K-1 Grand Prix '97 Final was a kickboxing event promoted by the K-1 organization. It was the fifth K-1 World Grand Prix final involving eight of the world's best heavyweight fighters (+95 kg/209 lbs), with all bouts fought under K-1 Rules. The eight finalists had all qualified via elimination fights at the K-1 Grand Prix '97 1st round. Also on the card was a four-man tournament for featherweight kickboxers (57 kg/126 lbs) based in Japan and a local 'Super Fight', with all bouts fought under K-1 Rules. In total there were fourteen fighters at the event, representing seven countries.
The tournament winner was Ernesto Hoost who won his first K-1 Grand Prix final by defeating reigning champion Andy Hug by third round majority decision. The event was also notable for two of the fights in the quarter-finals - with both Francisco Filho and Andy Hug defeating their opponents by knockout at 15 seconds of the first record. It was held at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, November 9, 1997 in front of a huge crowd of 54,500 spectators.
K-1 Grand Prix '97 Final Tournament
K-1 Japan Featherweight Grand Prix Tournament
Results + K-1 Grand Prix '97 Final Results K-1 Japan Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-finals: K-1 Rules / 3Min. 3R Ext.1R Kenichi Sato def. Suguru Yamanouchi Kensaku Maeda def. Takehiro Murahama K-1 Grand Prix Quarter-finals: K-1 Rules / 3Min. 3R Ext.1R Francisco Filho def. Sam Greco Ernesto Hoost def. Jérôme Le Banner Peter Aerts def. Mike Bernardo Andy Hug def. Masaaki Satake K-1 Japan Featherweight Grand Prix Final: K-1 Rules / 3Min. 3R Ext.2R Takehiro Murahama def. Kenichi Sato K-1 Grand Prix Semi-finals: K-1 Rules / 3Min. 3R Ext.1R Ernesto Hoost def. Francisco Filho Andy Hug def. Peter Aerts Super Fight: K-1 Rules / 3Min. 5R Taiei Kin def. Taro Minato K-1 Grand Prix Final: K-1 Rules / 3Min. 3R Ext.2R Ernesto Hoost def. Andy Hug
See also List of K-1 events List of male kickboxers
References
External links K-1 Official Website K-1sport.de - Your Source for Everything K-1