There were two headline bouts on the card, the first saw the K-1 World Max 2004 Championship Buakaw Por Pramuk of Thailand, the youngest fighter on the evening's card at 22, step in against the oldest, Japanese kickboxer Kozo Takeda, 31.

The first round saw both fighters sizing each other up, making only occasional moves to test defenses. It had the tension and atmosphere of a chess game -- but who comes to the fights to watch a chess game?

Thankfully, there were more strikes in the second and third. Buakaw got a couple of high kicks in, but Takeda was also good with his blocking, and had some good kicks and punches. Buakaw worked the legs well, and got a flying knee through in the second, but generally Takeda held his own and kept it close.

Buakaw raised his arm in victory after the final bell, but all three judges scored the fight a draw and so the fighters came back for a tiebreaker.

Here Buakaw threw more ambitious combinations, and engaged in a bit of boxing that bloodied Takeda's nose. But Takeda was no slouch, and countered most of Buakaw's attacks. One judge liked Buakaw, but the other two remained unconvinced, so the fight went to a fifth and final round.

Although Buakaw had ably exhibited the strengths of Thai fighters -- superior balance, legwork and evasions -- there had not been a decisive, highlight-reel blow in the fight thus far. In the fifth, the World Max Champion corrected that. Twice.

With Takeda moving forward, Buakaw threaded a left straight bunch through the Japanese fighter's guard, sending him falling back to the canvas. Scarcely a minute later, Buakaw did it again, this time with a left hook, to leave no doubt he deserved the unanimous decision.

Earlier in the night, K-1 World Max 2003 Champion Masato had entered the ring to announce he would fight at the K-1 Dynamite event in Osaka this New Year's Eve. In his post-bout interview, Buakaw indicated that he wanted to be the one who faces Masato: "The last time we met [at the July World Max Final], Masato and I had already gone through two fights. Next time, I want to fight him when he's fresh!"

The first of the headliner bouts was a classic K-1 contest. The second, between flashy Japanese fighter Genki Sudo, and WBC America Jr Middleweight Champion Michael Lerma of the United States, was something else entirely.

At the pre-event press conference, in response to a question about Sudo's often wacky but effective in-ring antics and hyper-creative fighting style, Lerma the boxer assured all that no amount of "funny running around and monkey jumping" would bother him. "I'm just going to go in," said the American, "and knock him out!"

And so the stage was set. After outdoing himself with a high-energy rock video entrance (to Metallica's "Enter Sandman," performed with a dozen leather-clad dancers), Sudo stepped in against the unamused Lerma. When the bell sounded, the Japanese fighter got down to, well -- funny running around and monkey jumping.

Sudo's plan was to stick to the perimeter and stay constantly in motion to his left, forcing Lerma the southpaw into a fruitless circle-and-follow mode. By moving quickly, Sudo always remained beyond Lerma's sights, and wouldn't you know, this bothered the hell out of the American.

But, because you can't win a K-1 fight by running away, Sudo had something else up his sleeve. About minute in, he paused briefly near the corner, drawing Lerma toward him, then delivered a spinning back punch which surprised his opponent and scored a down. Now, the outclassed Lerma was forced to play catch-up.

Alas, Sudo didn't never gave the guy a chance. All the while circling to stay out of range of Lerma's big guns, the Japanese fighter began sniping in low kicks at will, which Lerma proved woefully unable to block. The cat and mouse maneuvering continued to the bell to end the first. Lerma had barely laid a glove on his opponent.

In the second, Lerma wisely attempted to cut off the ring, and did manage to throw in some body blows, and these looked to have bothered his opponent. But, again, Sudo was a step ahead -- he turned away, resorted to clinching when necessary, and stymied most everything Lerma attempted. Halfway through the round, Sudo brought his left knee up from the clinch and opened a gash over Lerma's right eye. At 2:09, the ringside doctor had one look at the injury and stopped the fight, giving Sudo the TKO win.

"I knew Lerma only has punches," said Sudo post-fight, "and so I circled to stay out of the way of his fists. But those body blows he got in, I definitely felt them! I tried to keep my tricky stuff to a minimum in this fight, because I want to show that I can really compete in K-1 without it."

Rewind to the evening's first fight, where hard-hitting Mike Zambidis took on Japanese Muay Thai fighter Kojiro. Zambidis held his own against eventual Champion Masato at the 2003 World Max Finals, losing by a close decision -- but looked less than spectacular at the 2004 Finals, where he lost to Takayuki Kohiruimaki.

Kojiro brought a 9cm height advantage to the ring against Zambidis, but the Greek fighter cut him down faster than you could say "Great Zeus!" Regarded as a meat-and-potatoes fighter who works primarily with his fists, here Zambidis showed some flash -- launching a quick and effective flying knee early in the first that caught Kojiro on the chin, and following this up with a left straight punch and right hook to score a down. Seconds after the fight resumed, Zambidis again got the flying knee in, then laid in with body blows that had to hurt. A second down came after a third flying knee and punch attack, and soon afterward a solid right hook earned the determined Zambidis a third down and KO victory.

Next up, Muay Thai fighter Marfio "The Warrior Tiger" Canoletti of Brazil met Japanese Karate fighter Takashi Ohno. Throughout this one, Canoletti cut off the ring and took the fight to his southpaw opponent, keeping his guard high and close and looking smart with low kicks. Canoletti got his opponent in the corner and scored a down with a right hook midway through the first, and came on with more punches to finish out the round.

