World Kickboxing Network
The World Kickboxing Network (WKN) is a professional Kickboxing organization and is one of the sport's largest governing bodies in the world. History. WKN was created in late 1994 as a subsidiary of International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) to capture new markets, as ISKA's operations were concentrated in the North American market. The organizations split in late 1998. Ever since WKN has operated as an independent organization. Whilst in the late 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s the other federations competed with each other, the WKN has developed kickboxing on the territories where it  practically did not exist. As a result WKN grew, and is active on five continents. Facts. On September 19, 1998 WKN went in history as the first organization to promote the world championship in Thai Boxing at the same event as the boxing world championship. Jérôme Le Banner vs. Espedito Da Silva for the WKN World super heavyweight Muay Thai title was featured on the undercard of Evander Holyfield vs. Vaughn Bean for the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles at Georgia Dome in Atlanta, USA. On October 22, 2004 WKN made history in kickboxing by promoting the first ever 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. The Local Kombat project developed into the Superkombat Fighting Championship, with its winners competing for the WKN belts. On March 15, 2003 WKN made history by promoting the first ever Kickboxing event as well as the world championship bout in Nigeria. Habib Bakir vs. Fernando Loureiro for the WKN World lightweight title headlined the event, that took place in the city of Lagos. Styles. WKN sanctions the championship  bouts of the following styles. Weight Classes. WKN uses the following weight divisions. Notable Champions. Poland's Cezary Podraza is the first in WKN history world champion. He defeated England's Mark Waters in Katowice. Some of the notable champions are Samir Mohamed, Tyrone Spong, Jerome Le Banner, Batu Khasikov, Nathan Corbett, John Wayne Parr, Artem Levin, Riyadh Al-Azzawi, Jorge Acero Cali, 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, Gary  Hamilton, Corentin Jallon, Jacko Ali. WKN World Cup. The "WKN World Cup" is an amateur championship contested by international athletes in their respective weight classes. The event was held from November 28 to November 30 at The Trusts Arena in Auckland, New Zealand with up to 60 countries participating. The roster included over 30 amateur title matches, followed by two professional title bouts. The headline-bout contested on the last day of competition was expected to see Gregory Tony in defense of his WKN World Super Heavyweight title against Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva, following the WKN World Middleweight MMA title bout  between Kelvin Joseph (15-0) and Roan Carneiro. The fight between Tony and Silva was cancelled, as the latter was not medically cleared after being knocked out in his previous bout. Carneiro won the fight against Joseph and took the title by submission in the first round. The event was held on March 10, 2017 with over 12 countries participating, including Iran, Japan, Italy, Malta, Afghanistan, Cyprus, France, Belgium. Japanese referee Atsushi Onari officiated the bouts. The event was billed as "Malta vs. The World" taking place on September 19, 2009 with up to 13 countries partaking, including Malta, Corsica , Belgium, Egypt, France, Poland, UK, among others. WKN and IVC. WKN and its president Stephane Cabrera have represented the International Vale Tudo Championship in Europe, being the pioneer to promote MMA bouts on the continent. The WKN held IVC events in Finland, Spain, Czech Republic, Bosnia and Serbia. On August 20, 2016 WKN brought IVC back to the international scene by promoting Micheletti Vs. Ortiz for the WKN World super cruiserweight title in the main event of IVC 15 in Sorocaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Micheletti defeated Ortiz and took the title by knockout in the first round. Simply the Best  (TV Series). Simply the Best - is the worlds series of international kickboxing events, broadcast by SFR Sport 5 (formerly Kombat Sport). Season I Season II Season III Season IV Girl Power Kickboxing (TV Series). Girl Power is a series of women's kickboxing tournaments produced by the World Kickboxing Network and the Bigger's Better Boxing on SFR Sport 5 and B1B. The contest is a one-night eight-woman single elimination tournament in a featherweight class with international competitors battling out for the WKN belt. Season I Season II Sources. Books and articles