Is kickboxing done?
Boxing is faltering, for internal reasons. MMA is surging, for a variety of reasons, including the fallen state of boxing. The…
Boxing is faltering, for internal reasons.
MMA is surging, for a variety of reasons, including the fallen state of boxing.
The third major combat sport, Kickboxing, never really got much traction in the USA, but was quite popular in the Japan and parts of Europe. Now, SBNation’s Nate Wilcox stuck his fork in the sport, and argues that kickboxing is done.
The Stars Are Leaving
Kickboxing’s biggest star, former K-1 heavyweight champion Badr Hari, has announced that he’s leaving kickboxing for boxing.
Coming on the heels of 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix champion Alistair Overeem’s decision to abandon the sport for the UFC, this is a major blow to kickboxing. Or rather, it is a response to a series of serious blows to the sport.
You just can’t make big money as a kickboxer in 2011.
Corruption and Crime killing kickboxing in Holland and Japan
Kickboxing has long relied on Japan and Europe, especially the Netherlands, for its fans.
While kickboxing itself hasn’t been implicated in the corruption scandals that drove MMA off of Japanese television and wrecked the reputation of Sumo, all of combat sports in Japan have taken a nose-dive in the past five year.
In Europe, multiple major kickboxing figures have been linked to organized crime and big-time drug dealing. Badr Hari’s rival Hesdy Gerges was arrested earlier this year and accused of being involved in a 280lb cocaine deal. Jan Plas, one of the fathers of kickboxing in Holland, died in jail in 2010 after being linked to organized crime and drug dealing at the highest levels.
The end result of all the bad publicity has been the de facto exile of kickboxing from Amsterdam, the long-time world capital of the sport.