[div class=”notice” class2=”icon”]The following is from an article on LiverKick.com, part of the MiddleEasy Network.[/div]
Badr Hari ended his kickboxing career yesterday with a first round knockout of fellow top heavyweight, Gokhan Saki. Now that Badr has left the sport, the heavyweight division that has been unstable ever since the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix is now just as up in the air as it’s ever been. His departure shakes up the landscape of the heavyweight division, leaving it wide open and creating a vacancy that may or may not be filled.
Badr isn’t the only one leaving, and there are others that could potentially do the same. Peter Aerts will finally be ending his legendary career on June 30 at the age of 41. Tyrone Spong’s future in kickboxing is uncertain after the fight with Peter Aerts, as he’s living in the US and training with MMA fighters like Rashad Evans. Spong has openly discussed a potential move to MMA.
Other top fighters in the sport appear to be sticking around for the time being, but age isn’t on their side. Jerome Le Banner is still fighting at the age of 39, already having a fight scheduled for March 23 against Errol Zimmerman. Le Banner also has his “World Tour” that he can fight for but at such an old age for a fighter and having been in the sport for so long, who knows when he’ll decide to hang up the gloves. Semmy Schilt, although ranked #1 on our Liverkick.com Heavyweight Rankings, is 38 years old. Schilt signed a long term contract with Golden Glory/Total Sports Asia though, so it seems as if he’ll stick around for at least a few more years.
