Vitali Klitschko... Yeah I went here

[XCuTioNeR]

Originally Posted by zuffa zack

Put an MMA fighter getting KO'ed by a Boxer and you guys will discuss all day long, put Vitali getting KO'ed by a nobody and its the end of the world

Apples and ice cream cones, just bleed bro.

[MilkManUK]

Originally Posted by XCuTioNeR

Kickboxer vs kickboxer, where one of them gets KO'd with a spinning heel kick.
Very relevant to Boxing.

But both became pro-boxers, with quite a difference in career success. It means absolutely nothing to the present day status of either man, but I for one, am happy to finally see the video.

[Sunfish]

I thought this would be of interest to the boxing fans who have followed vitali all the way. I apologise.

[LogicalInsanity]

Originally Posted by XCuTioNeR

Kickboxer vs kickboxer, where one of them gets KO'd with a spinning heel kick.
Very relevant to Boxing.

Cmon now...how many times have we seen that video of Don Frye getting his ass kicked in the hotel lobby by some boxing trainer in this forum?

This kickboxing match happened some 20 years ago and wasn't really believed to have happened, or perceived as a myth...

here we have Vitali Klitchko, the current Boxing HW King in an old kick boxing video...

it's acceptable to post here...I consider it a good find.

I don't see what the problem is.

[XCuTioNeR]

Originally Posted by Sunfish

I thought this would be of interest to the boxing fans who have followed vitali all the way. I apologise.

If you're a Vitali fan you're sad seeing your man get KO'd.
If you're not a Vitali fan you're smiling.
Say a Hail Mary 42 times, and I will accept the apology

[Paradigm]

Originally Posted by XCuTioNeR

Middle school burn.

i learned it from the best on this forum.

he does sound agitated though.

[LogicalInsanity]

Originally Posted by Sunfish

I thought this would be of interest to the boxing fans who have followed vitali all the way. I apologise.

Don't apologize, you did nothing wrong.

As Milkman said, we have two kickboxers who went on to become boxers...this is absolutely post worthy here...

People just have sand in the vag today...

[Sunfish]

Originally Posted by XCuTioNeR

If you're a Vitali fan you're sad seeing your man get KO'd.
If you're not a Vitali fan you're smiling.
Say a Hail Mary 42 times, and I will accept the apology

I think I got to 42, I'll say some more tomorrow.

[consortium11]

It's a great find... it's an item of kickboxing lore that many had thought lost... the equivalent of if tape appeared of Rickson vs Anjo for MMA or if tape suddenly appeared of the legendary boxers we have seen very little of (or hell, if we'd seen what had happened at the end of Rocky 4...). It's certainly worth discussing.

First however, a personal note. You remember a while back where people were arguing that today's 42 year old, semi-retired, severely injured Vitali could walk into kickboxing and dominate on the basis that he was once a "World Champion Kickboxer"?

That's the sort of kickboxing he was a world champion in. No leg kicks, often head gear, bouts often dominated by punching, few punch/kick combinations. Compare that to even the sad mess K-1 is today and you see a real difference.

On the fight itself, Pele Reid was an excellent kickboxer. He himself was fairly young at the time of the bout (20 or so) but he was almost made for the this ruleset and had excellent spinning kicks (he won the world title a year later using a spinning back kick in the final). Spinning kicks were a huge weapon in such fights... mainly due to the rules.

The W.A.K.O world championships were held under what is known as "Light Contact" rules. What this means in practical terms is that they should be contested in the same way as one would a hard sparring session. The idea was to show your technical skill and form rather than to bludgeon opposition with sheer power. If a referee thought you were putting too much power in a fighter would be penalised. That's one of the reasons that the kicks and punches you see thrown look to be fairly light... because they were.

Spinning kicks are an exception. It's very hard to throw a "light" spinning kick for the simple reason that they generate so much momentum. As such while both sides were pulling their punches and "normal" kicks there was no such restriction to spin kicks... and Pele was the master of spin kicks. That's not to diminish his achievement, simply to accept that he was perfectly made for those rules.

Vitali was not a full-time kickboxer. While his amateur career only really took off in the mid-1990's (at about the same time he became a professional kickboxer) he was still training and drilling the sweet science to a significant extent (as well as his academic studies). Reid in contrast was a life-long kickboxer who only transitioned away when it was apparent there was far more money to be made elsewhere.

In essence the bout was a contest between two solid amateur prospects/contenders, both young and yet to reach their prime, with one perfectly built for the slightly artificial ruleset while the other still had vast natural gifts.

It's sad in some ways that this amateur bout when he was 20 or so is the highlight of Reid's career. He transitioned to boxing in the mid 1990's and, clearly powerful, he appeared likely to make something of himself, running up a 13-0 record (all stoppages, most in the early rounds) on the British domestic scene with somewhat notable wins over Ricardo Kennedy (who was sparked by Vitali a year later), Eli Dixon (who was later beaten by Golota, Wladamir and Jimmy Thunder) and Wayne Llewellyn (who was demolished by McCline in his most high profile bout but does hold a win over Michael Sprott). Then he came up against Julius Francis, a man most famous for selling sponsorship on the soles of his boots for his bout with Tyson, knowing that he would end up on his back, but despite that a handy domestic boxer with wins over the once well regarded Damien Caesar, James Oyebola, Joseph Chingangu (who holds a win over Herbie Hide and at age 46 is still boxing), Steffen Nielsen, Garry Delaney (who David Haye would later flatten) and Danny Williams (who was then undefeated).

Reid came across Francis on a day when Francis actually cared... and the result was a stoppage loss. Things did not get better immediately after; an ageing Orlin Norris smashed him in a round and the frankly awful Jacklord Jacobs stopped him in two. He rebuilt slightly with a pair of wins over scrubs before being first held to a draw by punching bag Luke Simpkin and then despite putting Michael Sprott down twice being stopped himself.

Eventually he moved back to his first love and made a number of appearances in K-1. But kickboxing had moved by him and his four appearances led to four losses. He came back to boxing in 2006 but he was old and tired. While he beat scrubs the domestic contenders Sam Sexton and John McDermott both beat him and he retired to do personal training and movie work.

[MilkManUK]

Brilliant post consortium11. Thanks.

Also, just as a side note, the Sefo vs Reid K-1 fight is always worth a watch.