World Kickboxing Network
| Abbreviation | WKN |
|---|---|
| Formation | October 1994 |
| Founders | Stephane Cabrera Olivier Muller Billy Murray |
| Founded at | France |
|
Region served
|
Worldwide |
|
Official language
|
English |
|
President
|
Stephane Cabrera |
| Website | www |
| Remarks | WKN initially founded as a subsidiary of International Sport Karate Association. The organizations split in 1998. |
The World Kickboxing Network (WKN) is an international Kickboxing governing body established in 1994.[1]
Contents
History
In 1994, the World Kickboxing Network was founded as a subsidiary of International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) to capture new markets. The ISKA's operations were concentrated in the North American market, while WKN was focusing in Europe. In the 1990s there was strong competition between kickboxing federations.[1] Both organizations split in late 1998 due to minor disagreements. The newly created team was chaired by Frenchman Stephane Cabrerra, Billy Murray and Olivier Muller.[2]
On September 19, 1998, WKN became the first organization to promote a world championship in Muay Thai on the same event as a boxing world championship. Jérôme Le Banner vs. Espedito Da Silva for the WKN World super heavyweight Muay Thai title was sanctioned on the undercard of Evander Holyfield vs. Vaughn Bean for the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles at Georgia Dome in Atlanta.[3] The event was organized in collaboration with promoter Don King whom raised the hand of Le Banner,[4] crowned new WKN Muay Thai world champion after knocking out Da Silva in the first-round.[5]
On October 22, 2004, WKN made history in kickboxing by promoting the first kickboxing world championship bout in Romania. Samir Mohamed vs. Alexander Kozachenko for the WKN World super lightweight title headlined the Eurosport and Pro TV televised event Local Kombat 10 in the city of Brăila.[citation needed] The local Kombat promotion later developed into the Superkombat Fighting Championship,[6][7] with its winners competing for the WKN titles.[8][9]
In January 2011, International Vale Tudo Championship (IVC) announced its return with a new ruleset based on the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.[10] On August 20, 2016, WKN brought IVC back to the international scene by co-promoting Micheletti Vs. Ortiz for the WKN World super cruiserweight World title[11] in the main event of IVC 15 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.[3] The event also included MMA bouts.[12][13] Micheletti defeated Ortiz and took the title by knockout in the first round. After IVC 15, there were no more events and the organization is currently on hiatus.[14] After IVC 15 there were no more events and the organization is currently on hiatus.[15]
In 2014, WKN launched a world series of international kickboxing events named Simply the Best which was broadcast on FOX Sports[16] and SFR Sport 5.[17]
WKN World Cup
WKN World Cup 2009 Paceville, St. Julian's, Malta
The event took place in St. Julian's, Malta on September 19, 2009 with up to 13 countries partaking, including Malta, Corsica, Belgium, Egypt, France, Poland, UK, among others.[18]
WKN World Cup 2019 Auckland, New Zealand
The event was held from November 28 to November 30, 2019, as an amateur championship contested by international athletes in their respective weight classes. It took place at The Trusts Arena in Auckland, New Zealand with up to 60 countries participating. The event marked the first time kickboxing and mixed martial arts world championships were contested at the same event in New Zealand.[19] The WKN World Middleweight MMA title bout between Kelvin Joseph and Roan Carneiro[20][21] as well as the WKN World Super Heavyweight championship bout between the champion Gregory Tony and former UFC Heavyweight title challenger and former Cage Rage World Heavyweight champion Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva were expected to headline the last day of competition.[22]
The fight between Tony and Silva was cancelled, as Silva was not medically cleared after being knocked out in his previous bout.[23] Carneiro won the fight against Joseph and took the title by submission in the first round.[24]
WKN World Cup 2017 Tehran, Iran
The event was held in Tehran, Iran on March 10, 2017 with 12 countries participating.[citation needed]
WKN Champions
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- Tyrone Spong
- Jerome Le Banner
- Batu Khasikov
- Nathan Corbett
- John Wayne Parr
- Artem Levin
- Corentin Jallon
- Riyadh Al-Azzawi
- Vladimir Mineev
- Andrei Kulebin
- Yohan Lidon
- Xhavit Bajrami
- Dmitry Shakuta
- Alexander Ustinov
- Daniel Ghiță
- Cătălin Moroșanu
- Ionuț Atodiresei
- Amancio Paraschiv
- Ionuț Iftimoaie
- Nicolas Wamba
- Siniša Kovačić
- Ekaterina Vandaryeva
- Ondřej Hutník
- Youssef Boughanem
- Brandon Vieira
- Federico Roma
- Sudsakorn Sor Klinmee
- Jacko Ali
- Simon Dore
Champions by weight class
WKN uses the following weight divisions.
