Badr Hari: Twilight of the Golden Boy
Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
After a long hiatus due to the on going pandemic, Glory was finally back on December 19th with their 76th installment. Even with an event featuring a four-man heavyweight tournament and the brash and charismatic welterweight champion Cédric Doumbe, all eyes were set on the main event.
The much anticipated comeback of Moroccan legend Badr Hari, returning to the ring to face Romanian Benjami Adegbuyi, a solid and experienced fighter who had clearly established himself as a top five heavyweight in the world. People were eager to see if Badr could confirm his performance from his second fight with Rico Verhoeven, as it appeared he was on the verge of finishing the heavyweight kingpin before injuring himself.
Well, as I'm not here to breakdown the whole event or the fight in it's entirety, let's get straight to the point: After a good start, but seemingly gassing himself out throwing nothing but power shots, Hari dropped Benny in the second round, almost finishing him. But Benny came out strong in the third, dropping Badr, and forcing him to quit.
As usual, the takes are all over the place since the end of the fight. Should he retire? Did he quit like a coward? Is he overrated? Actually, was he ever good? I don't know why, but I felt the need to help answer to these questions. Badr is an extremely polarizing figure, and it makes it very difficult for the uneducated viewer to rate him properly.
But it shouldn't be that hard, really, if we stick to the facts.
Physical Decline
Badr lost three of his last four fights, all inside three rounds. This led people to think Badr has become weak, and that his body can't take it anymore. This might be true given that he's now 36 and has been fighting for 20 years. The last five years or so have been a rollercoaster for Badr, with fights and long layoffs. Jumping from no training at all, to hard, grueling Dutch-style camps took a toll on his body.
On the other side, you've got young strong heavyweights fighting often and—most of the time—against the best competition available. Rico fought all of his challengers (multiple times) Benny Adegbuyi won three Glory Contender tournaments in four years. The level of activity made them catch up with a fighter of the caliber of Hari. Even with that fact, Badr was still able to have more than decent showings against them, before being stopped, of course. To be clear, in this writer's opinion, and though kickboxing never deals in absolute, it's a strong possibility that none of them could have beat him in his prime.
Hari is such a great talent that it's almost guaranteed that he will hurt you at some point in a fight, more so if he prepared properly, and even this late in his career. He was able to show in defeat that even past his physical prime, he’s still a deadly threat to anyone in this division. He’s still faster than most of them, at least as powerful as them, and certainly more skillful than most.
Kill Or Be Killed
Another important thing, regarding the fact that he supposedly tends to get finished lately, is that Badr never had a great chin. From the start of his career, Badr was dropped by a lot of his opponents. As a matter of fact, putting aside the two times he was disqualified (Bonjasky and Gerges), only two of Hari's losses were by decision. Every other losses he’s had were by KO or TKO, so nothing really new here.
Badr was always a kill or be killed type of fighter, going all in without fail. Him being the archetype of the bad boy is not the only reason why he's got such a following. His fights are guaranteed fireworks because of his aggressive style. Even in his younger days as one of the lightest fighters in the K-1 roster, he still went to war with all of his opponents, at the cost of tasting the canvas multiple times.
The thing is, to be able to sustain the kind of pace required to fight like that, you must be in perfect shape. The older you get, the harder it gets to go toe to toe for entire rounds, let alone entire fights. When in the latter part of a career, a fighter must adapt to his physical decline, by taking a smarter approach to the fight. The amount of experience is key to outfox the younger, stronger competition. That’s how K-1 legends such as Aerts, Hoost or Lebanner were able to fight as long as they did.
But the ‘Golden Boy’ just doesn’t care. It appears he’s still convinced he can trade with any fighter. In his last four fights against Gerges, Rico and Benny, he went hard from the get go, not holding back at all, like the younger version of himself. Aside from the Gerges fight, he looked like he was gassing himself out, before dropping his opponents and being on the verge of finishing them. But every time he lacked that little extra strength to put them away for good, and ended up being stopped: either by injuring himself, or getting badly hurt. Badr was a fantastic finisher in his prime, but it seems that he lost that asset now.
Overrated?
