Stan Longinidis story thread

[Voice]

After chatting with Ernesto Hoost tonight over tea and bikkies <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle> and probably never likely to meet him in person again as a fighter I thought it would be fitting to make mention of our own Mr Perfect. Many younger forum members may only have seen the Man on video (if at all). These days world HW champs are usually about size but Stan did it at the lighter/shorter end of the scale, yet dominated arguably as much as Hoost has done. I saw Stan fight at Festival hall twice but both were comfortable wins.

I for one would like some of the forum diehards give account of their experiences of Stan in his days at the top.
Shiv, JNI, Mattj???

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The greatest literary invention is without doubt the spellchecker. Yet by far the biggest users are the literate. Go figure.

Edited by - voice on 25 Dec 2006 00:28:55

[Lucy Tui]

:) What can I say Stan "The Man" was just that in the days of building the sport here in Australia. he was a great ambassador for the sport. Having had the opporrtunity of judging his fights in Australia and promoting him in Sydney he made kickboxing a household name in Australia and worldwide.
Thanks Stan for believing in me and supporting me throughout your career.Without your support I would not have the respect I have today....
God Bless
Regards
Lucy Tui:)

[nesto]

He was simply the best! I took up karate because of him. I saw him fight live at festival hall in melbourne twice as well and he put on a great show for the fans. There is just something about "the man" that no fighter to this day has! I sure wish i'd seen more of him. Anyone got fights of him on tape when he was fighting in his prime?

[drgndrew]

I was a huge fan of "The Man", back in the early to mid 90's. Actually i still am. He was an ambassador for the sport and he sure raised the profile of kickboxing here in Australia. He was one of the best heavy weight champions in the world
You sure wouldn't want to cop one of those leg kicks, same goes for is left hook and overhand right.

Enjoy
(Warning some swearing )

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4718915150212912765&q=%22stan+the+man%22

With Honour in Bushido,
Drew <img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle>
Bushi Dojos Self-Protection
Toowoomba Qld

Edited by - drgndrew on 14 Dec 2006 23:05:08

[Matt]

I remember waiting anciously for new additions of IK magazine to come out while I was at high school. Reading heaps about Stan fighting in tournaments like Taipan 1, fighting in japan against Masaki and here in Australia in epic battles like S L Vs Maurice Smith and Dennis Alexio. One Saturday I purchased a copy of IK to find a pic of Stan and Sam Greco on the cover. I almost lost my tits to read about the upcoming event called the Crowning and the politics leading upto the event. Was the second time that I saw Stan fight live and believed that he had won (Even without the controversial point being taken off Sam for kneeing Stan when he was down.) It was definitly a match up that deserved a 12 round war! Kickboxing changed forever that night. The Crowning in my opinion was the day that Australian Heavyweight kickboxing turned to sh1t until Tarik uleashed the K1 Oceania. I think that it could be argued that Stan never really reached the same level of achievments after the Crowning. He did outclass opponents like Grant Barker (in a rematch), Steve Jez, Japanese opponents, Peter Graham looking absolute awesome form but for me personally, the gutsy wars he faught against the worlds best and easy destruction of substandard opponents like Gary Sandland (England) were behind him. Knee reconstructions and the like may have been taking their toll.

Frizzy.

[Action Jackson]

i remember zambo under stans watchful eye.

bit like the rocky story in rocky 5

the best kickboxer in the world still to this day in my eyes.

bye the way i think Parr won that fight against zambo.

to many nees hit the spot for me, althout he took them very well i think id drop off one of those.real quick

so anyway i remember a doco on 60 min with stan and his prodishy.

at the time

would love to meet the man

i think you could learn alot from the champ

Cheers

Action Jackson

[The_King_Is_Back]

Stan The Man is a legend, i remember them showing his fights on wide world of sport on a saturday afternoon

********************
i promise i will not cum inside you

[drgndrew]

The official Web Site

http://www.stantheman.com.au/home.html

I've been a fan from way back, always will be

With Honour in Bushido,
Drew <img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle>
Bushi Dojos Self-Protection
Toowoomba Qld

[laughingstock]

Stan was good in his day, but ive always wondered why he never rematched Tosca Patridis who knocked out stan in the 7th round, and then stan became world champ.... But hey thats the fight game.

