# Ștefan Lătescu

Ștefan Lătescu (Japanese: ステファン・ラテスク; born 25 December 2001) is a Romanian professional kickboxer and boxer, and former Muay Thai and kempo practitioner, currently signed to GLORY. A former amateur in two sports, Lătescu notched over 150 wins in amateur kickboxing, and is the youngest senior heavyweight champion in the amateur boxing history of Romania. He is still undefeated nationally in boxing.
As of 1 February 2025, Lătescu is ranked the #6 light-heavyweight in the world by GLORY.

## Professional kickboxing career
### DFS

Lătescu made his professional debut against Eugen Mailat at DFS 7 on March 5, 2020. He won the fight by a first-round technical knockout. Lătescu was placed in the Dynamite Fighting Show Heavyweight tournament immediately afterwards, as he was booked to face Ionuț Iancu in the quarterfinals of the one-day tournament, which took place at DFS 8 on August 20, 2020. He lost the fight by split decision.
Lătescu bounced back from his first professional loss with a unanimous decision win over Florin Ivănoaie at DFS 9 on December 4, 2020. Lătescu next faced Marius Munteanu at DFS 10 on March 10, 2021. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Lătescu would go on to notch two more victories prior to fighting for his first professional title, as he overcame Dževad Poturak by unanimous decision at DFS 11 on June 4, 2021, and Konstantin Gluhov by unanimous decision at DFS 12 on September 22, 2021. His four fight win streak earned Lătescu the chance to face Ionuț Iancu for the vacant DFS Heavyweight Championship at DFS 13 on December 15, 2021. He lost the rematch by a second-round technical knockout, as he was knocked down three times by the two minute mark of the round.
Lătescu made his Senshi debut against Olivier Langlois-Ross at Senshi 12 on July 9, 2022. He won the fight by a third-round knockout. Lătescu next faced Jakob Styben at Senshi 13 in September 2022. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Lătescu returned to Dynamite Fighting Show in order to face Sam Tevette at DFS 14 on October 19, 2022. He won the fight by a first-round knockout.

### K-1

Lătescu made his K-1 debut against the 2022 K-1 World GP Japan Openweight Tournament winner Mahmoud Sattari at K-1 World GP 2022 in Osaka on December 3, 2022. He won the fight by a second-round technical knockout. Following this victory, Lătescu was ranked as the eighth-best light heavyweight kickboxer in the world by Beyond Kickboxing.
Lătescu faced the 2022 K-1 Japan Openweight Grand Prix finalist Seiya Tanigawa at K-1 World GP 2023: K'Festa 6 on March 12, 2023. He won the fight via KO in the second round.
Lătescu faced Adam Kosut at DFS 19 on May 13, 2023. He won the fight by a second-round knockout.
Lătescu faced the former Krush and K-1 cruiserweight champion K-Jee at K-1 World GP 2023 on July 17, 2023. He won the fight by a first-round knockout.

### GLORY

Lătescu made his promotional Glory debut against Pascal Touré at Glory 88 on September 9, 2023. He won the fight by unanimous decision.
Lătescu faced Ibrahim El Bouni in a light heavyweight title eliminator at Glory: Collision 6 on November 4, 2023. He won the fight by a second-round technical knockout.
Lătescu faced Donegi Abena in the quarterfinals of the Glory Light Heavyweight Grand Prix, held on June 8, 2024, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He lost the fight due to leg kicks in the third round.
Lătescu will face Bahram Rajabzadeh at Glory 94 on August 31, 2024.

## Championships and accomplishments
### Olympic-style boxing

* Romania Senior National Championship (2020, 2021, 2022)
* Romania Youth National Championship (2018, 2019)
* Romania Junior National Championship (2016, 2017)
* Romania Cadet National Championship (2015)
* Romanian Youth Cup (2018, 2019)

### Kempo

* Romanian Kempo Federation
** Romania Youth National Championship (2017)