Ohno improved somewhat in the second, launching some fast high kicks, but Canoletti's blocking was sound, his counters were good, and he still had the better fists. In the final round, Canoletti got a left straight punch through to record another down and rack up enough points for his first win in four World Max starts.

Local favorite Takayuki Kohiruimaki took on 2002 World Max Champion Albert Kraus of the Netherlands in a highly-anticipated bout. Kraus abandoned his weirdly affected gangster-with-beach-hat image here, and made his entrance instead in a wholly unique Roman Gladiator meets American football getup which worked much better for him.

Both men were coming off losses and eager to reclaim their position among the World Max elite, but neither appeared ready to challenge in the early going. The first was lackluster -- that is, until just three seconds before the bell, when Kohiruimaki suddenly flew forward with a knee that caught Kraus on the side of the nose, opening a gash and sending the Dutch fighter to the canvas for a down.

In the second and third, Kohiruimaki, who stands 5cm taller than Kraus, effectively controlled the distance -- pushing his opponent back with front kicks, and sometimes simply pushing him back with his gloves. Kraus couldn't get into range, looked heavy on his feet and unsure of himself at times. Although he tried to get creative with a spinning back kick, Kraus seemed out of synch, and never really found his form in this fight. A cool Kohiruimaki set the pace throughout, and was rewarded with a comfortable unanimous decision.

In the fourth matchup, popular American Duane "Bang Bang" Ludwig stepped in against Dutch fighter William Diender. A protégé of K-1 legend Peter Aerts, the 23 year-old Diender was making his K-1 debut here.

Just seconds into the first, with Ludwig backed against the ropes, Diender caught the American with a right hook that sent him falling such that his bottom bounced off the lowest of the three ropes. After a brief pause, the referee stepped in and started a count in response to the unusual occurrence.

For the balance of the bout, the two Muay Thai fighters traded low and high kicks, punches and textbook combinations. This was an exciting technical display, and Ludwig frequently got the better of the exchanges.

At the clapper to end the second, Ludwig sent Diender stumbling back with a hard right, but he was unable to follow up and score a down. And again in the third, Ludwig stunned Diender with a straight punch and a knee from the clinch but was not able to score the down he wanted. Ludwig tried to get his flying knees going but these were not effective -- his best stuff here was the straight punches and low kicks.

Judges decided the fight was too close to call, and an extra round was prescribed. Both fighters came out fast, but Ludwig was more aggressive and had the more creative attacks -- leading primarily with the left but also stepping in with the right on occasion, and adroitly controlling the distance with kicks. A hard-fought comeback for the American, who got out with a unanimous decision.

Frenchman Samir Berbachi, representing Jerome LeBanner's Extreme Team, met Karate stylist Kazuya Yasuhiro in the next fight. Berbachi took a devastating kick to the groin just seconds in and time was called to allow him to recover. The low blow must have made Berbachi angry, because soon after the fight resumed he literally charged clear across the ring to fire a kick at Yasuhiro's head. Berbachi, a southpaw fighting from a crouched stance with a close guard, had most of the forward movement in the early going, but late in the first Yasuhiro connected with a right hook and some nice low kicks to score points.

Berbachi threw a good high kick in the second, but Yasuhiro put together perhaps the bout's sustained pressure with a couple of combination soon afterward. As the fight wore on things got increasingly sloppy. There was a mess of clinching and throwing, and more than a dozen breaks were called in the last minute of the bout. In the aftermath, one judge saw a draw, but two liked Yasuhiro, and that was enough for the Japanese fighter to take a majority decision.

Australian John Wayne Parr looked good in dispatching Duane Ludwig earlier this year, but lost an extra-round decision to Buakaw at the World Max Final. Here he faced the tough Arslan Magomedov of Russia.

There was no small amount finesse in this bout -- Parr used a curious and graceful attacking style throughout -- with his leading leg cocked up, he deftly bounced forward on one foot, coiled up and coming in to strike; Magomedov was equally poised, supremely focused, and quick with the hard punches.

In the second, Magomedov stepped in more with his punches, but this did not seem to faze Parr, who mostly stayed out of harm's way and looked good with the counters. Magomedov pushed forward and then took a run at a backpedaling Parr midway through, making partial contact with a knee. In the third Parr took the initiative for awhile, but was perhaps too economical with his strikes. Magomedov, meanwhile picked his spots and was solid with punches to end the bout up a single point on one card. The other two judges scored it a draw, and so the fight went to an extra round.

By now Magomedov had bloodied Parr's nose, and although both fighters got some good stuff going here, two judges liked the Russian, who had enough to take a majority decision in the night's third consecutive close fight.

Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto of Japan is an explosive fighter, and in a special ROMANEX Rules bout here, he went up against Mongolian fighter Jadamba Narantungalag. This one was scheduled as 3R x 5min, but lasted just 1:55.

Yamamoto executed a takedown early in and went to a side mount position, but Narantungalag twisted free and got on top, where he tried to work a leg bar, to no avail. Seconds later, with both fighters standing, Narantungalag threw a high kick that sailed over Yamamoto's head, and the Kid crouched and quickly came in with a devastating right hook that cocked Narantungalag's head back and sent him to the canvas. Yamamoto seized the opportunity to step in over his opponent and rain down punches -- he got three or four in, unanswered, before the referee leapt in and stopped the fight, giving Yamamoto the victory by KO.

The K-1 World Max 2004 Champion's Challenge attracted a sellout crowd of 11,800 to the Yoyogi Olympic Gymnasium and was same-day broadcast in Japan on the TBS Television network. Check the K-1 Official Website (www.k-1gp.net) for official results and complete coverage of all K-1 events.