[nesto]

lol, you must be joking! I heard a while back from guys who used to train at fitzroy stars that stan was smashing tosca in sparring and that he busted his eardrums! Tosca has always lived in stans shadow, but hey, that goes for all aussie fighters!

[laughingstock]

Ur dreaming, Tosca owned stan through the whole fight and it really showed in the 7th round when stan hit the ground and almost went through the floor.

Tosca has had much harder fights than stan, remember in vagas when Tosca fought Manson Gibson 5 time world champ and lost on points...
Stan just got the oppertunitys 2 move forward and build a name...

[nesto]

lol.mate i saw this fight on tape years back, so dont try to preach to me!when stan & tosca fought in 1984-85 they were amateurs and they didnt even know how to throw a jab!stan was kicked in the groin and couldnt continue, hence it went to the scorecards.and because tosca was affiliated with bob jones and stan wasnt it was always going to be tosca winning a decision.since then when both boys peaked,stan was beating everybody up in the gym including tosca,george zakaria,greco,jimmy thunder you name them.maybe joe nader can share some insight to this as he also trained at fitzroy stars and would have witnessed some of the sparring.stan was the bossman and they all know it.when outsiders talk kickboxing, who do they mention?? btw,tosca didnt fight gibson in vegas,he fought him in melbourne and lost easy.tosca couldnt get recognition for many reasons.for one,he struggled to put two words together or even complete a sentence.

[laughingstock]

quote: tosca couldnt get recognition for many reasons.for one,he struggled to put two words together or even complete a sentence
At least he doesnt talk **** like Stan does, and nesto dont go bag someone that has achived alot more in the sport than u ever will...

[nesto]

with a name "laughingstock"...need i say more??

[imported_n/a]

quote:
lol.mate i saw this fight on tape years back, so dont try to preach to me!when stan & tosca fought in 1984-85 they were amateurs and they didnt even know how to throw a jab!stan was kicked in the groin and couldnt continue, hence it went to the scorecards.and because tosca was affiliated with bob jones and stan wasnt it was always going to be tosca winning a decision.since then when both boys peaked,stan was beating everybody up in the gym including tosca,george zakaria,greco,jimmy thunder you name them.maybe joe nader can share some insight to this as he also trained at fitzroy stars and would have witnessed some of the sparring.stan was the bossman and they all know it.when outsiders talk kickboxing, who do they mention?? btw,tosca didnt fight gibson in vegas,he fought him in melbourne and lost easy.tosca couldnt get recognition for many reasons.for one,he struggled to put two words together or even complete a sentence.




Nesto,

Being family friends with Stan, having been present as a young tacker with Stan and Tosca at the beggining and during their careers and church involvement I can firmly state that both would be dissapointed nor would agree with your statements.

Enough said.

[Tony]

Stan was never knocked out as an amateur, he was never KO'd by Tosca.
This is a lie that was started when Stan was at his peak and on top, started by rivals who wanted to build off his name.
The fight was stopped after Stan got kicked in the nuts hard. It was a spin kick flush in the balls that put Stan down and the fight was called. As for Tosca owning the fight, I can only say that you were watching it with maybe a little bias? Tosca clearly won the first round, but never definitively won a round after that. Stan landed by far the bigger shots for the remaining 5 rounds.
Really, this is a pointless discussion, they were both amateurs and pretty far from the fighters they would become. But it doesn't mean the truth should be twisted.

