Kickboxers from the Ring to the Screens

[AlbertV]

This thread is about professional kickboxers who started in the ring and then transitioned to the screens. If you can think of any, post them here

 

Don "The Dragon" Wilson

 

Jerry "Golden Boy" Trimble

 

Dennis Alexio

 

Benny "The Jet" Urquidez

 

Dale "Apollo" Cook

.

[Secret Executioner]

Benny Urquidez has a much more complex background than just kickboxing. I think he practiced a lot of other MA - can't remember precisely which, but i remember reading a bio and it seemed like he was versed in a lot of different fighting styles.

 

Is it wrong that except for him (who starred in some classics like Meals on Wheels) and Don Wilson (whose movies often pop up in DVD stores I go to, though I see them far less than a few months ago where they seemed everywhere), I couldn't name a single movie with the others ? 

Dale Cook's nickname reminded me of a character from the Rocky movies, but he probably has nothing to do with that - though it could be a nice bit of trivia if one got his name or nick as a nod to the other.

[kokuryuha]

Peter "Sugarfoot" Cunningham and Bill "Superfoot" Wallace are among my favorites along with the Benny "The Jet" Urquidez.

Cung Le was a reigning Sanshou champ as well as the strikeforce champion when he was competing before he successfully transitioning to movies.

check these bad boys out...

[ShaOW!linDude]

It looks to me like Albert's photo of Don Wilson and kokuryuha's photo of Bill Wallace are from the same fight.

[kokuryuha]

I'm going to contribute three more individuals to this topic...

1.Stan "The Man" Longinidis a former reigning kickboxing champion from Australia.

 

2.Maurce Smith a former Heavyweight kickboxing and UFC champion.

 

3.Olivier Gruner an Ex French kickboxing Champ and Military Commando.

 

These three men along with the others I mentioned were considered among the best in the sport and fought the best as well.They even managed to use their fighting skills to make bank in movies to boot.

P.S. Shaow!linDude good speculation,it is the same fight between Bill Superfoot Wallace and Don The Dragon Wilson.Just different pics.?

 

[ShaOW!linDude]

P.S. Shaow!linDude good speculation,it is the same fight between Bill Superfoot Wallace and Don The Dragon Wilson.Just different pics.?

I wonder if that was a real bout or an exhibition match. 

[AlbertV]

I believe it was an exhibition match. I looked up Paul Maslak's STAR System, which was the point system he created for professional kickboxing and didn't see Wilson's name as an opponent.

 

Secret, Dennis Alexio was best known for playing Eric Sloane, Van Damme's brother in the original Kickboxer.

 

Dale "Apollo" Cook co-starred with Cynthia Khan in Eternal Fist as well as took the lead in American Kickboxer 2, Raw Target, Blood Ring 1 & 2, Double Blast (a family friendly MA action adventure), and had a very nice cameo against Yu Rong Guang in Deadend of Besiegers. He coached the Tulsa team of Chuck Norris' World Combat League and is still teaching martial arts.

 

Jerry Trimble is one of the best kickers in the sport. He starred in the Bloodfist clone Full Contact as well as Live by the Fist, Stranglehold, and One Man Army. I think when Wilson was still doing Bloodfist for Concorde, he worked primarily with PM Entertainment and Concorde picked Trimble as their new headliner act. He is still making movies as a stuntman or actor. He recently appeared on iZombie. Hope this helps Secret

 

A few female kickboxers also made it on screen:

 

Kathy "The Punisher" Long - starred in Albert Pyun's Knights and The Stranger, and appeared in Santa's Summer House with some other big 90's action stars playing Gary Daniels' wife.

Bridgett "Baby Doll" Riley - made her film debut in Triple Impact and later became a prominent stuntwoman and sometimes action actress in front of the screens.

 

Cheryl Wheeler-Sanders - kickboxer turned stuntwoman, she had a fight against Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton in Rage & Honor, later became a stuntwoman and is one of the producers of The Martial Arts Kid

Edited December 20, 2019 by AlbertV

[Secret Executioner]

Guess I'll have to watch that Kickboxer DVD I have sitting around now that I know one of our kickboxers is in this.   

[kingofkungfu2002]

Gary Daniels
Ian Jacklin

[kokuryuha]

I believe it was an exhibition match. I looked up Paul Maslak's STAR System, which was the point system he created for professional kickboxing I didn't see Wilson's name as an opponent.

