Kobayashi defeats Joey in Singapore
Results of Sunday’s satay eating contest in Singapore from the Straits Times
1. Takeru Kobayashi 5.4 kg (first victory over Joey Chestnut in 4 contests)
2. Joey Chestnut 4.1 kg
3. Victor Lim 1.3 kg, top local contestant
Kobayashi dyed his hair blue for the contest.
Other coverage
China Daily article
Kobayashi has several blog entries about the contest
(Thanks Zack, Carey & Crawfish for comments)
update
Asia1.com article
contest video (from comment)
psp3rdgen’s gallery
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Rhonda Evans said
July 28, 2008 @ 8:37 am
Yeah, technically, I guess you could say it was Koby’s first victory over Joey in four contests. However, you know and I know that in those two Spike contests Koby didn’t even try.
Koby didn’t just win this event, winning by 2.86 lbs is a slaughter!
Like I have said many times, as great as Koby is in hot dogs and Krystals, he is better in many other foods. When it comes to hand speed no one on this planet is even close to Koby, except for Pat Bertoletti, and Sonya is a close third.
Anonymous said
July 28, 2008 @ 9:47 am
That was quite a thrashing. Who’s number 1 now?
North Pole said (Registered April 28, 2008)
July 28, 2008 @ 10:41 am
Just because the #1 ranked eater only eats 75% of what the #3 ranked eater eats doesn’t mean that he should lose his rankings. Hmmmmmm. Its only one contest. To put it in hot dog terms: Koby 60, Joey 45. Gotta wait and see what else happens in other events.
Chicken said
July 28, 2008 @ 10:47 am
Road Report: Singapore
http://www.ifoce.com/news.php?action=detail&sn=617
Zack said
July 28, 2008 @ 11:23 am
At the end of the day All of Us -Joey, Kobayashi and the local eaters- had fun. I really hope that sponsors would come to Singapore and help it to make MLE a grand event for us Asian. The humble Nathan’s hotdog is now famous because of the hotdog competitions in Coney Island. Hope that Singapore could come up with something… Maybe Prata from Jalan Kayu… =)
Regards
Zack “Attack”
MLE Asia Competitive Eater.
Rhonda Evans said
July 28, 2008 @ 12:37 pm
The rankings are almost exclusively dictated by Nathans and Krystals; that’s the reality of the situation.
As a matter of fact, if Humble Bob finishes ahead of Pat in Krystals he’ll move in front of him in the rankings, assuming the IFOCE doesn’t wait until next summer to change the rankings.
Sho-nuff said
July 28, 2008 @ 3:58 pm
The question is… What did Joey know about the food Chicken Satay b4 his trip to Asia?? My guess is that it was his first time having it. Koby won’t be so lucky next… ShoGun of Harlem
Anonymous said
July 28, 2008 @ 4:25 pm
It’s PIECES OF CHICKEN ON A STICK. What is there to know about it?!?
Anonymous said
July 28, 2008 @ 4:26 pm
Here is video of the contest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd8EuOGpUVo
I said
July 28, 2008 @ 4:31 pm
well Sho-nuff that may be the case but do not create a lame excuse for joey because if he didnt do something anything to find out about the food before eating it against the greatest eater of all time then he is really a fool..i am quite sure george or rich or whoever his handler was did not let joey go in cold in an exhibition like this…..
Ted Y said
July 28, 2008 @ 4:40 pm
What a dominating performance by Kobayashi. I think we know how’s number one now. In these distant contest nobody can compete with Kobayashi. And we all see again what he is capable of healthy.
"MissBusyLady" Lily said (Registered April 26, 2008)
July 28, 2008 @ 5:46 pm
Well, both eaters went in with the intention to win. You win some, you lose some.
mike landrich said (Registered July 4, 2007)
July 28, 2008 @ 6:27 pm
Ted Y and others
Joey and Koby are the best eaters on the planet. I wouldn’t bash either one based on one performance. Koby is still down overall for the last few contests. He may come back and dominate, but save the gloating until he has done so, or you may have to admit you were wrong. We can’t have that, can we? Perhaps you could just post under a new name or anonymously then.
