Kickboxing and the Internet?

[paul c]

What do you guys think that wide spread access to the internet has done for our chosen sports..........both Kickboxing and Muay Thai. I think it would be really interesting to see some factual figures (if that were at all possible) regarding just how much in popularity or spectator numbers the sport has grown or declined. Some of the websites I visit like Ax for example have some astonishing hit rates (1.41 million in 2 years). Also would be interesting to find out how many people tuned in on average to Fox kickboxing events from say 1997 through to present day.

Do you think that it has helped it in a positive or perhaps maybe negative ways?

[Nobody]

I know for a fact that I count for 500,000 hits on AX.....

[paul c]

Hehe Nobody,
I'm responsible for just as many I think.

It's probably the most popular Kickboxing site on the web.
And deservedly so.

[da GhOsT]

its all the crazii photos you take pual.keep it up mate you are going a wonderful job<img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle>

[paul c]

The reason I brought this up,

I was reading Michael Schiavello's article 'Ten Years Later', a good nostalgic read about the Stan Vs Alexio fight in 1992. I didn't have a clue as to what was happening in the Kickboxing world at the time, all I knew, and all I had ever heard about kickboxing then was about this Melbourne dude that was like the Mike Tyson of the Kickboxing world. When I first met someone in 99 who was very much into it, all I could contribute to a kickboxing conversation was to ask if Stan The Man was still king of the heavy-weights.

Anyway, reading this article now, man, 8500 spectators at the venue, and 3000 watching it live at a nightclub is pretty spectacular numbers.

Imagine who we would have to have headlining an all star card now, to maybe possibly rival those numbers. I wonder if it's even possible.

I know it was a big deal fight, but what made so many more people then want to be a part of the event?

The other big shows back then guys, what sort of spectator numbers were they drawing?
Two, three, four thousand?

I actually should have included cable sports tv in the original question as well.

I guess I hope that fast results, or even pay per view wouldn't keep live crowd numbers from reaching those levels again. It would just be so awesome to be ringside watching a mega fight with 8500 spectators going nuts behind you.

[remy]

Greek population in Melbourne is the largest outside of Greece. That is one of the main reason.

[Mark P]

I was among the thousands who was at the Stan vs Alexio night and it's not fair to say it's only Melbourne's Greek population that turned up for Stan's fights, or else Mike Zambedis would be drawing those numbers. His Greek support was obviously strong but Stan captured a lot of peoples imaginations back in the day. Stan was different to everyone else, charismatic and awesome in the ring, he is the most mainstream kickboxer Australia has ever had. He is by far and away the most widely known kickboxer in Australia, everyone has heard of the guy or saw him on the news or read about him somewhere. 7500-8000 plus attendance was something he pulled off a few times. But the Alexio fight was a monster because they were considereed the biggest names in the world at the time and it was a BIG grudge thing!
This win was one of Australia's most significant ever but it really is a shame they never got it on again.

[Michael Schiavello]

I agree with Mark

To say that it was just the Greek Populace of Melbourne that packed it out deters from the magnitude of this fight and what it meant at the time...

Heck - this is the FIRST kickboxing fight I ever attended and it pulled me into the sport!!

It was a huge event... here was Longinidis who had wrecked everyone in the lead up including Lawrence White, Grant Barker, Okad Muhammed, Branko Cikatic... he was looking unstoppable and he CALLED OUT Alexio...

Here was Alexio, star of the movie KICKBOXER which was a massive worldwide hit... man with 11 world titles... a human wrecking machine who was undefeated as a heavyweight with his only loss being to Don Wilson as a light heavyweight...

Here were two guys who could TALK THE TALK as well as walk the walk... I included some grabs of quotes in my IK article - check it out - Alexio's stuff was hilarious... ie:

"I'm a professional, killing fighting machine, he's (Longinidis) a different breed of animal"

"He's trying to get by on a few hail mary's and stuff like that."

I mean, nobody talks up the sport like that any more, but the thing is that with Alexio it was ALL LEGIT - he genuinely disliked Stan and still does! I know this for a fact as Dennis and I speak quite often... I also know that Stan dislikes Alexio... so there is genuinely no love lost.