 

Secret, Dennis Alexio was best known for playing Eric Sloane, Van Damme's brother in the original Kickboxer.

 

Dale "Apollo" Cook co-starred with Cynthia Khan in Eternal Fist as well as took the lead in American Kickboxer 2, Raw Target, Blood Ring 1 & 2, Double Blast (a family friendly MA action adventure), and had a very nice cameo against Yu Rong Guang in Deadend of Besiegers. He coached the Tulsa team of Chuck Norris' World Combat League and is still teaching martial arts.

 

Jerry Trimble is one of the best kickers in the sport. He starred in the Bloodfist clone Full Contact as well as Live by the Fist, Stranglehold, and One Man Army. I think when Wilson was still doing Bloodfist for Concorde, he worked primarily with PM Entertainment and Concorde picked Trimble as their new headliner act. He is still making movies as a stuntman or actor. He recently appeared on iZombie. Hope this helps Secret

 

A few female kickboxers also made it on screen:

 

Kathy Long - starred in Albert Pyun's Knights and The Stranger

 

 

 

Bridgett "Baby Doll" Riley - made her film debut in Triple Impact and later became a prominent stuntwoman and sometimes action actress in front of the screens.

 

Cheryl Wheeler-Duncan - kickboxer turned stuntwoman, she had a fight against Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton in Rage & Honor, later became a stuntwoman and is one of the producers of The Martial Arts Kid

 

 

 

Since we're divulging secrets,You forgot to mention that Dennis Alexio got his ass handed to him in a 6 second knockout by the Stan the man Longinidis by breaking his leg  in the first round.It's ironic how his role in the kickboxer movie was disabled in a similar manner.Art imitating life I guess.

 

Jerry golden boy trimble had his most memorable bout against Jet Li in "The Master" movie.

 

And Bridgette Baby doll Riley was the stunt double for the Pink Ranger in the first Power Ranger series and was mentored by Benny The Jet Urquidez sister Liliy Rodriguez (R.I.P.)Bridgette was a regular on the short lived tv show "WMAC Masters" as herself.

Edited October 17, 2015 by kokuryuha

[AlbertV]

Jerry Trimble also fought Drew Barrymore in the group fight in the castle in Charlie's Angels as one of the thugs and fought Steve Austin in The Package.

 

Bridgett Riley played the main fighting heavy in the women's kickboxing flick Bare Knuckles in 2008.

 

Cheryl Wheeler doubled for Uma Thurman in Batman & Robin.

 

Here's another one. I used to watch his fights when I lived in New York and watching Martial Art World, Olando "The Warrior" Rivera. He's making his film debut in The Martial Arts Kid.

 

Edited December 20, 2019 by AlbertV

[One Armed Boxer]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Billy Chow yet.  He was the WKA super welterweight kickboxing champion of the world from 1984 - 1986.  Pic from his most famous match - 

 

[ShaOW!linDude]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Billy Chow yet.  He was the WKA super welterweight kickboxing champion of the world from 1984 - 1986.  Pic from his most famous match - 

 

I don't know if you're being funny or not.

This looks like a still from his and Sammo's match in Paper Marriage.

[DragonClaws]

Jerry Trimble really impressed me with his performance in The Master. Another very talented Martial Artist who often gets over looked. Some times a great a real Martial Artist doesn't look as impressive on screen.  This certainly did not apply to Trimble in my opinion.

 

 

The man I'm about to mention never got a major role in movies but he did appear in quite a few films. Blind Fury and Ace Ventura just being two of them. Randall Tex Cobb started his Kickboxing career in 1975 and later became a heavyweight boxer. He may have not had the career of some of the above Martial Artists or be the most graceful fighter. However he certainly was a real life tough guy known for his punching power. At 6,3 and 225lbs he was more than equipped for heavyweight boxing. The last time I caught him onscreen was in an episode of Macguyver which was recently repeated in the U.K. He also appeared in three episodes of Walker Texas Ranger.

Edited October 19, 2015 by DragonClaws

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Love Randall Tex Cobb.  He's usually the highlight of anything he's in.  I knew he was a good boxer, but didn't know he was a kickboxer.  He's not that good at kicking, but not bad for a guy his size.  I remember a movie with Patrick Swayze where he gets really kick happy.  Also I think he does some kicking in that Macgyver episode.  

