10th ANNUAL
IKF

WORLD CLASSIC
Amateur World Kickboxing Championship Tournament


"ENTER THE GLADIATORS"

JULY, 18th, 19th & 20th 2008




"A World Class Venue For A World Class Event!"

The Largest Marriott In The World!
The Orlando World Center Marriott Resort

Special Thanks To

Who gave FREE Mouthguards to ALL The Fighters


Personal & Team Photos From The
2008 IKF World Classic.

If you had photos done at this years IKF World Classic and would like to purchase some, IKF photographer Glenn Berg can be reached at (530) 305-9453.
Glenn's e-mail address is glennberg@sbcglobal.net and his mailing address is
P.O. Box 372, Newcastle, CA, 95658 - On the web at www.GlennBerg.com

For more Photo info Click HERE.

2008 Qualified Fighters Page


MONDAY, July 21st, 2008, AT 11:50 PM/PST




A Few Bumps...
A LOT Of Success!

For those who have attended the IKF World Classic in the past, you may know there have always been some internal bumps along the way. However, from the outside looking in, the the only thing two things those attending actually saw were some late starts and late nights. Although expected, the IKF didn't take the two late starts lightly. "The first unexpected bump was that the IKF Point Kickboxing (PKB) was more of a success than planned." Said IKF President Steve Fossum. "We thought we would start the bouts around 9 and be done by 11. However, with all the 'at event' registrations, this part of the tournament was an unexpected as well as exciting success." The extended PKB Tournament delayed the start of the regular tournament out of courtesy to several trainers who had fighters participating in the PKB. In addition, several regular IKF Officials were assisting with the expanded PKB Tournament.

This was in addition to what the majority of the attendees did not see. computer issues through the night kept IKF President Steve Fossum, Head of Officials Dan Stell and several staff up the entire night. This meat they had not slept since around 7:AM Friday morning. The computer issues delayed the posting of the fight brackets to about 9:AM Saturday morning, but this was just the beginning of a long weekend...

IKF PKB was an exhibition sport at the 2007 IKF World Classic but this year it was a fully scheduled event. "I can't be more excited for the PKB at this years event." Said IKF PKB President and two time professional kickboxing World Champion Johnny "Superfoot" Davis. "If this was any indication of the future for PKB we need to look into getting more space reserved for the future."

The success of this part of the tournament this year has indeed forced the IKF to start thinking about how much more room they will need in 2009 at the The Orlando World Center Marriott Resort. At this years event the IKF utilized over 37,000 square feet of space for the event. The main portion of the Grand Ballroom (Around 12,000 sq. ft.) housed the main event area with the two rings, spectators and merchandise vendor booths. (This is something else that grew a lot and could easily double if nit triple in 2009). Directly attached next to the main event area was the two main fighter dressing room and warm-up areas. This was another space of over 6,000 sq. ft. in size. The PKB venue was next door with again, over 6,000 sq. ft. Adding to this was another semi private fighter warm-up area that was another 12,000 sq. ft. in size. Fighters had plenty of room to spread their wings.

Having fighter room was great, however at about 11:AM on Saturday, the IKF was officially informed by the Marriott staff that the main venue room was now at, and we will quote, "Standing room only". Yes everyone, this was the first time the IKF Tournament had a "Crowd!" This was again, another unexpected "Bump" in the tournament that was quickly fixed by the excellent Marriott Staff by adding in more chairs.

Once the main tournament started on Saturday, which was just after 12 noon, the prelim bouts were loaded with tons of exciting action. However, the next unexpected bump came from a previous successful decision. Earlier in the registration stages the IKF decided to expand their fighter brackets past 8 fighters. Great for the many brackets that filled far past 8, but bad for the unexpected timing of the Saturday portion of the event. With quite a few fights to go in their Saturday schedule, the IKF choose to air on the side of safety and stopped the competition around 10:PM with the plan to pick-up Saturdays schedule first thing in the morning. It was a decision that was applauded by nearly everyone and those who questioned it Saturday night made a point to thank the IKF Staff and inform them that they were thankful for the rest.

