KIRIA:'WAR IS COMING TO NEW YORK’

Kiria: War is coming to New York

The GLORY World Series brings together the best strikers in the world and provides a platform for them to fight it out and determine who is the best. It draws talent from across the globe.

On Saturday November 23, Davit Kiria will be in the ring at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden as the world’s top four lightweight kickboxers battle it out in the GLORY 12 NEW YORK Lightweight Championship Tournament.

Aside from Kiria (21-8, 6 KO’s), the tournament features Giorgio ‘The Doctor’ Petrosyan of Italy (78-1-1, 35 KO’s), Robin Van Roosmalen of the Netherlands (30-5, 19 KO’s) and Andy ‘The Machine’ Ristie (39-3-1, 19 KO’s), a Surinamese countryman of Tyrone Spong’s.

The event, which has a $150,000 grand prize on the line for the winner, airs live in the USA on SPIKE TV.

Petrosyan is unanimously agreed to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport and, as winner of the 2012 tournament, is the bookmaker’s favorite to win this year’s tournament as well. But Kiria, who lost a decision to Petrosyan in last year’s semi-finals, thinks things are going to be very close in New York.

“I don't agree that Petrosyan is the favorite to win this tournament. For me all four of the fighters in it are favorites. I know sure this tournament will be amazing and people will talk about it for a long time afterwards,” he says.

“There will be war in New York.”

Kiria thinks he learned enough in last year’s fight with Petrosyan to be able to beat him if they meet again this year. First though Petrosyan must face Ristie in the semi-finals, while Kiria must get past Van Roosmalen, who is currently ranked #1 in the world at 70kgs/154lbs.

“Every fight gives me more and more experience but for sure I got a lot of experience from that fight with Petrosyan. Now I know how to fight against him and I know that if I rematch against him, I will win,” he says.

“For the semi-finals… Ristie maybe isn’t as well known. I know I only started watching him recently so I can’t say too much about him except that he is a really good fighter, he is a warrior. I think he can make big problem for Petrosyan.”

Kiria has drawn Van Roosmalen for the semi-final stage. Van Roosmalen recently took the #1 spot in the lightweight rankings thanks to a run of wins over top-tier opposition, but Kiria isn’t particularly impressed.

“He has almost the same gameplan with every fight - go forward punching and kicking. Its not anything special,” he says. Kiria respects Van Roosmalen’s toughness and power but doesn’t think he has evolved from when he won the decision in their 2011 fight.

“That was two years ago. After that I got more experience, all this time has passed and I feel really strong and really good. My technique has improved and I have become more explosive. In this fight you will see how much better I have become. I am ready for a big rematch.”

Van Roosmalen and Kiria fought in Moscow in 2011. Van Roosmalen was already a name in the lightweight division but Kiria was a relative unknown, having not long made the transition from karate tournaments to kickboxing.

The fight ended with a decision for Van Roosmalen but it was hard going and he came out of the ring with respect for Kiria. It was the first time many people got to see the work ethic and toughness Kiria has, and also some of his rare striking techniques.

One of those kicks is Mawashi Kaiten Geri - ‘The Rolling Heel Kick’. To do it, the fighter does a forward roll towards and slightly to one side of his opponent, with his back heel striking the opponent’s head. When it comes off it is spectacular. Kiria deploys it at least once per fight.

“I love this kick!” he says. “I like to do it, very much. I did score some knockouts with it in some karate tournaments over the years but I didn’t manage it yet in kickboxing. One day soon I will get a knockout in the ring with this kick, I promise you.”

Van Roosmalen has noticed that kick himself. “He has some unorthodox kicks for sure,” he said recently. “I think if that [rolling] kick lands on someone for sure they are going to fall down. But it’s very difficult to land it.”

Karate is central to Kiria’s identity as a fighter and as a person. His journey to Madison Square Garden started many years ago in his homeland of Georgia, south of Russia. The tough mountainous region has a long martial tradition and is where Kiria first started training in the martial arts.

Ashihara Karate is the style and the world’s most accomplished heavyweight is the instructor. Semmy Schilt and his own sensei Dave Jonkers are the two responsible for training Kiria in an art which, even by karate standards, is extremely hard on the mind and body.

It is derived from Kyokoshin Karate, itself an incredibly tough style in which practitioners train bare-knuckle and strike each other over and over in order to condition themselves to pain. Fighters from Kyokoshin and Ashihara backgrounds are instantly recognizable; they glue themselves to their opponent, kicking and punching non-stop.

Kiria, who won the 2009 European Kyokoshin Karate Championships, has talked before of wanting to represent Ashihara Karate in the ring and show that is an art which can compete with the likes of Muay Thai and Dutch-style Kickboxing.

In 2012 he started to accomplish that, having a breakout year and becoming ever more of a fan favorite with every fight. The quest continues in 2013, a year which saw him make his US debut at GLORY 10 LOS ANGELES with a win over K-1 MAX 2012 winner Murthel Groenhart.

“I think 2012 was really a great time for me. I had big fights and I won most of them. All my opponents were top fighters and I showed the people that I can be stronger than them. I really got a lot more fans and supporters last year I’m happy for that,” he says.

“In September this year I fought in Los Angeles and it was a great experience. It was my first time in America and I had a really good time. When you fight in America you really feel like a professional fighter.

“I liked the people in America very much, they really came out to show support to the fighters and to have fun. They made a lot of noise for me in Los Angeles and I am going to give them something to make noise about in New York as well!”