Latest news with #kickboxing
The Sun
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Astonishing SIMULTANEOUS KNOCKDOWN sees kickboxing fight likened to Dragonball Z as fighters fly off each other
THIS is the astonishing moment two kickboxers achieved a simultaneous knockdown in a fight likened to Dragonball Z. The amazing scenes occurred in Thailand at the ONE kickboxing event. 4 4 4 It saw Ramadan Ondash and Chartpayak Sakastoon clash in a star-studded fight. And there was plenty on the line, with the winner securing a £70,000 contract with the ONE Championship. The high-stakes battle showed from the off as both men went hammer and tongs at each other. The two fighters both ended up hitting the deck as blows went flying in from all angles. However, the second round got even crazier. As the competitors clashed, they each struck each other at the same time. And in amazing scenes, the two fighters both went flying before hitting the ground simultaneously. The crowd went wild as they got back to their feet. But it was Ondash who took the win on the night, securing his contract while inflicting Saksatoon's first-ever career defeat. Fans at home were left amazed by the battle, with some likening the double knockdown to cartoon Dragonball Z. MMA star 'kisses' and 'humps' rival in bizarre celebration… before he's punched out of the octagon by defeated star 4 One said: 'Like Goku and Vegeta.' Another declared: 'Bruh the double knockdown.' One noted: 'This fight was bananas.' Another added: 'This was crazy.'
ABC News
12 hours ago
- Science
- ABC News
China's humanoid robots compete with United States in 'space race of our time'
Two humanoid robots face off in a ring in the world's first humanoid robot kick-boxing competition. The high-tech robots from a Chinese robotics firm jab and kick each other, and spring back onto their feet after being knocked down. While not exactly on par with professional human kickboxers, it's an impressive display of agility and balance. The show in May came after yet another "world first", as Chinese state media called it, when humanoid robots jogged alongside thousands of half-marathon runners in Beijing in April. Then there was the humanoid robot display during a Spring Festival Gala event, when a group of bots dressed in red and white costume vests performed a routine alongside dancers on stage. State-run media and robotics companies in China have been celebrating advances in the capabilities of humanoid robots — robots that look human with arms and legs — as companies from China compete with robot developers from the United States. Humanoid robots were seen to have so much potential in part because they could adapt to the world as it was, said Alan Burden, a PhD in design robotics. "There's also a cultural element which is very evident in a lot of science fiction — humanoids are compelling because they remind us of ourselves, which makes them easier to imagine in daily life, even if the technical reality is still catching up," said Dr Burden. Jeff Cardenas, chief executive of US robotics company Apptronik, called it "the space race of our time". While it's a race the US has been leading, China has been catching up. Beijing unveiled a national plan in 2023 to build a world-class humanoid robotics industry by 2027, part of President Xi Jinping's tech-led vision for the economy that includes electric vehicles, renewable energy and artificial intelligence. In March, the Chinese government announced it would set up a one trillion yuan ($214 billion) fund to support startups in areas such as AI and robotics. Experts say advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology are helping take the technology to the next level. Chinese humanoid robot startup MagicLab chief executive Wu Changzheng told Reuters it was using new home-grown AI models like DeepSeek, Qwen and ByteDance's Doubao. "DeepSeek has been helpful in task reasoning and comprehension, contributing to the development of our robots' 'brains,'" Mr Wu told Reuters. This is despite the US attempting to restrict China's access to the best computer chips essential to training AI models. Claude Sammut, a computer science and engineering professor from the University of New South Wales, said China's clearest advantage was its domination of the manufacturing supply chain that makes the hardware. "You can find everything you need in certain industrial hubs, so that's why they've been able to drive the cost down," said Professor Sammut. In 2024, 31 Chinese companies unveiled 36 new humanoid models, versus only eight released by US companies that same year, according to a Morgan Stanley report published this year. "Our research suggests China continues to show the most impressive progress in humanoid robotics where startups are benefiting from established supply chains, local adoption opportunities, and strong degrees of national government support," said the report. The potential of humanoid robots to transform economies and societies is expected to be huge. Beijing is aiming for a new industrial revolution where many factory tasks would be performed by humanoid robots. Despite concerns about the impact on jobs, Beijing sees the technology as key to plugging labour shortages in other areas as well. They include elderly care where demand is increasing as China's 1.4 billion population ages. In Australia, robotics company Andromeda