Boec.COM continues with the articles about some of the finest Kyokushin fights that ever happened.
Yes, we’re talking about the final battles of the biggest competition in Karate Kyokushin – the World Open Karate Championship.
Some of the biggest legends have participated in the tournament – Makoto Nakamura, Kenji Midori, Akiyoshi Matsui, Ewerton Teixeira, Andy Hug, Zahari Damyanov and many, many more.
Following the death of Masutatsu Oyama in 1994, IKO (International Karate Organization Kyokushinkaikan) split up in several fractions. The World Open Tournament has continued to be held but organized in parallel by IKO1 and WKO (World Karate Organization Shinkyokushinkai).
Today we’ll be looking at the final of the 7th Kyokushin World Open Tournament WKO, the first ever to be organised by the new federation. The event took place in 1996, as 172 karatekas took part in the competition.
Once again, the final clash is between two Japanese fighters – Norichika Tsukamoto and Kunihiro Suzuki.