And keeping with the theme of this thread, Stan was the reason I took up martial arts and was an inspiration and example to me and countless others back in the day. There's a reason he was the sports first real international superstar, he had the whole package. Good to see his doing good work today after his career is over.

Edited by - Tony on 22 Dec 2006 14:01:19

Edited by - Tony on 22 Dec 2006 14:07:19

[Andrew P]

My favorite Sta the man story…ive been a fan of the man since the 80’s, been to almost all his fights in Australia and own a heap on video. In about 1989 or 1990, I was 20 years old and me and my younger brother went up to queensalnd to see Stan challenege for his second world title, it was a WKA world title. The weekend of the fight they had festivities around jupiters casino where the fight was held, was walking around the restaurant area with my brother who was 12 and stan and his team walk in for a meal. Needless to say I was nervous but went up to him and he was friendly and took the time to chat with us even though he has people pulling him in every direction. My little brother was over the moon. Next night is the fight, Stan knocks this fearsome big black british guy out to win his 2nd world title, the black fella has given maurice smith trouble on 2 previous occasions. Anyway the crowd was rapt, everyone was for stan and celelbrating. After stan made his speech he walks out of the ring and me and my brother have gone closer to the aisle to see if we can shake his hand as the fans are pouring around him. As he comes near us he notices us and remembers us, he walks uip to my little brother and gives him the belt he was just awarded. Just like that. We were dumbfounded. Lol! He smiles and says “keep it safe”. 17 years later that belt is framed and hung up in my bro’s living room. Stan was the man. True ambassador.
I guess he won enough belts in his career. Lol!

[laughingstock]

Very touching story Andrew, i admit he has got a good heart and is a really nice person and i also got the pleasure of meeting him when i was 15, he told me "why do u smoke 4?? do u think ur cool? u would b better off training hard and becoming a champain, then u will b cool" so i quit smoking and trained hard And thats how i became the laughing stock

[Hironaka]

My next door neighbour once told me that her cousin's friend knew this guy that used to shop at a grocery store where this chick worked who knew a dog that shared a cage with Master Ishi's dog at a doggy resort that was owned by a guy who used to babysit Master Ishi's poodle when the regular babysitter wasn't available that ... ****, now I can't remember. <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle>

[Hironaka]

Oh yeah, that's right. That Stan still has nightmares about Masaaki Sataki's invisible kick.

[Andrew P]

what the hell are you talking about?

[rebel]

Hi guys,
Best thing about Stan's days at the top were the calibre of guys he fought here right in our own backyard, Nobody fought bigger fights than him in Australia at home. Stan vs Branko Cicatik, Mo Smith, Dennis Alexio etc were true megafights that we had here, huge events, Especially the Alexio night. It's the equivalent of say a JWP fighting superfights with the likes of Buakow, Souwer or Masato right here in Australia.
I also thought it was cool how at the end of his career Stan fought Peter Graham and gave the young, undefeated Graham a shot. It was Stan The Man's last good win and he passed on the torch to the new generation.



Edited by - rebel on 22 Dec 2006 18:06:08

[rebel]

Oh and Stan vs Branko was in my opinion up there with the Stan vs Alexio night as best night of kickboxing in the country.
Have seen it on tape and the quality of guys on the card and quality of matches was amazing.

[supermario]

Stan vs Lawrence White, 1990, for the WKA world junior heavyweight title at Jupiter's Casino. This was the first time Stan LEGITIMATELY hit the canvas, then came back to knock his opponent out in the 7th round. He was emotional after the fight, I think he said in his post-fight speech he dedicated the fight to a friend of his that was ill, or had recently passed away, I can't remember. He was the total package, great boxing & kicking skills, great public speaking skills & charisma, speed, power, everything. He wasn't his usual self in this fight though, he was somewhat subdued, I think this fight happened immediately after his fight in Sydney against Maurice Smith, no? Stan was a class act. He is still my favourite Australian fighter of all time because he was a quality heavyweight and fought anyone and everyone. My dream match up would've been a prime Stan vs a prime Andy Hug, under kickboxing rules. THE MAN!

