Just for Kicks

K-1 competitor Duke Roufus maintains grueling training schedule for event at Mirage

Duke Roufus came to Las Vegas for the Spartan lifestyle.

OK, you can stop snickering now. Roufus is serious.

As a competitor in Saturday's K-1 North American Championship tournament at The Mirage, Roufus left his hometown of Milwaukee last month and came here to train for the event that combines kickboxing with such martial arts as karate, kung fu, kakutogi and tae kwon do.

Up at 6 a.m., Roufus makes a run up to Sunrise Mountain, then does some stretching and exercises before beginning sparring, bag work and skill drills. In the afternoon, he repeats the whole process.

"For this type of event, that's what you need," Roufus says. He faces Tomasz Kucharzewski of Ontario, Canada, in the tournament's first round.

K-1 competition is dangerous -- Roufus has broken his nose, foot and hand -- because the fighters can kick, punch and use their knees to beat an opponent.

"All professional sports take their wear and tear on you," says Roufus, who began practicing martial arts at age 4 and played football in school before becoming a kickboxer at 18.

But there's an attraction to K-1 that keeps him coming back to the ring.

"It's a chess match, it's strategic," he says. "With each guy you face there's one element you have to do to beat the man in front of you."

Roufus likes the one-on-one aspect.

"In a team sport, you can play the best game of your life and still lose," he says. "With this, you can find yourself, or lose yourself in the ring. I have a feel for the gladiator thing."

And unlike some sports, K-1's athletes are "great role models," Roufus says. "There are a lot of clean-living guys who take care of themselves."

Besides Roufus and Kucharzewski, top fighters in the city for the event include Maurice Smith of Seattle; Pedro Fernandez of Tijuana, Mexico; Jean Claude Leuyer of San Jose, Calif.; Gunter Singer of Los Angeles; Paul Lalonde of Vancouver, British Columbia; and Michael McDonald of Canada.

Smith, 39, has a 57-8-4 record with 44 knockouts; Fernandez, 32, is 15-2 with 11 KO's; Leuyer, 30, has compiled a 39-8-1 record with 34 KO's; Singer, 33, is 38-7-2 with 28 KO's; Lalonde, 25, is 18-3 with 11 KO's; Kucharzewski, 32, has a 69-7 mark; Roufus, 31, is 33-5-1; and McDonald, 36, has a 34-8 record with 11 KO's.

To win the tournament, a fighter must win three fights in one day.

The winner of the event will meet semifinalists from seven countries Aug. 11 at the Bellagio for the K-1 Grand Prix Semifinals. The winners of that event will compete at the World Championship finals in the Tokyo Dome. Last year's event in Tokyo had more than 70,000 fans in attendance and an estimated 30 million TV viewers worldwide.

Saturday's tournament will be covered by ESPN2, the E! network, Canadian pay-per-view and Fuji Television.

Saturday's preliminary bouts include Alex Gong vs. Dewayne Ludwig, Tommy Glanville vs. Mark Miller, Tony Valente vs. Peter Kaljevic, Dewey Cooper vs. Arne Soldwedel, Angela Rivera vs. Trish Hill, Gary Owens vs. Billy Parvin and Brian Schwartz vs. Dion Paminto.

Kickboxing started in the U.S. during the 1970s. Competitors use sparring, kicks, punches, kick blocks, shadow boxing and wood breaking in training.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m. with the preliminary round set for 5 p.m. The first championship bout is slated to start at 6 p.m.

Tickets are $30, $50, $100, $150 and $250. Tickets can be bought at The Mirage box office.

Duke Roufus, right, competes this weekend in the K-1 North American Championship tournament at The Mirage.

what: K-1 North American Championship
when: 5 p.m. Saturday
where: The Mirage, 3400 Las Vegas Blvd. South
tickets: $30-$250 (791-7111)