[div class=”notice” class2=”icon”]The following is from an article on LiverKick.com, part of the MiddleEasy Network.[/div]
Shootboxing has announced two more MMA vs kickboxing fights for November 6th’s Shoot the Shooto 2011 event.
The first fight is a rematch from last year’s big upset, 3-time Shootboxing S-Cup champion and 2-time K-1 World MAX champion Andy Souwer will try to avenge his loss in last year’s S-Cup semifinals to MMA fighter and Shootboxing convert Toby Imada. Souwer’s position near the top of the 70kg world has come into question over the last couple of years. After hard fought back to back losses to Giorgio Petrosyan in the 2009 K-1 MAX final and Masato at Dynamite!!! 2009 in Masato’s retirement fight, K-1 neglected inviting Souwer to the 2010 MAX Final 16, assuming the 3-time S-Cup champion would want to focus on the 2010 S-Cup and not want to fight in the K-1 MAX tournament. After a quarterfinal KO of Bovy Sor Udomson, Souwer lost a close split decision to Imada on the strength of Imada’s grappling. Souwer bounced back with a decision win over Pajonsuk, but a February loss to Abraham Roqueni and an unimpressive showing in the It’s Showtime Fast and Furious tournament, despite reports of a compressed nerve, have seemed to diminish his standing at 70kg. Imada has surprised everyone in Shootboxing, coming in as a late replacement for Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett and upsetting Takaaki Umeno in the quarterfinals as well as Souwer in the semis before losing to Buakaw Por Pramuk in the finals. After being knocked out by Patricky Freire, denying him his 3rd straight Bellator Lightweight tournament final, Imada returned to Shootboxing, picking up another upset win over Hiroki Shishido. However, Imada had his Shootboxing success stunted with a loss to Bovy Sor Udomson in his latest outing. Souwer should be the big favorite in this fight, but Imada hasn’t failed to surprise in any of his fights.