Robotics has created a humanoid robot called Abi to work in aged care facilities. Andromeda co-founder mechatronics engineer Grace Brown started Abi during the pandemic, when she found herself isolated and lonely during lockdowns in Melbourne and watching lots of Disney and Pixar movies. "At the time I wanted to build something that was very much like a Pixar character, one that's warm and friendly and approachable. "That was the inception for Abi." Ms Brown believes humanoid robots, companion robots like Abi, will redefine relationships in future. "The vision that we've always believed that was inevitable is that in the future, every single person, in every single continent, is going to have access to their own personal, home companion robot." And it's not long until humanoid robots have a breakthrough moment. "That's going to be like the iPhone or a ChatGPT moment for humanoid robots. "And it's very near." Despite the predictions, some believe humanoid robots still have a long way to go before they become part of everyday life. While robots have demonstrated multiple skills such as sorting objects, cleaning, lifting, and recent advances in artificial intelligence have improved the degree of autonomy in humanoid robots, there is a lot robots still can't do. Even basic physical tasks have yet to be mastered by some of the most advanced humanoids, like Tesla's Optimus. "For example, it takes Optimus almost 10 seconds to put an egg into an egg cooker," explained a US government report from October 2024. Professor Sammut said the robot demonstrations in China had mostly been "flashy demos to show off the hardware". He said the biggest recent improvements in humanoid robots had been in "reinforcement learning". In the past it had been difficult to hand program robots to do "fancy" things like boxing, but now robots could be taught, he explained. This would make humanoid robots useful in the home because robots could learn by themselves. US tech billionaire Brett Adcock has said the aim for humanoid robot developers is for people to be able to talk to robots who can then implement requested tasks. "The end-state for this is you really want the default UI [user interface] to be speech," said Mr Adcock, founder of robotics company Figure AI, which is building a general-purpose humanoid robot. Developers were also using generative AI to enable humanoid robots to better understand requests, then create plans to complete tasks, explained Professor Sammut. "There's still a fair bit of work to do on that because the generative models can produce stuff that isn't necessarily true," he added. Professor Sammut said economics and cost was another major barrier. "Right now, I don't see robots coming down to, like, the price of a phone," he said. "So it's more like buying a car than buying a phone." Despite investments from China, Robert Potter, a visiting fellow with Australian National University and a cyber security expert, said there were good reasons the democratic world "has the edge" in the humanoid robot race. Mr Potter, co-founder of an advisory firm which worked with the United States Defense Department, said China mostly copied innovations. "Areas where they have done well such as camera-based AI and surveillance are areas where the state is a larger market in China than in the democratic world," he added. Professor Sammut questioned whether humanoid robots more broadly would ever fulfil their promise. "Really the big question is, how useful are they going to be?" he asked. "It's really not quite clear what the end goal is, because [industry] is producing this great looking technology but exactly how they can be deployed, people are still working it out." Dr Burden said humanoid robots were probably at the peak of inflated expectations in the "hype cycle". "The next few years will show whether that hype turns into usefulness or evolves into another type of emerging technology," he said. ABC/Reuters
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
ONE 173: Superbon and Masaaki Noiri set for title unification showdown in Tokyo
ONE Championship has officially unveiled the first two matchups for its return to Japan later this year, and they are sure to have fans salivating at the prospect. At a glittering press conference in Tokyo on Monday, ONE boss Chatri Sityodtong revealed that Thailand's Superbon would battle hometown hero Masaki Noiri for the right to be called undisputed ONE featherweight kickboxing world champion, while reigning heavyweight MMA king Oumar Kane would defend his belt against the man he dethroned, Anatoly Malykhin. The two main events will headline ONE 173 at Ariake Arena on November 16, and Sityodtong also hinted that fan favourites Ayaka Miura, Nakada Yoshinari and Shinya Aoki were also expected to feature. Noiri booked his ticket to the unification bout after a stunning knockout win over Tawanchai PK Saenchai at ONE 172 in March to claim the interim title. But now he faces arguably the most dangerous striker in the division. 'I see that fight. I think Noiri has a lot of experience, more than Tawanchai in kickboxing,' Superbon said. 'But against me, it is different. I have a lot of experience in kickboxing. I'm the best in kickboxing, so I will be the best.' Noiri, meanwhile, said he was 'very grateful' to be fighting in such a high-profile event, and promised fans 'it will end with knockout – KO'.