With the excitement of a planned earlier start time on Sunday to accommodate the extra bouts, it was that never ending attempt to please everyone that jinxed Sunday's schedule as well. In total, 19 fighters had asked for changes in their fight schedule so that they could make their scheduled plane flights. Eleven of those were made as the event was trying to start and the remainder kept coming throughout the day. The changes caused internal problems mainly unnoticed to those in attendance, but frustrating for the IKF Staff which was forced to move entire divisions to accommodate one fighter. In doing so, they needed to attain approval from every fighter and trainer in the division of the requested change... Still, the IKF Officials kept moving forward to still try and "Please everyone", and by the time Championship Sunday ended around 8:PM, it was clear that had pretty much accomplished that duty... Again!

by the end of the tournament there had been 222 bouts fought. Of the 241 fighters (Not counting the IKF PKB) still scheduled to show up at the event, 229 did. Of them, two did not make weight and one transferred to the IKF PKB. The final number of 227 did not break the 240 record set in 2005 at the Wyndham Palace in Orlando Florida but it clearly made a statement with a strong second to the 220 from 2004, again, at the Wyndham Palace in Orlando Florida.

Along with the 229 fighters, 110 additional trainers, staff and officials made up the 339 attendees to the special IKF Welcome Banquet dinner on Friday night. "This was something we received a lot of thanks for and turned out a lot better than expected for us all." Said Fossum. "It was suppose to only be something special for our 10 year anniversary but we are now considering it as an included part of the tournament from here forward."

As many know, Don "The Dragon" Wilson was the Tournament's Special Guest. However he and Johnny Davis were not the only superstars in the house over the weekend. Legendary World Champion Mike Bell was in attendance as well as two other legends in the sport of Kickboxing and Martial Arts. Both Joe Lewis and Bill Wallace dropped in to be a part of the action on Saturday and see the amateur fighters from around the world, "Walk the Walk!" Lewis had such a great time he was back on Sunday supporting the sport. It was simply the place to be for Kickboxing!

In all, 44 IKF World Classic Champions were crowned this past weekend. That number seems less because the division brackets were expanded in regards to weight and there were less "Two fighter" brackets as in the past. This was a SOLID event that saw thousands of dollars in awards go home around the world.

Over and over again there was a phrase the IKF Staff heard from those in attendance, "Past the hype talking and the politics, the bottom line is, Nothing else comes close to the quality of the IKF World Classic!"



"This IS THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR AMATEUR KICKBOXING!"





2008 IKF WORLD CLASSIC RESULTS BELOW
FIGHT RECORDS SHOWN ARE THE FIGHTERS RECORDS "AFTER" ALL BOUTS OF THE TOURNAMENT




11 OF 13 JUNIOR GIRLS
SHOWED UP TO "WALK THE WALK!"

1 WAS FOUND UNDER TKO MEDICAL SUSPENSION AND DID NOT FIGHT - Heather Han
1 WAS PULLED BY HER TRAINER ON REGISTRATION DAY - Stephanie Oudthone

___________________________




38 OF 39 JUNIOR BOYS
SHOWED UP TO "WALK THE WALK!"

1 WAS A NO SHOW - Carlos Diaz Jr.,

FIGHT RECORDS SHOWN ARE THE FIGHTERS RECORDS "AFTER" ALL BOUTS OF THE TOURNAMENT

___________________________




34 OF 36 ADULT WOMEN
SHOWED UP TO "WALK THE WALK!"

1 REGISTERED WOMAN'S TRAINER CANCELLED THE DAY OF REGISTRATIONS: Brenda Harrison
1 REGISTERED WOMAN DID NOT MAKE WEIGHT: Kayla Oudthone

FIGHT RECORDS SHOWN ARE THE FIGHTERS RECORDS "AFTER" ALL BOUTS OF THE TOURNAMENT

___________________________




146 OF 153 ADULT MEN
SHOWED UP TO "WALK THE WALK!"


1 DID NOT MAKE WEIGHT: Eric Dunston (2007 Defending Champion) Orlando, Florida, USA.

7 WERE NO SHOWS
Brad Taylor, Warrenville, South Carolina, USA, Harry Maxwell, Accra, Ghana, Jamie Howard, Bronson, Florida, USA, Mohsen Limouchideli, Tehran Karaj, Iran, Ahmed Fahim, New York, New York, USA, David Companion, Ocala, Florida, USA, Matt Risner, Jupiter, Florida, USA