At the time this was evident and Aussie kickboxing was going through a purple patch with the likes of Stan, Tosca, Steve Vick and Darren Hedgcock ruling the roost - all of whom appeared on the undercard that night.

So it was the whole vibe, the whole build up, the whole everything that made that night so unforgettable.

I said years ago that stan vs Dennis II would never happen and so far I have been right... both men outprice themselves and though the public demanded it I suppose both men feel they didn't need it for their careers...

Alexio claimed that his leg break was the result of a soft spot on the canvas and the American media did some fun and games and called it a no-contest on Alexio's records... meanwhile Stan was hailed as having the fastest heavyweight kickboxing KO in history and as having KO'd the great Alexio on his record.

That's the way the world will always remember it, I suppose... a great 'What if?'

[Mark P]

Thanks Michael.
The hilarious thing is that whenever I see Alexio's record mentioned on an American magazine, it sometimes says 2 losses (Don Wilson and Stan) and others say it's only 1 loss. One US magazine that say 1 loss actually said at the time that the ring was faulty and visibly gave way and sort of semi collpased under Alexios foot thus causing the leg break! LOL! I'm guessing they were on the Alexio payroll :)
IMO its disappointing it was over in 10 seconds was regardless the aim of the game is to win no matter how, so props to Stan!

[rebel]

Does anyone have a copy of this fight? I'm willing to pay for it. I can remember images of the night from 10 years ago on the news, especially of Stan being declared the winner and everyone celebrating in the ring.

[John K]

Of course Alexio doesn't like him, how would you like someone if they embarassed you and broke your leg!

[paul c]

Michael,
It would be seriously cool if you could pull some old articles out of your archive every now and then and post them here, like you did earlier with the Hunt/K1 article.

I'm sure everyone would greatly appreciate it.
I very much enjoy (don't really know the word for it), I guess the ambiance of your work, espescially when I read of stuff that happened before I took an interest.

It would be so cool if they could get a re-match, espescially if it was as hyped up for a good while prior, as the last time.

[paul c]

Rebel,

Get in touch with Nickos at the ax site.

I'm pretty sure he'll be able to point you in the right direction and tape to your door in no time.

[remy]

I only said that it was a major contributing factor, not the only factor. He had charisma, sure. And it was for a real world title fight. Zambidis is building a strong greek following in Melbourne, don't worry about that. A couple more years of success, and watch the crowds grow. His name is spreading around quick in the greek community.
It is factor as when the K-1 GP was on, there were a lot of croations who didn't even really know of cro cop until they seen some commercials.
That's why they brought Vasilikos down also.
It's a factor, one of many.

[Mark P]

Oh I am sure Zambedis is building a great following, a guy with his talents can't not have a lot of fans...however my gut feeling is it will be a while until someone captures the publics attention enough to consistently draw over 6-7000 people a show. Ethnic fanbase is one thing but to its not enough to pull big crowds realitively speaking. Can you imagine trying to fill the Entertainment Centre with only Ozkan headlining? It would never have worked.

[rebel]

Hi Paul,
Thanks, I'll try him out! Though I can't recall seeing his name there for ages so I'm not sure if he's still on there?
What I am after is the FULL fight, meaning I'd like to see Dennis and Stan make their entrances, the intro's, the fight and then the post fight interviews (if any). I don't want just the 15 second KO! lol!

[paul c]

Rebel,

I'm sure he has all that footage somewhere. I've seen it on one of his tapes, where Alexio is bagging Stan.....then a huge buildup while the fighters walk out into the ring with entourage, crowds going crazy with anticipation......then bang, it's all over.

You have to hear the crowds reaction when the ring announcer says something like "Ladies and Gentlemen, blah blah....Dennis Alexio has a broken leg, Hehehe it's hillarious, the crowds just goes ape.

I was lucky, I got one with about 10 other Longinidis fights as well. Nick even had some stuff of Stan fighting while he was a the Jet centre I believe.
Mine's been played so many times that it's barely working. I'll have to see what I can do to get another.

Anyway, if Nick doesn't have a Stan fight, which is doubtful, I'm sure he'd know where it's available.


send him a message

nickos24@hotmail.com