Let’s be clear: Stating that Badr Hari is an overrated fighter is absurd. Just because he has legions of rather casual fans ready to die on multiple hills on the internet doesn't make him an average fighter. Of course they think Badr is the GOAT, and they couldn’t be more wrong. For every fighter, there are delusional fans. The more popular that fighter is, the more he’ll have fans that never watch the sport outside of his fights. Hari’s got an army of them, as he likes to call them. But if you’re reading this, I suspect you’re a more educated fan than most, so you must be aware Badr’s career is one of the top 20 ever at the very minimum.
Badr always has been super talented. In fact, for most of his career, talent alone made him good enough to stick with the very elite of the sport. Hard work and buying into ‘gym culture’ (I won’t go there) helped him beat elite opposition on multiple occasions. Reaching the final of the K-1 World GP two times—back to back—should never be underrated. The general level of the division was not that of the golden era, but was considerably better than nowadays. Hari’s got a bunch of great fights to his name, and manage to amass a very good resume. There is not one fighter from his generation he hasn’t fought.
So yeah, as much as he is a polarizing figure, there is no denying that Badr Hari’s career—albeit being marred with controversy—has been a great one. He stated that he plans to keep on fighting. His days being a top five fighter are most likely over, so we’ll see where he goes from now.
To conclude, I've chosen five fights that in my eyes, are a testament to Hari's greatness. Always great to re-watch, and if you are watching those for the first time, well, grab a drink and enjoy one of the most spectacular fighters ever, a true knockout artist who—with the aforementioned vulnerability—was never far from a great scrap.
Badr Hari VS Stefan Leko II
The fight that put Badr Hari on everyone’s radar. There is a strong possibility that it’s the most famous kickboxing KO ever. It was a sweet revenge for Badr, after he was knocked out and apparently spat on by Leko five months prior. It was Hari’s first fight in Japan, and safe to say there was no better way to introduce himself to the Japanese fans.
Badr Hari VS Ruslan Karaev II
Another act of revenge. Badr and Ruslan were the top two young fighters in K-1. They fought each other six months prior, with Ruslan winning when the referee stepped in. Badr was dropped then seemingly hit on the ground (well, well well…) and failed to answer the count. After the stoppage Badr notoriously erupted and went on a rampage in the locker room.
This rematch served as a semi final for the newly created K-1 Heavyweight belt (- 100 kg). And what a war it was, with a thrilling finish. Badr went on to win the belt in the final several months later, knocking out Yusuke Fujimoto in the first round.
Badr Hari VS Hong Man Choi
Badr once slayed a giant. Hong Man Choi is 2.18m (7’2) . Even for a man as tall as Hari (1.98m/6’6), the difference was huge. Choi was extremely difficult to fight, because of his size of course and for the fact that he was an extremely cautious fighter. Hari being Hari, he went straight for the kill, only to get dropped. But he didn’t give up, and ruthlessly attacked Choi’s body with left hooks and kicks, rallying to make it even on the cards after three rounds. After the judges called for an extra round, Choi said ‘No Mas’, as he was absolutely spent and battered. A great performance that showed a very focused version of Hari that got to show off his full skillset.
Badr Hari VS Semmy Schilt
Badr once slayed another giant. And that giant was none other that Semmy Schilt, then three-time K-1 World GP Champion, and K-1 Super Heavyweight champ
Semmy was an absolute nightmare of an opponent, and a truly great heavyweight. Prior to this fight, only Alexei Ignashov, Peter Aerts (twice) and Hong Man Choi managed to beat him in kickboxing rules, in extremely close fights.
Hari once again showed no respect, exploiting Semmy’s tendency to lean back to defend punches, catching him with his superior speed and finishing him, sparking absolute scenes in the Amsterdam Arena. One of kickboxing’s greatest wins, and proof enough that Hari is not overrated.
Badr Hari VS Gokhan Saki II
But how about some more proof anyway? This was supposed to be Hari’s retirement fight before he ventured to a boxing career. That didn’t happen, but Hari here showed what it’s like when he’s at his best, pulling off an absolutely flawless victory. The uppercut he nailed Saki with was a beauty.
This was the last time we saw Hari in his prime. After this, he had a hard fought win against Anderson Silva (no, not that one), before going to jail and resuming his career a year later, never looking quite the same fighter. But given how his career played out—and the sample of tough fighters I have shown here—it is no surprise that Badr Hari—like all great fighters—could not be at the top of the mountain forever.