Filed under: DREAM, interview, Japan
Shinya Aoki has not allowed me to take a decent photo of him in over a year. Every time I ask him for a photo he covers his face. I have never had any problems with him, and we used to have a good working relationship. It wasn’t just me though, it was all foreign press. I have often wondered what caused this dramatic change in attitude.
Watching the signing ceremony for his title fight against Tatsuya Kawajiri at DREAM.15, I noticed that he was doing the same thing with the Japanese media. On Thursday, a member of the Japanese press commented on it.
“At the signing ceremony you had the aura that it was difficult for us to get close to you…”
Aoki commented without looking up.
“Well I don’t feel any different now.”
Tetsuya Yamato was not the most technical fighter in the competition but he was certainly the toughest as he rebounded from a first round knockdown against the highly favored Yuta Kubo to capture the K-1 63 kg Japan title at Yoyogi Stadium 1st in Tokyo, Japan.
July 5th will be the first K-1 WORLD MAX that is truly without Masato so it is no surprise then that the hunt for his successor is in full force but FEG are indicating that it will not be at 70kg.
Sengoku Raiden Championship’s 20-man Asian Bantamweight Tournament got under way at Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday. Drawing on mostly lesser known fighters from all of the second-tier events within Japan and representatives from Korea, eight bantamweights advanced through to the next round of the tournament to be held in August.