### Kickboxing

* Glory
** 2023 Newcomer of the Year
* Dynamite Fighting Show
** 2023 Best Global Performance
** 2023 Knockout of the Year vs. Adam Kosut
** 2022 Fighter of the Year
** 2022 Knockout of the Year vs. Sam Tevette
** 2021 Rising Star of the Year
** Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Ionuț Iancu
** 2019 Tellur Cup Winner
* K-1
** Knockout of the Night (One time) vs. Mahmoud Sattari
* Senshi
** Knockout of the Night (One time) vs. Olivier Langlois-Ross
* FRFK/FRAMC
** Romania Junior National Championships (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
* ISKA
** 2019 ISKA Amateur Members Association World Championships Junior Gold Medalist
* Whowillwinfighting
** 2023 Fighter of the Year
* Kickboxing Romania Awards
** 2023 Fighter of the Year
** 2023 International Fighter of the Year
** 2023 Performance of the Year vs. Ibrahim El Bouni
** 2024 Upset of the Year vs. Cem Cáceres

### Muay Thai

* World Muay Federation
** 2017 WMF World Muaythai Championships Junior Silver Medalist
* European Muay Confederation
** 2017 EMC European Muaythai Championships Junior Gold Medalist
** 2016 EMC European Muaythai Championships Junior Gold Medalist
** 2015 EMC European Muaythai Championships Junior Gold Medalist

## Professional kickboxing record

Professional kickboxing record :
| 17 Wins (8 (T)KOs), 5 Losses (2 (T)KO), 0 Draws |||||||||
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Location | Method | Round | Time | Record |
| 2024-12-07 | Loss | Sergej Maslobojev | Glory Collision 7 | Arnhem, Netherlands | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | 15–5 |
| 2024-08-31 | Loss | Cem Cáceres | Glory 94 | Antwerp, Belgium | KO (Left hook to the body) | 1 | 2:08 | 15–4 |
| 2024-06-08 | Loss | Donegi Abena | Glory Light Heavyweight Grand Prix, Quarterfinals | Rotterdam, Netherlands | TKO (Low kicks) | 3 | 0:59 | 15–3 |
| 2023-11-04 | Win | Ibrahim El Bouni | Glory: Collision 6 | Arnhem, Netherlands | TKO (three knockdowns) | 2 | 1:00 | 15–2 |
| Glory Light Heavyweight Title Eliminator |||||||||
| 2023-09-09 | Win | Pascal Touré | Glory 88 | Paris, France | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | 14–2 |
| 2023-07-17 | Win | K-Jee | K-1 World GP 2023 | Tokyo, Japan | KO (left hook to the body) | 1 | 1:53 | 13–2 |
| 2023-05-13 | Win | Adam Kosut | DFS 19 | Buzău, Romania | KO (right hook) | 1 | 1:37 | 12–2 |
| 2023-03-12 | Win | Seiya Tanigawa | K-1 World GP 2023: K'Festa 6 | Tokyo, Japan | KO (punches) | 2 | 2:49 | 11–2 |
| 2022-12-03 | Win | Mahmoud Sattari | K-1 World GP 2022 in Osaka | Osaka, Japan | TKO (punches) | 2 | 1:37 | 10–2 |
| 2022-10-19 | Win | Sam Tevette | DFS 16 | Iași, Romania | KO (punches) | 1 | 2:51 | 9–2 |
| 2022-09-10 | Win | Jakob Styben | Senshi 13 | Varna, Bulgaria | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | 8–2 |
| 2022-07-09 | Win | Olivier Langlois-Ross | Senshi 12 | Varna, Bulgaria | KO (left hook) | 3 | 0:55 | 7–2 |
| 2022-05-06 | Win | Frangis Front Goma | DFS 14 | Bucharest, Romania | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | 6–2 |
| 2021-12-15 | Loss | Ionuț Iancu | DFS 13 | Bucharest, Romania | TKO (three knockdowns) | 2 | 2:01 | 5–2 |
| For the DFS Heavyweight Championship. |||||||||
| 2021-09-22 | Win | Konstantin Gluhov | DFS 12 | Baia Mare, Romania | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | 5–1 |
| 2021-06-04 | Win | Dževad Poturak | DFS 11 | Bucharest, Romania | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | 4–1 |
| 2021-03-10 | Win | Marius Munteanu | DFS 10 | Bucharest, Romania | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | 3–1 |
| 2020-12-04 | Win | Florin Ivănoaie | DFS 9 | Cluj-Napoca, Romania | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | 2–1 |
| 2020-08-20 | Loss | Ionuț Iancu | DFS 8, Quarter Finals | Bucharest, Romania | Decision (split) | 3 | 2:00 | 1–1 |
| 2020-03-05 | Win | Eugen Mailat | DFS 7 | Arad, Romania | TKO (referee stoppage) | 1 | 1:36 | 1–0 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw/No contest Notes |||||||||