YOKOHAMA, March 28, 2009 -- Tournament reserve fighter Keijiro Maeda was supposed to be a footnote to the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Yokohama. Instead, the Japanese kickboxer caught a lucky break then scored a couple of major upsets bouts to emerge as the evening's hero -- and the new K-1 Heavyweight Champion.

The K-1 Heavyweight Title Tournament was a four-man elimination, fought in a 100kg/220lbs weight class, for the K-1 Heavyweight Belt. A pair of semifinals went up early on the Yokohama card, the two winners met in the final later in the evening.

The 22 year-old Maeda, whose green mohawk and rust starfish hairstyle suggests a Salvador Dali painting, was parachuted into the tournament when scheduled fighter Chalid De Faust could not make the trip to Japan.

Maeda took on Melvin Manhoef of Holland in the first semifinal. Given that Maeda was a late substitute who in the 48 hours preceding the bout had repeatedly told the press he was "scared of Manhoef" -- few afforded him much of a chance here.

But he did have a chance, and he made the most of it. Curiously, the heavily-favored Manhoef was so absorbed in hamstring stretching that he let the opening bell sound unheeded, and had to be called into the center of the ring by the referee. Hardly the explosive start expected from the Dutch dynamo. Cautious sparring in the early going, before Manhoef landed a left to put Maeda off balance. However, as will happen in K-1, everything then changed in the blink of an eye. With Manhoef closing, Maeda tossed a right. It was an innocent-looking punch, but it caught Manhoef going the wrong way, caught him on the chin, and caught him hard. And Manhoef went to the canvas. With the count on, the floundering fighter tried and tried again, but couldn't find his feet. A tremendous KO upset, putting Maeda into the finals.

The second semi of the K-1 Heavyweight Title Tournament saw Tyrone Spong of Suriname, making his K-1 debut, take on Gokhan Saki of Turkey.

Fast and technical action in the first, Spong balanced well, both fighters landing low kicks but blocking the more dangerous stuff to go to the second tied on all cards. Here punches were exchanged, Spong setting well and controlling the distance, closing with the knee; Saki circling and darting in with punches, Sprong countering well to keep all the scorecards even. The third saw Spong closing with the hook but Saki holding his ground and picking his spots nicely on counters, sailing a kick just high. No advantage after three and so the judges called for a tiebreaker.

Spong pounded in the body blows through the fourth to put up points. Saki meanwhile was patient, before finding the finish with a right hook on a counter. The punch came down hard on Spong's nose, sending him to the mat. Spong struggled to stand but was too wobbly for the ref's liking, and Saki had the KO win and a date with Maeda in the final.

Maeda and Saki took to the ring in a final matchup few would have predicted, but the boys made a great go of it. This was a technical bout, neither giving the other much to hit, but in the end a couple of mistakes by Saki proved the difference.

Through the first Maeda punched into his opponent's guard repeatedly, while Saki had the more balanced attacks, and made sound contact with a little deke and jab late in the round. Much of the same in the second, Saki positioning well and controlling the distance with front kicks, but not using his speed to get inside and hurt Maeda. The Japanese fighter meanwhile scored with a right straight and powered a kick in to the midsection.

Saki got his own middle kicks going in the third, and rattled Maeda with a left on a counter. Saki was planting himself solidly now, and had more behind his low kicks, but Maeda wisely kept his fists moving to catch a break when his opponent dropped the left to throw. In an instant, Maeda landed a right hook that was the strike of the fight. Judges had it even on all cards and the bout went to a tiebreaker round.

Maeda was the more aggressive fighter when it mattered, making contact again with the right. His evasions were now near-perfect, as Saki looked increasingly wild. The Japanese fighter's punches may not have caused much damage, but there were enough of them to sway the judges. A promising Saki rally at the clapped proved too little too late, as Maeda took the win by majority decision.

"I won!" spouted a loquacious Maeda in his post-event interview. "I went from fighting a reserve fight to being in the tournament. It was tough, but I won. Melvin was…scary! Really scary! I was worried. I was heavily attacked by several fighters in the past and didn’t want it to happen again. I fought more aggressively than usual and it paid off!"

"Until now I've been scared to let my hands go, but I went for it tonight. In tournaments I usually do little in the first round, but tonight I was thinking of the baseball player Ichiro, and I just went for it. I had to be careful all night with distancing and just countered when I was hit. In the second fight, Gokhan's punches didn’t really scare me, so I decided to fight a fight that I would be satisfied with!"

"I am the champion! But I don't think I can beat Badr Hari, that's impossible. This is me, remember, so I'd like to avoid that fight if I can! I just want to be on TV!. Also, I finally have some money, so I can afford to buy some juice tonight. I am still working part-time, three nights a week, for 1,000 yen an hour, but now I think I can cut it to twice a week! I a masochist type, so I want to slowly change to become a little more sadistic if I can!"

Tonight's 12-bout extravaganza opened K-1's 17th season. Aside from the K-1 Heavyweight one-day tournament, there were also five Superfights and three undercard bouts.

In the Main Event, three-time and defending World GP Champion Remy Bonjasky met Alistair Overeem -- the Dutch MMA fighter who shocked K-1 fans with a dramatic KO victory over Badr Hari last New Year's Eve. Bonjasky had been cast in the role of avenger here, with the reputation of K-1 fighters on the line. So gravely was the test regarded that K-1 Event Producer Sadaharu Tanikawa said a Bonjasky loss tonight could amount to "the end of K-1."

A study in contrasts -- Bonjasky the finesse fighter; Overeem the brawler. There was none of the customary glove-touching to start this showdown. Overeem barreled in from the bell with a flying knee attempt that made decent contact -- and how delightful the irony for Overeem had Bonjasky gone down on the wrong end of one of his signature moves. But that was not to happen. Bonjasky countered with low