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Glory 100 Kickboxing Livestream: Here's How to Watch Rico Verhoeven vs. Artem Vakhitov Online
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. There's a massive kickboxing event in Holland! Rico 'The King of Kickboxing' Verhoeven (65-10-0) defends his Glory Heavyweight title against Artem 'Bang Bang' Vakhitov (22-6-0) on Saturday, June 14. Advertisement More from Variety Glory 100: Last Heavyweight Standing — Verhoeven vs. Vakhitov takes place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands with a start time of 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT. Livestream Glory 100 PPV at DAZN for $24.99 Glory 100 is available as a pay-per-view kickboxing event priced at $24.99 for DAZN subscribers. Not a DAZN subscriber? Right now, you can purchase the PPV event and get one month of DAZN with an annual plan for free. An annual subscription starting at $19.99/month for 11 months (one month for free). But, if you'd like to go monthly instead, DAZN offers a 7-day free trial with a monthly payment of $29.99/month after the trial is over. You can cancel the service, if you're not into it, with a 30 day notice. Advertisement As a DAZN subscriber, you'll also have access to more than 100 live fights all year long, as well as fight replays, highlights and documentaries. Fan of world sports? DAZN is the home to global sports, including FIFA, BKFC, National League, UEFA Women's Championship League, ERC and WRC racing, Riyadh Season boxing, NFL Game Pass International and other American and international sports leagues. Learn more about DAZN and its programming here. Taking place on Saturday, June 14, Glory 100: Rico Verhoeven vs. Artem Vakhitov is available to stream on DAZN starting at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT. Livestream Glory 100 PPV at DAZN for $24.99 Advertisement Glory 100, Main Card Heavyweight: Rico Verhoeven (Champion) vs. Artem Vakhitov — Main Event and Title Fight Light Heavyweight: Tarik Khbabez (Champion) vs. Sergej Maslobojev — Title Fight Last Heavyweight Standing Tournament 4 Final Last Heavyweight Standing Tournament 3 Final Middleweight: Donovan Wisse (Champion) vs. Michael Boapeah — Title Fight Featherweight: Petch (Champion) vs. Miguel Trindade — Title Fight Last Heavyweight Standing Tournament 2 Final Last Heavyweight Standing Tournament 1 Final Middleweight: Mesud Selimovic vs. Iliass Hammouche Jamal Ben Saddik vs. Sofian Laidouni Tariq Osaro vs. Luigi Gashi Bahram Rajabzadeh vs. Asdren Gashi Mory Kromah vs. Alin Nechita Glory 100, Undercard Catchweight: Serkan Ozcaglayan vs. Mohamed Touchassie Featherweight: Berjan Peposhi vs. Deniz Demirkapu Milos Cvjeticanin vs. Cem Caceres Colin George vs. Nico 'Big Sexy' Horta Asadulla Nasipov vs. Anis Bouzid Iraj Azizpour vs. Ionut Iancu Iuri Fernandes vs. Samuele Pugliese Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
BBC News
13-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Alex Eastwood: 'Our son's kickboxing death must lead to change'
Moments before 15-year-old Alex Eastwood headed down to the ring to compete in a charity kickboxing match, his father gave him a kiss and told him he loved Eastwood, 40, never imagined this would be the last conversation he had with his champion kickboxer collapsed after the third and final bout of the match and died three days later in hospital. After it came to light that he had been competing in an unsanctioned family, his family launched a campaign for change in his memory. During his inquest at Bolton Coroner's Court, Michael Pemberton, assistant coroner for Manchester West, concluded Alex died through said neither Alex, nor his parents, appreciated the dangers of the "chaotic and somewhat disjointed" approach to children involved in combat described the planning and lack of risk assessment before the fatal bout as "sub-optimal".Alex fell in love with kickboxing after he started training at Hurricane Combat and Fitness in Liverpool at the age of nine and had a "meteoric" rise in the sport, his inquest heard. The teenager, from Fazakerley, Liverpool, who had just finished his GCSEs, had agreed to take part in the charity fundraiser fight at TKMA Gym in Platt Bridge, Wigan, on 29 June 2024 .The bout was to be the "main event", but it was an unsanctioned match, the inquest heard. Tragedy struck when Alex collapsed after the third and final two-minute round of the "light contact" kickboxing match against a 17-year-old opponent. Mr Eastwood told the inquest he "shouted that his son's head guard had come loose" in the second round, which was said he noticed his son's movements had become "slower" and he was "holding the rope" in the third round. Speaking to BBC North West Tonight, Mr Eastwood said: "I looked at Nikita [Alex's step-mother] and across the room and shook my head as if to say 'what have we just witnessed?'"He recalled how his son, who trained five times a week, appeared "sluggish and wasn't himself" before he "started throwing punches into thin air".His father said no-one seemed to react to what was unfolding in front of their eyes as he remembered rushing to his son's side to put him in a recovery position. "I just thought 'why is no-one else reacting to this? Am I seeing this straight? This isn't normal'," said Mrs Eastwood. Alex was taken to the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan where doctors confirmed he had catastrophic brain damage and was transferred to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital for surgery but he died on 2 July 2024 with his father at his bedside. "From that point on there've just been questions of what, why, and trying to move forward with some sort of life, which is very difficult at the moment," his father a pre-inquest hearing into his death, Mr Pemberton took the unusual step of filing a Prevention of Future Death report as he said he was concerned there was no regulatory guidance for any child combat sports. "To be told as parents that children are fighting in unregulated and unsanctioned fights and we don't know – it's shocking," said Mr Eastwood."We put him in a sport to help him, make him better in life and I'll never see him again now because of that sport."Alex's family said the government needed to step in to regulate the sport to make it safer for children, adding there needed to be clear, enforceable, national protections for children's combat sports."It's a great sport for people – but as long as everyone comes home safe," said Mr Eastwood."It's not at the moment, because Alex hasn't come home safe."Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: "Whilst the government does not, and should not, directly regulate sport, it is clear lessons must be learned."She said her department was "exploring ways to improve the safety and welfare of children in martial arts".Additional reporting by PA Media. Read more stories from Cheshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC North West on X.