FIGHT RECORDS SHOWN ARE THE FIGHTERS RECORDS "AFTER" ALL BOUTS OF THE TOURNAMENT

___________________________

ADULT MEN FULL CONTACT RULES



INTERNATIONAL RULES



MUAY THAI RULES





So... Where did the "44" 2008 IKF World Classic Title Belts Go?
Check here and see...



Facts & Records Of Past Tournaments




IKF
POINT KICKBOXING





IKF Point Kickboxing
Fights Set A New Tone...
At 2008 IKF World Classic!

Orlando, Fl- July 19, 2009
Exciting! Fantastic! We Want More!

IKF Point Kickboxing President, Johnny Davis

These are some of the phrases you would have heard this past weekend at the IKF World Classic in Orlando, Fl. The first official year of IKF Point Kickboxing (PKB) Tournament brought a new tone to the IKF World Classic Kickboxing Championship which is the "Golden Gloves" for Kickboxing practitioners around the world. Held at the World's Largest Marriott, the semi contact event that made its inaugural introduction last year 2008, was met with great enthusiasm this year as more fighters came prepared to battle.

Some of the competitors had intended as well as signed up for the Full Contact divisions for the World Classic but due to several reasons like their opponents not showing up or they did not make weight for example, they had the option to roll their registration into the semi contact division of the PKB and competed there. This only added more spice to the divisions and offered the packed house of World Classic Teams who were delayed due to some computer issues an opportunity to witness what is for sure the most exciting new form of semi contact fighting on the scene!

The cheers and support for their team mates was real as some of the fighters gave their all as first time competitors while more advance fighters showed their students what it was all about. In the senior men's division, clearly masters of their own disciplines like Tae-Kwon- Do and other styles, showed extremely impressive kicking ability like jump spinning back kicks, axe kicks and more. But as many of them attested to, the 16 oz gloves certainly offered a scrutiny different from other tournaments as their conditioning was seriously challenged. The Two-Two minute rounds of continuous fighting...plus the one extra round tie breaker that some of them had to fight was much more than they had bargained for but they held their own.

As they left with their trophies, one would have thought it was like winning the beautiful World Classic Championship Belts...although not quiet the same... still winning the World Classic PKB was no easy task and well deserving to flaunt. The following day, in speaking with several of those about their IKF/PKB experience- although you could clearly see the bruises and limps, they could hardly wait for next year to bring it on!

As one on-looker and trainer noted, "I had no idea what Point Kickboxing was all about, being that I have a large school here in Florida, I will bring many more of my fighters next year as this type of competition may be better suited for some of them the first time out." This was the sentiment over the entire weekend especially from those that witnessed the blazing action of fist and feet a' flying! This is awesome news for the IKF Point Kickboxing division and the tournament as a whole. From this day forward, its not just the most experienced person in the gym that can compete in the IKF World Classic but there is now a place for everyone practicing one of the greatest forms of martial arts Men, Women and Children from 5 on up to compete in IKF Point Kickboxing!

Based on all of the positive comments about the intensity of the action and the realistic fighting style of the PKB...the word is out that IKF/PKB will be a major part of the IKF World Classic hence forth and fighters around the world can start to prepare now for what will be an event growing by major leaps and major bonds. 2009 a new tone has arrive of the IKF World Classic...let's make if a kickboxing family affair...See you There!

Special Thanks to IKF Official Mrs. Terri Storm and so many more of the World Classic Officials who stepped up and did an excellent job keeping the flow of the IKF/PKB Tournament.



Results From The
2008 IKF/PKB World Classic



For More Information on the Next Step Out of the Gym...IKF Point Kickboxing go to
www.IKFPKB.com

Or if you would like to promote an event...contact Johnny Davis at (916) 205-4762.

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