Rhonda Evans said
July 29, 2008 @ 8:10 am
Mike, you have a valid point. I must say, however, that the two Nathan’s contests in which Joey won out over Koby were very close right up until the end, and the winnnng margin of victory was very small. You cannot count Koby’s participation in the Spike TV specials (wings and ham), because he did not even try, given his jaw problem. In those “Chowdown” contests most any IFOCE top 10 eater would have finished ahead of Koby.
However, in two of the six victories Koby has over Joey (2 X Nathan’s, 2 X Krystals, brats, and chicken) Koby totally dominated Joey (12 brats and nearly 3 lbs of chicken), and I’m not even counting the earlier Nathan’s, because Joey improved so much since then.) Put Joey and Koby head-to-head with10 different foods in 10 separate events and Koby will win at least eight of them, and he would win decisively in half of those.
Joey is the greatest American eater of all time, but he is no Takeru Kobayashi, whether or not he wants to believe he is. Koby’s most recent domination of Joey in chicken may actually help Joey grow as a professional, in that it may well serve as a reality check.
Anonymous said
July 29, 2008 @ 11:05 am
If Dale Boone had gone to singapore he would have destroyed Kobyashi.
Steakbellie said (Registered August 11, 2006)
July 29, 2008 @ 11:34 am
Rhonda,
I always appreciate your loyalty to Koby and your familiarity with the game. I was thrilled to see that Koby showed up to Nathans prepared and that he was not ready to roll over. I think his victory over Joey in Satay was decisive, but should not in itself be reason to unseat Joey. In that case Mr Bertoletti would have spent half of 2007 contests as the number 1 in the world.
Currently the ruler is Nathans and Krystals and I think Koby or Pat would need a win in one of those to make the case for regime change. I’m sure you and I agree that other foods need to carry more weight, but the reality is that they dont when it comes to the Worlds Top Eater.
Koby had a difficult year last year with his Mother passing and then the jaw/tooth issue. I hope to see him compete head to head with Joey & Pat many more times this year! The opportunity in Singapore great for them personally and great for CE as a whole!
Anonymous said
July 29, 2008 @ 12:10 pm
I think Furious pete is also better than kobyashi.
North Pole said (Registered April 28, 2008)
July 29, 2008 @ 12:53 pm
Is Nathans and Krystals the decider because they pay so much, or is there some other reason? If I was one of the other sponsors I’d be complaining because my event didn’t really matter.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens later on this year…
mike landrich said (Registered July 4, 2007)
July 29, 2008 @ 10:55 pm
Rhonda
I don’t think you got my point. Koby and Joey are both great eaters. But this one contest does not mean Koby is back on top. It might be the start of his return, or it could be a fluke. TED Y is a little too eager to proclaim Koby as #1. Time will tell. I will say this, and you can quote me, since it is absolutely true……..the better man will win the majority of contests where they face one another.
As for Koby’s earlier wins over Joey, both have advanced so far from that level, the earlier contests really have no bearing on their current status.
Tom G said (Registered May 27, 2007)
July 29, 2008 @ 11:32 pm
An exhibition with zero reported payout is virtually meaningless compared to the biggest event with a $10 000 payout. If Kobayashi would win eight out of 10 events, then he should enter 10 events and win eight of them. Until he does that it we can only base their status on what has actually happened over the past 12 to 24 months
Rhonda Evans said
July 30, 2008 @ 7:21 am
Mike, I did fully grasp your point, and if I were the IFOCE I would wait until after Krystals until I entertained a rankings change. The gism … er … I mean gist … of what I was trying to get across is the fact that Koby’s decisive victory over Joey sure put an exclamation point on the fact that he’s making a case for reclaiming his status as the word’s best eater. If Koby wins in Krystals, who in the world can argue that he’s not the world’s # 1 eater?
And that logic that you need to eat in “enough” events to be # 1, I don’t buy. The more competitions one one eats in the better he should be. Conversely, if Koby or anyone else is a great enough eater to win most of the three or four annual contests he enters over the next best eater in the world, that person deserves to be number one–perhaps even more so than if he ate at a a dozen contests, because it shows how talented that person is even without the practice of other competitions.
Nevertheless, given Koby’s dominating performance over the “current number one eater in the world,” Joey’s trek up Nacho Mountain must be quite a weighty excursion.
Rhonda Evans said
July 30, 2008 @ 7:24 am
Thanks Steak. I agree with everything you said.