i alluded to earlier im not so confident in Kenichi as the champ, granted he beat Andy Souwer for the title last year (albeit an Andy Souwer that struggled to make weight and looked horrible), but recent performanes leave a
big question mark in my mind as to how consistent/durable he really is, in particular his ko loss to Bigben, the Decision loss to Higson (which seen him recieving a standing eight count and getting rocked several times) and his fight against Damacio Page which ended with a solid body shot ko for Kenichi, but not before recieving the standing count himself.
Based on these doubts and the fact that i think Kraus is the better striker technically, i'm picking Kraus to win, but as with Andy Souwer, their excellent performance's at the recent K-1 Max finals might be less of an indication of form and more of a detriment to their physical health come Sunday, having taken place only 3 weeks ago and both men having had long tiring 3 round match-ups.
As i said, great card, im looking forward to it, and now that the Max finals are over i dont have (much) emotion invested in the outcomes, just looking forward to the latest event to come from an organization which has impressed me a great deal in the little time i have followed it, and as they continue to bring in the big names and put on great cards, i wish Caeser and co all the best for this event and for those to come.
My Preview - Shoot Boxing Ground Zero 2007 
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