The belt

As we proudly announce our next International Kickboxer belt holder, Nathan ‘Carnage' Corbett, it makes us proud to now be affiliated with three of the best credentialed, most deserving and well loved fighters in Australia.

The concept for the IK belt started some years ago, with the idea of recognising the great fighting talent that Australia has to offer and giving the fans a say whether a belt should be even up for the taking.

For those that don't know what the IK belt means, it is basically a hall-of-fame type of award that is uniquely associated with this magazine. It is not a title belt of such, but is awarded to fighters that the fans and ourselves believe deserve the chance at receiving it.

I came up with the concept of the belt from boxing's Ring magazine, who had their own champion belts. I remember reading the magazine as a kid and seeing the greats with their Ring magazine title belts and they truly meant something to those fighters.

As IK is the leading kickboxing magazine in this country, I aspired to create the same kind of thing that Rings had done all those years ago and it was a great opportunity for us to recognise the great fighting talent that we have in this country.

But with a modern day twist, we can also poll the dedicated members of our forum, so as to seek approval from the fans also - therefore, the belt is more than just a tool for a promoter to get bums on seats, it is a belt that represents the fighters accomplishments leading up to that fight and someone that is also a champion of the people.

The concept was never to send yet another championship belt into the world, but to have something that was unique and of quality. It doesn't matter what the weight division is, as they will not be fought for. It is an award from the people and a reflection of the ones that read this magazine.

As we look back, the first IK belt winner was ‘John' Wayne Parr, who took the belt after taking on Sean Wright. Then a year later we saw the most anticipated heavyweight showdown at that time with Paul ‘The Sting' Slowinski taking on Ben Edwards, with Sting walking away with the belt. Now our third belt has been won by Nathan Corbett, who took on Frank Munoz from the legendary Chakuriki Gym.

Once a year has been the tradition so far, but that is not the rule. Maybe next year we will do two, or maybe none. It depends on how the industry shapes up and who stands out from the crowd, as we don't want to hand them out for the sake of it. I look forward to a big 2011 and will be excited to see who might emerge as the next belt holder.

We hope that one day the IK belt will be held in high regard, not only by the fighters that have won them, but by the fight fans for years to come.

Mark ‘Hammer' Castagnini
www.hammersgym.com.au