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From Ricky Hatton to Dillian Whyte: The kickboxers who successfully moved into boxing
This weekend will see the long-awaited match between Moses Itauma and Dillian Whyte when the pair meet over twelve rounds in Riyadh, broadcast exclusively on DAZN.
While Itama, 12-0 (10), is relatively new on the scene, his opponent Whyte, 31-3 (21), has seemingly been knocking around the domestic and international heavyweight scenes forever.
Whyte first made an impact in 2009, when he and Anthony Joshua fought as amateurs. Despite the pair meeting again in the professional ranks in 2015, their paths diverged widely after their unpaid showdown. While Joshua would go on to win Olympic gold at the 2012 Games, Whyte – after a disagreement with the amateur bodies – turned professional.
The disagreement, as has been widely reported, came about from Whyte’s extensive career as a professional kickboxer.
However, he is not the only world-class boxer to have had a parallel career kicking people for sport. In that code, Whyte held the BIKMA British Super-Heavyweight Title and the European K-1 title. During his time in K-1 (an offshoot of a Japanese promotion), Whyte held a record of 20-1. He also, in 2008, had a professional MMA match in London.
Ricky Hatton, 45-3 (32)
The ‘Hitman’, who became the undisputed light-welterweight champion and held further titles at 147lbs, fought as an amateur kickboxer as a child. In what was one of the most-prescient observations made in Manchester at that time, Hatton’s amateur coach advised his parents, on account of Hatton’s short legs, to switch him over from kicking and punching to just punching.
It was not the only sport that Hatton excelled at. As a child, he also came close to playing professional football before deciding that his future lay not on the pitch but in the ring.
Matt Skelton, 28-9 (23)
He seemed to disappear from the boxing scene after a second-round loss to Anthony Joshua in Liverpool in 2014, but ‘Big’ Matt Skelton overachieved throughout the rest of his career. Also known as the ‘Bedford Bear’, Skelton picked up the British title in 2004 with a KO victory over Michael Sprott, then followed it with the Commonwealth and WBU titles. He eventually lost the British title to Danny Williams over twelve rounds and by split decision but beat Williams in their rematch five months later.
After losing a decision for the WBA title against Ruslan Chagaev in Dusseldorf, Skelton dropped down to European level where he beat Paolo Vidoz in Italy, before losing to Martin Rogan in a war in Birmingham. The losses began to build after that until a final three-fight losing streak ended his career.
If that had been all the combat that Skelton had taken part in, the resume by itself would have been impressive. However, the big man from Bedford also had 33 bouts in Muay Thai, before moving to K-1 where he had another 17 fights. Not fed up at that point with fighting, it was then that Skelton switched to his successful boxing career.
Vitali Klitschko, 45-2 (41)
Currently Mayor of Kyiv, the elder Klitschko had 210 fights as an amateur, winning 195 of them. As a kickboxer, Klitschko would say that he had reached each one of his goals, becoming world champion six times in both the amateur and professional sides.
Losing out on an Olympic birth after a failed drugs test, Klitschko would be replaced by his brother, who would go on to win gold. Instead, Vitali turned professional, eventually pushing Lennox Lewis close until a severe cut ended the fight. After that, he would beat Corrie Sanders for the WBC title in Los Angeles and defend once against Danny Williams, before going into a four-year retirement.
Klitschko would return in 2008, beating Samuel Peter for the same belt in Berlin, and then defending it nine times until retiring after a victory over Mahmoud Charr in 2012.
Marco Huck, 43-5-1 (28)
The longstanding cruiserweight champion, who lost his belts in 2015 in his first US fight, had a storied career in kickboxing as an amateur. Speaking to German newspaper Bild in 2009, Huck said that he had been German taekwondo champion at 12, gained his black belt at 15, was a European champion at seventeen, and won the world championship a year later.
Jarrell Miller, 26-1-2 (22)
When younger and more svelte, current heavyweight contender Miller (who is slated to fight Michael Hunter in September) had a reported 22-2 (10) record in kickboxing. However, other sources differ, stating that Miller had a combined kickboxing record of 33-0 (15).
What is certain however is that, like Skelton and Whyte, Miller competed in K-1. While his record is incomplete, he lost decisions to Croatian great Mirko Cro Cop in 2013 and 2014 at events in Zagreb and Los Angeles.
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