 

Anybody know how much kickboxing Chan Wai Man did? And did he start kickboxing before or after he started acting?

Edited October 18, 2015 by Morgoth Bauglir

[DragonClaws]

Love Randall Tex Cobb.  He's usually the highlight of anything he's in.  I knew he was a good boxer, but didn't know he was a kickboxer.  He's not that good at kicking, but not bad for a guy his size.  I remember a movie with Patrick Swayze where he gets really kick happy.  Also I think he does some kicking in that Macgyver episode.  

 

Anybody know how much kickboxing Chan Wai Man did? And did he start kickboxing before or after he started acting?

I didn't know about his KickBoxing career until I saw a image of him Kickboxing in a magazine. Until seeing the picture I thought he was just a stuntman. He was built like a barn door.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Randall Tex Cobb and Patrick Swayze had a brief but good fight with one another in Uncommon Valor. That movie is just good, period.

[One Armed Boxer]

I don't know if you're being funny or not.

This looks like a still from his and Sammo's match in Paper Marriage.

The picture is a joke, what I wrote isn't.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I think I heard Ken Lo was a kickboxer.  I wonder if him and Billy Chow ever trained together.  They look really comfortable fighting each other in Kickboxer's Tears. They go a long time without cutting in that fight.  

Edited October 19, 2015 by Morgoth Bauglir

[ShaOW!linDude]

The picture is a joke, what I wrote isn't.

Gotcha! I knew Chow was the real deal, I just didn't want you getting suckered by a mislabeled photo.

[AlbertV]

Dennis Keiffer - former K.I.C.K. Super Middleweight Kickboxing Champion

His most famous role I believe was that of the bullwhip henchman of Christopher Walken in The Rundown but he also played Dominic LaBanca's ill-fated brother in the opening of Bloodfist clone Dragon Fire. He also played Baraka in the 1997 sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. 

Gerry Blanck - Former World Super Featherweight Kickboxing Champion & expert in Yoshukai Karate
He played Jerry Trimble's ill-fated brother in the Bloodfist clone Full Contact and recently plays himself in The Martial Arts Kid.

Mitchell "Dino" Homsey - appeared in Bloodfist IV, Out for Blood, and Full Contact

Edited December 20, 2019 by AlbertV

[AlbertV]

Virginia-born Curtis Bush (former ISKA Welterweight Champion) had a small role in the 1990 version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a Foot Soldier and then in the Canadian martial arts film Dragon Hunt as a poacher/ninja. In 1997, he was the lead role in The Dark Angel: Psycho Kickboxer.

Edited June 21, 2017 by AlbertV

[AlbertV]

Saskia van Rijswijk was a popular kickboxer in her native Netherlands in the 1980's and she would appear in two Hong Kong films, China White and Fatal Mission

Lucia Rijker - Dutch-born kickboxer and boxer who would appear in 2002's remake of Rollerball, 2004's hit Million Dollar Baby, and as a Romulan commander in the first of JJ Abrams' Star Trek reboot trilogy. She saved the life of a boxer, Frida Wallberg, in 2013 when after the boxer she trained knocked her opponent out, the opponent collapsed and Rijker immediately called the doctor back to the ring where it was revealed Wallberg suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, but thanks to Rijker's attention, had survived in time, but Wallberg has put her boxing career on hold since.

Edited November 30, 2017 by AlbertV

[DrNgor]

On 10/18/2015 at 5:22 PM, Morgoth Bauglir said:

Anybody know how much kickboxing Chan Wai Man did? And did he start kickboxing before or after he started acting?

From a 90s interview with Bey Logan:

Bey Logan: First of all, could you tell us a Little about your background, where you grew up and where you began your martial arts training?
Chan Wai Man: I'm of Hakka stock, so my family comes from the New Territories. When I was very young, around ten years old, I started learning Northern Shaolin kung fu under my first Sifu, Yau Han Gung-Si. Later, I started to study Tam Ka Sam Gin. It looks like karate (he demonstrates a few Goju Ryu style movements). Very slow, but big power! Then, I moved on to western boxing.

