Kickboxing is a full-contact combat sport and a form of boxing based on punching and kicking. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and bare feet to favor the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general fitness, or for competition. Some styles of kickboxing include: Karate, Muay Thai, Japanese kickboxing, Lethwei, Sanda, and Savate.
Rick John Roufus is a retired American kickboxer. He has also competed professionally in boxing and mixed martial arts. An accomplished professional fighter throughout his competitive career, Roufus has won multiple world championships across the globe in several weight classes, he was world champion as a super middle weight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. Roufus held titles for all the major kickboxing associations worldwide, and is known for his boxing skills and powerful kicks. He is the older brother of Duke Roufus who is also a kickboxer and a Muay Thai and mixed martial arts instructor. Rick Roufus is the Global Director of Fighter Development for PKA Worldwide. In 2012 Rick Roufus was inducted into the World Kickboxing League Hall of Fame.
Benny Urquidez is an American former professional kickboxer, martial arts choreographer and actor. Nicknamed "The Jet", Urquidez was a non-contact karate competitor who later pioneered full-contact fighting in the United States. He made the transition from point to full-contact karate in 1974, the year of its inception in the US, frequently fighting in bouts where the rules were ambiguous and contrasts in styles were dramatic. Urquidez is also known for once holding the rare achievement of six world titles in five different weight divisions, and remained largely undefeated in his 27-year career. His only loss came in a Muay Thai match which was shrouded in controversy, as Urquidez had only agreed to a no-decision exhibition, a clause which was ignored when the fight had ended.
Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the opponents. In most sports that use it, welterweight is heavier than lightweight but lighter than middleweight.
Azem Maksutaj is a Swiss former kickboxer who competed in the lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. Originally from Kosovo, he relocated to Switzerland at an early age where he began training in Muay Thai at fifteen. After capturing the Swiss national title at lightweight during his first year of competition in 1992, he then went on to win European and world honours 1994 while fighting around the 77 kg super middleweight mark. The late 1990s saw Maksutaj move between light heavyweight and cruiserweight, taking five world titles in those divisions, before eventually making the jump to heavyweight in 2001 where he spent the remainder of his career, acting as a journeyman in the K-1 promotion while also winning another four world titles.
Yoshihiro Sato is a Japanese kickboxer competing in K-1 at middleweight (−70 kg). He is the former world champion of Muay Thai in WKA and WPKC, and he won the Japanese national tournament of K-1 twice in 2006 and 2007. His official nickname is "Mugen Sniper" which means Infinite Sniper.
Dennis Raymond Alexio is an American former professional kickboxer and actor who competed in the light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. Starting out as a light heavyweight, Alexio kicked off his career with an extensive, knockout-laden undefeated streak before losing a decision to Don "The Dragon" Wilson in a World Kickboxing Association (WKA) World Super Light Heavyweight Full Contact Championship match in 1984. He rebounded from this by winning the Professional Karate Association (PKA) World Light Heavyweight title that same year before moving up to cruiserweight and taking the International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) World Cruiserweight Full Contact strap. In the late 1980s, he began his transition to the heavyweight division where he won six world titles and was considered the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion. He faced the two toughest tests of his career in 1992 against Branko Cikatić and Stan Longinidis - both of whom were heavier fighters - fighting to a controversial draw with Cikatić and losing to Longinidis via an early low kick KO which resulted in a broken leg.
Howard E. Jackson was a former World Kickboxing Champion (W.K.A), a World Muay Thai Champion (W.K.B.A), a world rated Karate point fighter, and a world rated boxing contender.
Kickboxing weight classes are weight classes that pertain to the sport of kickboxing.
Curtis Bush is an American world champion kickboxer who competed in the welterweight, super-welterweight, light-middleweight and middleweight divisions. A tall Southpaw possessing dangerous spinning back kicks and spinning back fists, Bush competed entirely under full contact rules and was a two-time Virginia state champion as an amateur before turning professional in 1983. After knocking out Robert Visitacion to become the North American welterweight champion in 1987, he went on to win five world titles in four weight classes and retired from competition in 1999.
The World Kickboxing Association (WKA) also known as World Kickboxing and Karate Association, is one of the oldest and the largest amateur and professional sanctioning body for kickboxing and Karate.
John Wayne "The Gunslinger" Parr, also known as JWP, is a retired Australian Muay Thai fighter, kickboxer and boxer, fighting out of Boonchu Gym in Gold Coast, Queensland. He is a former 10-times World Champion and was the runner up on The Contender Asia.
Richard P. "Rick" Cheek is an American kickboxer and mixed martial artist who competes in the heavyweight division. A North American Muay Thai champion as an amateur, Cheek turned professional in 2005 and debuted in K-1 the same year. He holds notable wins over WSOF standout Dave Huckaba in MMA, 2001 K-1 Japan Grand Prix Champion Nicholas Pettas and multiple time world kickboxing champion Mike Sheppard.
K-1 Grand Prix '93 was a martial arts event held by the K-1 organization on April 30, 1993, at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. It was the inaugural K-1 World Grand Prix, featuring an eight-man tournament fought under K-1 rules. The eight tournament qualifiers were all invited on the basis of their achievements in the kickboxing world. As well as tournament matches there was also a full contact karate bout between Andy Hug and Nobuaki Kakuda. The event featured ten fights with fighters representing seven countries. The winner was Branko Cikatić who defeated Ernesto Hoost in the final by first-round knockout, becoming the first K-1 World champion.
Shemsi Beqiri is a Swiss Albanian kickboxer who competes in the middleweight division.
Yohan Lidon is a French Muay Thai kickboxer. He is a 3-time world champion in Muay Thai and kickboxing - including being the first ever It's Showtime 73MAX world champion.
The Standardized Tournaments And Ratings System (STAR) was the premier rating service for international kickboxing, from 1980 through 1989, as syndicated in fifteen martial arts and sports magazines throughout the world. It was recognized as the official ratings source by two out of three major sanctioning bodies for professional kickboxing, World Kickboxing Association (WKA) and Karate International Council of Kickboxing (KICK).
Denis Alexandrovich Grachev is a Russian boxer, kickboxer, and mixed martial artist residing in the United States. Grachev was the IKF Muay Thai world light cruiserweight champion.
Steve Shepherd was a five-time world kickboxing champion and a top pioneer kickboxing promoter in the state of Florida. He defeated eight world champions from five weight divisions, four of them during their championship reigns. He also decisioned future world champions Don Wilson, Ted Pryor, Dale "Apollo" Cook and Bob "Thunder" Thurman.
Gabriel Varga is a Canadian kickboxer who competes in the Lightweight division of Karate Combat. He is the former Bellator KB Featherweight champion, the former two time Glory Featherweight champion and the former WKN lightweight champion.