| Weight class name | Upper limit | Full Contact Champions | Kickboxing Champions | Oriental Rules Champions | K-1 Rules Champions | Muay Thai Champions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flyweight | 117 lb (53.070 kg) | Vacant | Vacant |  Samvel Babayan |
Vacant | Stella Ortiz |
|
| Super Flyweight | 121 lb (54.885 kg) |  Ignacio Capllonch |
Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | |
| Bantamweight | 125 lb (56.699 kg) |  Emidio Molinari |
Vacant | Ignacio Capllonch |
Vacant | Carlos Coello |
|
| Super Bantamweight | 129 lb (58.513 kg) |  Gerard Linder |
 Sinisa Kovavic |
Marin Vrdoljak |
 Brandon Vieira |
Vacant | Federico Roma |
| Featherweight | 133 lb (60.328 kg) |  Keith Azzopardi |
Gaylord Montier |
 Jay Snoddon |
Jay Snoddon |  Yordniyom Yuttakangumtorn |
|
| Super Featherweight | 137 lb (62.142 kg) |  Sultanishvili Tsotne |
Brandon Vieira |
Karim Bennoui |
Vacant | Benphet Asontep Phromsorn |
|
| Lightweight | 142 lb (64.410 kg) | Yannick Reine |
Bryan Lang |
Vacant | Khyzer Hayat |
||
| Super Lightweight | 147 lb (66.678 kg) | Kamel Jebir |
Mohamed Galaoui |
Hakim Ketaieb |
Vacant | Vacant | |
| Welterweight | 154 lb (69.853 kg) | Bruce Codron |
Vacant |  Lee Sung-hyun |
 Emile Hanna |
 Arbi Emiev |
|
| Super Welterweight | 161 lb (73.028 kg) | Ludovic Millet |
Christian Berthely |
Jordi Requejo |
Vacant |  Youssef Boughanem |
|
| Middleweight | 168 lb (76.204 kg) | Vacant | Vacant |  Milan Kratochvila |
Vacant |  Toby Smith |
|
| Super Middleweight | 175 lb (79.379 kg) | Vacant | Dylan Colin |
Yohan Lidon |
Vacant | Vacant | |
| Light Heavyweight | 182 lb (82.554 kg) | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant |  Steven Mendes Furtado |
|
| Super Light Heavyweight | 189 lb (85.729 kg) | Vacant | Vacant | Gregory Grossi |
Vacant | Madani Rahmani |
|
| Cruiserweight | 196 lb (88.904 kg) |  Mohammed Al-Azzawi |
Vacant | Corentin Jallon |
Vacant | Artem Levin |
|
| Super Cruiserweight | 203 lb (92.079 kg) | Riyadh Al-Azzawi |
Vacant |  Bob Dhcamad Armstrong |
 Felipe Micheletti |
 Gerardo Atti |
|
| Heavyweight | 230 lb (104.326 kg) | Vacant | Vladimir Mineev |
Stephane Susperregui |
Vacant | Vacant | |
| Super Heavyweight | Unlimited | Vacant | Vacant | Tomasz Sarara |
Grégory Tony |
Yassine Boughanem |
See also
- Kickboxing
- List of kickboxing organizations
- World Association of Kickboxing Organizations
- World Kickboxing Association
Sources
Books and articles
- Script error: No such module "In lang". "A History of Full Contact Karate
- "A History of Kickboxing" – Mikes Miles
- Script error: No such module "In lang". Delmas Alain, Callière Jean-Roger, Histoire du Kick-boxing, FKBDA, France, 1998
- Script error: No such module "In lang". Delmas Alain, Définition du Kick-boxing, FKBDA, France, 1999
- Miles Mikes, site An interview with Joe Lewis, 1998
References
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