Bey Logan: You fought !n the ring, didn't you, as both a boxer and a kickboxer?
Chan Wai Man: Yes. In 1972, I was the South-East Asian kung fu fighting champion. I fought for that title in Singapore. I also fought boxing matches against westerners, fighters who were stationed with the British army here in Hong Kong. I was never an international boxing champion, just the Hong Kong champion. I like boxing very much, though. I think that, if I'd been born overseas, I would have pursued that as a career.

Bey Logan: You were one of the first of the kung fu heroes to have a physique like a western boxer, a very lean look. What kind of training regimen did you follow?
Chan Wai Man: I had the same attitude as Bruce Lee. In the old days, you could learn traditional kung fu, and you had to train many years before you could fight well. With boxing, or kickboxing, you could train hard for only one year, and already be effective I had worked as a bodyguard before, and you couldn't use kung fu to fight. It wasn't like a kung fu challenge match! When you fought, it was like what we call a 'dar-gow', a dogfight. Anything goes! For this reason, I stopped learning kung fu and shifted to the boxing style. Bruce Lee was the same. He started focusing on western style conditioning, like running, skipping, weights, bagwork.

Bey Logan: When you faught in the ring, what did you consider to be your most effective technique?
Chan Wai Man: For my weight, I could punch hard. At that time, I used to enter these empty hand kung fu fighting tournaments and, compared to me, the fighters couldn't hit hard, so I used to knock them out. Later, the standard of those kind of matches improved. Now we have quite a few good ring fighters in Hong Kong. I had about sixteen bouts. All but two ended in knock-outs. Many of them, I could knock out with my jab!

Bey Logan: That's unusual. Which of the western boxers did you admire?
Chan Wai Man: Ali. Not just for his skills, but because he was a real star He wasn't that powerful, but he was very light, very fast. Now, I like Tyson. He looks like a tiger! However, Tyson cannot fight for a long time. He lacks stamina. If the fight goes to the eleventh or twelfth round, he starts to look tired. In the early rounds, he's very powerful, very dangerous. Ali was very smart, though. He'd had very clever tactics. Of all the fighters, I like to watch Muhammad Ali the best.

Bey Logan: We've talked about your punching. What were your favourite kicking techniques?
Chan Wai Man: I looked at the kicking techniques from all styles, Taekwondo, Thai boxing, kung fu. The Korean kicks look very beautiful. However, I have to say that the best kicking I saw was by Bruce Lee. Fast, but very powerful! Some people were faster, but they lacked power Only Bruce had this, so, of course, I tried to follow his kicking style.

...

Bey Logan: How about you? Did you ever go to fek kwoon (challenge a rlval school)?
Chan Wai Man: Oh, yes! Many times! It was very well-known at that time. One time I went to the So Long gym, which was the biggest in Hong Kong at that time. This guy had knocked out one of my students so I went down there to tek kwoon. Another guy taught Thai Boxing, and said that Chinese kung fu was no good. He was very arrogant, I entered the Hong Kong Freefighting championships just to fight him, and then knocked him out. Afterwards, he told everybody "Chan Wai Man is not a kung fu man! He is a boxer!" I told him: "Shut your mouth! I win! You lose! Only I talking! You no talking!"

Bey Logan: Did you ever engage in bei mo (challenge matches)?
Chan Wai Man: Oh, many times. You'd get people challenging you in the streets. This is back in the Seventies. As soon as you had a name, people would come after you. I had a reputation for streetfighting.

[AlbertV]

Dutch GLORY kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven recently appeared as Moss, Joseph King's nightclub fighter in the sequel Kickboxer: Retaliation.  

Rob Kaman, Dutch Muay Thai champion, appeared in Bloodfist 

Shuki Ron is an Israeli-born kickboxing champion who would appear in both Kickboxer 3 and Kickboxer 4. He was Sasha Mitchell's trainer for both films and also choreographed the two films' fights. He played David Sloane's training partner in K3 and then the opponent in the warehouse fight where a group of bikers surround them in K4, 

James Warring - former Cruiserweight and Super Heavyweight Champion who also transitioned into boxing. Today, he is a boxing and karate referee. He appeared as boxer John Jones in Bloodfist II. 

Richard Hill  - former Welterweight Kickboxing Champion. Played Bobby, a military vet and Jake Raye's buddy in Bloodfist II. Hill later became a doctor and got himself into some serious hot water. The article can be seen here.

 

Edited December 20, 2019 by AlbertV