[laughingstock]

how about when he lost 2 gurkan oskan with leg kicks, and stan was ment 2 have the best leg kicks in the country when he was in his peck and gurkan never uses leg kicks, over 10 rounds bad move on stans part i think.....

[zito]

[quote]
My next door neighbour once told me that her cousin's friend knew this guy that used to shop at a grocery store where this chick worked who knew a dog that shared a cage with Master Ishi's dog at a doggy resort that was owned by a guy who used to babysit Master Ishi's poodle when the regular babysitter wasn't available that ... ****, now I can't remember. <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle>



Hiro

do us all a favour and stay off the ice man <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>,

Stan was the greatest kickboxer of all time a true legend , their will never be a kickboxer that could chop legs better than stan in his prime.

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Fact
Greeks have dominated Kickboxing in Australia
since kickboxing was established

[rebel]

quote:
how about when he lost 2 gurkan oskan with leg kicks, and stan was ment 2 have the best leg kicks in the country when he was in his peck and gurkan never uses leg kicks, over 10 rounds bad move on stans part i think.....






Like you said, Stan was a devasating low kicker when he was at his "peck", but he was far from his "peck" when he came back after years off to fight Gurkan. This was basically a novelty fight, but definitely a sad end to a legendary Aussie fighter. Like you said, Gurkan not known as a kicker, if he stopped a guy who never got stopped by kicks of guys like maurice smith, branko, hug etc but got stopped by Gurkan...tells you all you need to know about how faded he was, doesn't it?
Just like Tosca who you brought up, when he went on a 3 fight losing by KO streak in his past his prime days, it's not fair to only remember the end is it?

[rebel]

quote:
Stan vs Lawrence White, 1990, for the WKA world junior heavyweight title at Jupiter's Casino. This was the first time Stan LEGITIMATELY hit the canvas, then came back to knock his opponent out in the 7th round. He was emotional after the fight, I think he said in his post-fight speech he dedicated the fight to a friend of his that was ill, or had recently passed away, I can't remember. He was the total package, great boxing & kicking skills, great public speaking skills & charisma, speed, power, everything. He wasn't his usual self in this fight though, he was somewhat subdued, I think this fight happened immediately after his fight in Sydney against Maurice Smith, no? Stan was a class act. He is still my favourite Australian fighter of all time because he was a quality heavyweight and fought anyone and everyone. My dream match up would've been a prime Stan vs a prime Andy Hug, under kickboxing rules. THE MAN!




Yes, I remember this fight supermario. Great war too, everyone freaked went Stan went down in the first. He got up and went on to KO White. This was a great card that also had Alex Tui and Grant Barker, a later rival of Stan's, on the undercard.
His next fight was at Jupiters Casino in QLD as well, when he went on to KO the American, Muhammad, who held the Super Heavyweight Title.
Did you go to these shows? Great memories.

[supermario]

rebel, I only went to Stan vs White, it was my first ever kickboxing fight night, & I can't believe Stan The Man was the main event. My dad didn't take me to another show for another 3 years because I got bad grades at school. The first Muay Thai fight night I went to was 3 years later, Australia vs New Zealand, at Brisbane's Festival Hall, but the main event was still kickboxing, Ian Jacobs vs Jason Suttie. It would've been sweet to see Stan win the WKA super-heavyweight title. I've never actually seen that fight, or know how it ended, only that Stan won. How was it, rebel? It's hard to fathom, but 2 of Stan's, and Australian kickboxing's, most important bouts, happened in the Muay Thai state of QLD, & at the Gold Coast no less, where Aussie Muay Thai is most prominent these days. QLDers who say kickboxing rules are inferior to Muay Thai rules should remember that. Australia's greatest ever (IMO) was first called world champion in QLD. Hallowed ground as far as I'm concerned.