KAI HÖFER DEFENDS

HIS WORLD TITLE

Late in the evening of 30 August 2007 the Lebanese
referee raised the arm of the 38-year-old kickboxer
from Koblenz and all the tension that had built up in
the last few weeks gave way to sheer, deserved
euphoria: the ecstatic Kai Höfer had successfully
defended his world title in light contact for men
from the age of 35!

2007 German champion, 2007 world champion:
You couldn't tell from the heavyweight's track
record this year, but with traces of blood from
the final all too apparent, the head of department
for installation and mechanics summed it all up:
"It was far harder to defend the title than to win it
for the first time last year."

This was partly due to the higher expectations of the people who had converged on the venue and the fact that the world championships of the WKA, the leading association for amateurs, were staged in Germany in 2007. So it was not very surprising that relatives, friends and colleagues from KOCH travelled to Karlsruhe to vociferously spur on their favourite. "Television was also there and the crowd cheered louder after each fight won. I wasn't really used to that but it was great of course."

But it was also because it was a far tougher field than 2006 in Spain and the draw of the opponents for the qualifying rounds not exactly favourable. Right in his second fight Kai came up against last year's runner-up in the world championships and the man from England had clearly improved.

Thanks to his professional and disciplined preparation however, the kickboxing coach from Koblenz nevertheless won through this year too. "I was perhaps a bit overmotivated and blue-eyed in my first world championships in Canada in 2005 but this experience later helped me to win my titles. I've steadily improved my preparation year after year, and analysed and optimised my training programme, so I was really in top shape at exactly the right time."

And that was ultimately the crucial factor in the kickboxing maestro defeating his experienced adversary in the final. The Liechtensteiner, at the time winner of 7 medals in the world championships, had made it to the final in 3 classes in Karlsruhe, and at the end of what had been an evenly matched first round he was the cause of an unprecedented event: after a hard blow to his chin the 38-year-old world champion was floored for the first time in his martial-arts career. The referee started to give him the count but Kai held on to the approaching break, and was then able to fully recover. After that he summoned up all his reserves of strength and with his superior techniques, especially precisely placed kicks to his opponent's head and effective foot sweeps, deservedly secured the title for the second time in a row.

The long-serving KOCH employee would nevertheless like to end his fighting career with this victory: his wife is expecting a baby in January and apart from that the coming world championships in Florida would involve a lot of time and expense. But? "After such a success the buzz of it all is obviously still there. Taking part in the world championships on European soil again for a last time the year after next would be incredibly tempting."

The KOCH team heartily congratulate their world heavyweight champion – and sincerely hope Kai reconsiders his retirement in time for the 2009 world championships.

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