Theme Park at its Darkest

Ben Edwards, Canberra Kickboxing sensation, ascends the world stage on October 14 to represent Australia at The K1 Final 16. A win at this tournament will secure him a spot to fight for the title of world number one. He tells Jarrod Boyle all about it. 

So Ben, what have you been doing since last we spoke? Have you had any fights?

I haven’t fought since I lost to Rico Verhoeven in March, earlier this year.

I heard you injured your back.

One day at training in May, my back seized up. It was really bad; I couldn’t walk and could barely breathe – it was quite frightening. I got stretchered out of the gym and spent 24 hours in hospital, unable to walk.

What happened?

Apparently, one of my discs slipped out of place and hit a nerve in my spine, partially due to going too hard, too soon when I returned to training.

How’s your prep for the Final 16?

My prep for this fight has been really good. I’m sparring better than ever and the last few weeks have been excellent. I’ve used all the experience of the last 49 fights to get ready for this one.

Where is the comp?

The fight is in Japan, Tokyo. Hopefully not too close to Fukushima!

Who is traveling with you?

My Kickboxing trainer Jamie McCauig, manager Nick Boutzos and my boxing trainer and sparring partner, Commonwealth Games competitor, Alexey Muchkin.

Do you know who you’re fighting, first up? 

I’m fighting the Romanian slugger, Raul Catinas. Stylistically, it makes for a very exciting match up.

How do you feel, having had the last Final 16 behind you, and Alistair Overeem?

It’s a bit of a cliché, but having gone through the experience of fighting the number-one Kickboxer for that year in my first top 16 fight, I really feel that I have grown exponentially because of it. I’m looking forward to displaying my progress in this year’s top 16.

How do you prep for something like this? Is it different to other fights?

I prepare for all my fights pretty much the same. Obviously we have a gameplan and work on a few specific things for an individual opponent, but apart from that, I’m only concerned with my own preparation. I couldn’t care less what my opponent is doing, who he is training with, etc.

Ben Edwards, you are a machine. The Aussie kickboxing fraternity stands firmly behind you. You carry our hopes and aspirations into Tokyo, like a laurel upon your brow.

Good luck!

This entry was posted on October 8, 2012 at 5:06 am and is filed under Journalism, Kickboxing with tags Alexei Muchkin, Alistair Overeem, Ben Edwards, Jamie McCauig, Nick Boutzos, Raul Catinas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.