Kickboxing is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. 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: full contact 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.
Kashmir Singh Gill popularly known as Kash "The Flash" Gill, is a retired British professional kickboxer who is a former four-time world champion.
Troy Glenn Dorsey is a former U.S. boxer and kickboxer who competed in the bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight divisions. Known predominantly for his physical endurance and power, Dorsey began his martial arts training in karate and taekwondo at the age of ten before later making the switch to full contact kickboxing. He was a three-time kickboxing world champion as well as a gold medalist of the WAKO Amateur World Championships in both 1985 (London) and 1987 (Munich). He then began dedicating himself to boxing in 1989. He won the IBF World Featherweight Championship and IBO World Super Featherweight Championship before retiring in 1998.
The ISKA is one of the major international bodies regulating sport karate and kickboxing matches. It is based in the United States. It was established in 1985 as a response to legal and revenue issues that sent the Professional Karate Association (PKA) into decline.
Dennis Alexio is an American former professional kickboxer and actor who competed in the light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. Beginning his career as a light heavyweight in 1980, Alexio embarked on 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 title.
William Louis Wallace, nicknamed "Superfoot", is an American Martial arts, actor, and former professional kickboxer. Considered one of the first American superstars of kickboxing, he was the Professional Karate Association (PKA) World Full-Contact Champion, and the Middleweight Kickboxing Champion for six years, retiring with an undefeated 23-0-0 record. He is currently the International Ambassador for PKA Worldwide.
Joe Lewis was an American martial artist, professional kickboxer and actor. Originally a practitioner of Shōrin-ryū karate and champion in point sparring competitions, he became one of the fathers of full contact karate and kickboxing in the United States, and is credited with popularizing the combat sport in North America.
Donald Glen Wilson, nicknamed "The Dragon", is an American martial artist, former professional kickboxer, and actor. An 11-time world champion who scored 47 knockouts in four decades, he has been called by the STAR System Ratings as "perhaps the greatest kickboxer in American history. He has disposed of more quality competition than anyone we've ever ranked". In 2015, he was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame.
Jean-Yves Thériault is a Canadian kickboxer, kickboxing trainer, and author.
Kickboxing weight classes are weight classes that pertain to the sport of kickboxing.
The Professional Karate Association (PKA), later Professional Karate & Kickboxing Association, and now effective from March 1, 2022 PKA Worldwide was originally a martial arts sanctioning organization, now transformed into a martial arts promotion company.
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.
Mearion Shonie Bickhem III, better known as Shonie Carter, is an American mixed martial artist. He is a former WEC Welterweight Champion, a UFC veteran, and a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 4 reality show. He has also competed in Pancrase, Shooto, King of the Cage, M-1 Global, KSW, and Bellator. He is known for his flashy dress, colorful vocabulary, outlandish personality and use of the spinning backfist in competition.
Dale Cook is an American former kickboxer who competed in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions. With a background in karate and taekwondo, Cook debuted professionally in 1977 and spent the early part of his career as a full contact rules fighter. In the 1980s, he began fighting under Oriental and Muay Thai rules and took two world titles under the WKA banner. A short stint in shoot boxing towards the end of his career in the mid-1990s resulted in another world title in that discipline.
Marek "The Punisher" Piotrowski is a Polish retired heavyweight kickboxer and boxer. He is a former ten time kickboxing world champion.
Joe Corley is an American karate and kickboxing competitor, instructor, broadcaster and promoter who helped achieve the success of the Professional Karate Association and the early establishment of professional kickboxing in the United States. Joe Corley is CEO of PKA Worldwide.
Stephen Randall Thompson is an American professional mixed martial artist and former professional kickboxer. Thompson currently competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As a full-contact kickboxer, Thompson was undefeated through 37 amateur and 20 professional matches. Thompson is regarded as one of the most accomplished strikers in the UFC. As of October 8, 2024, he is #11 in the UFC welterweight rankings.
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.
Glenn McMorris is a retired kickboxer, a former Professional Karate Association Full-Contact Middleweight United States Champion, a sport karate Hall of Famer, and the only fighter to have knocked out Martial Arts Hall of Famer Don "The Dragon" Wilson.
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