I've had a fledgling interest in kickboxing for nearly a decade now, and while i really enjoyed K1 in it's day, the lack of info about the 70's, 80's and early 90's has always gotten the better of my curiosity, so, i figured i'd try to start a discussion about it. As i can see there were four guys who laid a claim to being the best before 1993, Dennis Alexio, Branko Cikatic, Stan Longinidis and Maurice Smith, all of them had some claim to the top spot, just as all of them had some tangible questions about their validity. To give a little insight as far as i understand it, Alexio was the dominant force in above the waist, american style kickboxing, having never lost a bout under those rules, and had beaten most high level fighters in the united states (as most fought under those rules). Knocks against him however are his record against other big names in bouts involving low kicks, a controversial no contest against Cikatic, and an 8 second tko loss to Longinidis via low kick, itself a source of controversy. Cikatic on the other hand made his name with his amateur record, being a dominant force in the eastern bloc kickboxing scene, due to laws prohibiting professionalism in sport in his native Yugoslavia, he was unable to turn pro until late in his career, and was only able to make his way to the united states in his mid 30's. Although his record in the United States was rather unimpressive, earning him a single major title at cruiserweight, the raw data of his record hides being on the recieving end of a controversial fight ending foul against Alexio, and a rather poorly scored loss to Longinidis in Australia. Longinidis however had a rather opposite Reputation to Cikatic, having won a number of seemingly high level titles, but often times against less than stellar opposition, however, it is argued that Longinidis was merely trying to build his image to set up big fights, as he offered open challenges to most high level fighters, and is the only one on this list to fight all other contenders. However his record in these fights is worth further inspection, having lost split decision to Maurice Smith, in what most observers thought was a one sided fight, won by a large margin in a unanimous decision against Cikatic in what most observers thought was a close fight, and won a tko against Alexio in 8 seconds via low kick, in one of Alexio's first low kick bouts. Finally, Smith, had a decent record, having remained champion of an organization for roughly 9 years, however he competed in almost exclusively low kick competitions, so he had a much more diminished record than his contemporaries. (as low kick rules were uncommon in the united states at the time) Although he actively Campaigned for fights with both Alexio and Cikatic, he was only ever able to meet Longinidis in the ring, beating him in one sided fashion to a questionable split decision victory. That's about as much as i know on the subject, so if i have gotten something wrong or missed out a great fight or fighter, i apologize, but to get back on track, who do you think was the best heavyweight of the early 90's?
I personally was always a big fan of Alexio, (not that there was much access to American kickboxing footage, during early 90's UK) specifically, as for a 'Kickboxer' I felt he had a pretty impressive 'Boxing' repertoire, to back up his kicks. [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd772pmsFCU"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd772pmsFCU[/ame] Alexio claimed that the injury sustained was as a result of twisting his leg on a depression in the ring floor, and disputed that the strike from Stan 'The Man' was the cause. Now if you go to 1m 3s of the below video, you can judge for yourselves, as for me, I wouldn't like to call it! [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu1lbRfdQfY"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu1lbRfdQfY[/ame] Kind Regards, Travess
I have gone back and forward on the idea that there was a depression in the floor, although i've tended toward it being the result of a kick ever since i found out it was the last fight on the card that night and their hadn't been any issues with the canvas up to that point.
Not one of your four gazaqwe but In the early 1980s Bad Brad Hefton was a cracking fighter [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BknRWt4PQds"]Brad Hefton vs Anthony Elmore - YouTube[/ame]
Don Wilson [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L59IA0_JUgA#t=2399[/ame] Or the Iceman [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZS6qOlN3Ig"]Jean Yves Theriault Highlights - YouTube[/ame]
Theriault and Wallace were middleweights, and Wilson was a cruiser at his heaviest though, fellas. (although Wilson did beat Alexio, Cikatic and Smith IIRC, so it's probably a moot point.)
Yeah, Hefton was a name i can't explain overlooking, an interesting tidbit i heard about Hefton was he was apparently retired by a young Vitali Klitschko in the very early 90's in a super heavyweight bout.
It's all sweet man, for those who are interested, i'll put a couple of vids up here. [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8K6PiEgdTU"]Dennis Alexio vs Darrell Henegan - YouTube[/ame] (nice little Alexio victory over Darrell Henegan) [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I3oscYafJU"]Fightclub: Dennis Alexio vs Branko Cikatic - YouTube[/ame] (the controversial Alexio-Cikatic fight) [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2trk3iCnH8"]BRANKO CIKATIC VS ERNESTO HOOST K-1 Grand Prix '93 Final - YouTube[/ame] (Branko's last hurrah, his final bout in the first K1 gp against Ernesto Hoost) [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyv46cMXU6k"]Maurice Smith vs Stan Longinidis Part 1 - YouTube[/ame] (part 1 of the Longinidis-Smith bout) [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLs2FEi47-s"]Maurice Smith vs Stan Longinidis Part 2 - YouTube[/ame] (part 2) [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeKbIIsqQe4"]Maurice Smith vs Stan Longinidis Part 3 - YouTube[/ame] (part 3) [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DF101PByBY"]BRANKO CIKATIC VS STAN LONGINIDIS 1992,MELBOURNE! - YouTube[/ame] (and finally, the Cikatic-Longinidis bout, which, upon seeing for myself the first time, was much less controversial than i had been lead to believe previously)
For me I would go Smith - physically the most dominant and also made the transition to MMA successfully Always had a soft spot for Alexio though having seen a lot of his fights as i was growing up
Met Don Wilson when one of my boys fought in Florida,may of been a good fighter but what a big head he has!,Bill Wallace on the other hand is a lovely modest fella. Branko was a tough fella,I think Smith was the most skillfull but I still like Hefton pre K1,he could jump back kick to the head in real time fights and that as a heavy is canny rare,Interesting fact ref Klitchko bro I didnt know tht
I've only ever had the opportunity to meet Longinidis myself, but that guy is a class act all the way. But the more i am seeing of this Hefton guy is really making me question why i didn't put him in the poll in the first place.
He was good eh bro,actually the PKA In the early eighties had some good Kickboxers across all weights,I competed in UK at that time It was very much a developing Kickboxing period and exciting times,I loved Paul Vizzio at Lightweight and Steve Sheppard at Middleweight ,Hefton of course at Heavy which is why I brought him up on your thread
I've always been really interested in the PKA, but i can't seem to find much info about it, and could probably only name about five big names i am sure competed for them.
He did, but almost exclusively at light heavy and cruiserweight, but he also spent much of the 90's in k1 under 200 pounds though. Aerts was also active i believe, but he hadn't fought outside of Europe (excluding Aruba) before K1.
