Bulgarian kickboxer Stoyan Koprivlenski failed to defend his 2024 title in the 70kg category at the K-1 World Max Super Tournament, held in Tokyo on 15 November.

According to the tournament format, the title is awarded to the fighter who wins three bouts in a single day. Koprivlenski, aged 31, began the day with a decisive victory. He defeated Thai fighter Hercules Fetsimean by unanimous decision after three rounds.

However, in his second match against the Dutch fighter Darryl Verdonk, Koprivlenski dominated the first two rounds, only to be defeated in the third after being knocked down twice.

“It's not my first loss, but it still hurts. I was extremely close. I trained hard. I won the first match, but lost the second. In sport, a single second can change everything,' he wrote on Facebook.