The King of Kings organization made its debut in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday with a black-tie event at the upscale Hotel Hills.
The VIP event featured the first stage of the 2019 KOK World Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament, and a KOK Europe Title Fight featuring Bosnian kickboxing legend Dzevad “BH Machine” Poturak.
Aleksandr Dimovski of Macedonia earned a shot at the vacant KOK World Heavyweight Title with a victory in the heavyweight tournament.
Poturak put on an impressive performance, as the veteran utilized an accurate low kick attack en route to a homecoming victory.
Results:
-Heavyweight: Dzevad “BH Machine” Poturak (Bosnia and Herzegovina) def. Dritan Barjamaj (Albania)-TKO End of Round 2 (Poturak Wins KOK Europe Heavyweight Title)
In the main event of an action-packed card, Poturak’s low kick attack led him to victory. Barjamaj came out and winged some wide punches. Late in the round, Poturak began connecting with low kicks to the Albanian’s left leg.
Barjamaj mainly tried to land punches, many of which were blocked. Both fighters taunted the other by dropping their hands. Poturak scored with low kicks to both legs, and both Barjamaj’s legs showed redness by late in round two.
Between rounds, the Albanian was shaking his head in the corner, and the fight was stopped.
Poturak thanked the fans and also Barjamaj in his post fight interview with FightBox. Barjamaj stepped in on only 4 or 5 days notice to replace Yurii Gorbenko.
-KOK World Heavyweight GP Qualifier Final: Aleksandr Dimovski (Macedonia) def. Sanid Imamovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)-TKO Round 1 (Dimovski Advances to KOK World GP Championship Final)
Dimovski (22-10, 13 KOs) punched his ticket to the KOK World GP Heavyweight Tournament Final with a first-round stoppage over Imamovic (20-8). Dimovski came out and worked the jab. The hard-hitting Imamovic pressured the Macedonian. Dimovski landed a good right hand that stunned Imamovic, and a couple of follow up punches badly hurt the Bosnian for an eight-count. Imamovic was wobbly and in bad shape, and the referee waved off the match.
Dimovski moves on to face the winner of the second KOK Heavyweight GP tournament which will be held later in the year.
-Heavyweight Boxing: Adnan Redzovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) def. Andras Balazs (Hungary)-TKO Round 2
“The Bosnian Lion” Redzovic was too much for Balazs. He hurt the shorter Balazs coming forward with a left hand, and knocked him down moments later. Late in the round, Redzovic dropped the Hungarian for the second time. A Redzovic right dropped Balazs to his knees early in round two and the fight was stopped.
-85 kg: Danilo Tosic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) def. Igor Emkic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)-TKO Round 2 (Injury-Emkic injured nose)
Tosic (16-5-1) landed a couple of good punches while southpaw Emkick (33-5) had success with the left body kick. In round two, Tosic knocked down Emkcik with a knee to the head. Later in the round, the bout was halted because Emkic’s nose was in bad shape and appeared broken.
-Heavyweight GP Semifinal 2: Aleksandr Dimovski (Macedonia) def. Sasa Jovanovic (Slovenia)-TKO Round 3
Both Dimovski (21-10, 12 KOs) and Jovanovic (7-2) started the bout cautiously. Dimovski landed a left leg to the body that hurt Jovanovic for an eight count. Dimovski followed up aggressively, and landed a couple more body kicks and some punches for another eight count. The Macedonian was unable to end the bout in round one.
In round two, Dimovski scored another eight count on Jovanovic, before he finished him in the third round with a knockdown from a kick to the body.
-Heavyweight GP Semifinal 1: Sanid Imamovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) def. Alija Selmanovic (Montenegro)-KO Round 2 (Body Shot)
Bosnian police officer Imamovic (20-7) and Selmanovic gave and took some hard punches and low kicks in round one. In round two, the action continued. Imamovic threw a well-placed left hand to the the body, followed by a looping right hand that missed. The body shot dropped Selmanovic (11-5, 3 KOs), who took the count on his knees and was on the canvas for a little while after the bout.
FightBox KOK Hero’s Series
-71 kg: Selmir Delic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) def. Jasmin Ramic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)-Extra Round Split Decision
Delic prevailed by a thin margin in an untidy but tough four rounds. Ramic would rush in with his attacks, which led to a lot of clinching. Remic did some good work in round two on the inside, as he scored with knees to the body and one upstairs. Delic started to time Remic better in round three, and connected with some middle and low kicks. After another tough round, Delic got the win via split decision.
-71 kg: Edin Sinanovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) def. Andrei Minoiu (Romania)-KO Round 2 (Left Punch)
Sinanovic (3-2) scored a spectacular knockout of Minoui (3-3, 1 KO). A left hand dropped the Romanian face-first to the canvas. Sinanovic had the better of the action in the first round, and Minoiu received an eight count after a flurry of punches.
-75 kg: Rasim Basic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) def. Alexandru Popescu (Romania)-TKO Round 3 (3 Knockdown Rule)
Basic (12-3, 8 KOs) seemed headed for defeat after two rounds. The fight seemed fairly even, but the Bosnian had two points deducted for losing his mouthpiece in round two. In round three, Basic dropped Popescu (14-8-3, 6 KOs) with a right hand early. Low kicks from Basic led to an eight count for the Romanian, before another low kick hurt Popescu for another eight count and automatic stoppage.
-84 kg: Albert Ugrincic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) def. Mihailo Culafic (Montenegro)-Unanimous Decision
Ugrincic made a successful pro debut with a decision victory over Montenegro’s Culafic (5-2, 3 KOs). The 18-year-old looked sharp, and knocked down his opponent in the second round with a front kick.
-67 kg: Vedad Cutuk (Bosnia and Herzegovina) def. Ali Bajic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)-TKO Round 4 (3 Knockdown Rule)
The opener featured a match up of debuting 20-year-olds, both from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bajic, a southpaw, was active and threw some nice combinations. Cutuk’s low kicks started to damage Bajic’s leg late in the bout.
In the extra round, Cutuk’s low kicks hurt Bajic’s right leg, and he received two eight-counts before he was knocked down by another low kick to force an automatic stoppage win for Cutuk.
