Dennis Alexio vs. Stan Longinidis

Dennis Alexio vs. Stan Longinidis

Date	December 6, 1992
Location	Melbourne SEC in Melbourne, Australia
Title(s) on the line	Alexio's ISKA Oriental Rules World Heavyweight Championship
Dennis Alexio vs.  Stan Longinidis
"The Terminator"		"The Man"
Tale of the tape
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA	From	Melbourne, Australia
54-1-1	Pre-fight record	27-1-1
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
203 lb (92 kg)	Weight	209 lb (95 kg)
Kickboxing	Style	Kickboxing
ISKA/KICK World Heavyweight Champion	Recognition	KICK/WKA World Super Heavyweight Champion WKA World Cruiserweight Champion
Result	Longinidis defeated Alexio via TKO (left low kick) at 0:15 of round 1.

Dennis Alexio vs. Stan Longinidis was a heavyweight kickboxing bout that took place at the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre in Melbourne, Australia on December 6, 1992. As one of the most highly anticipated fights in the sport's history, it ended in an anticlimax as Longinidis broke Alexio's leg with a low kick within ten seconds of the first round.

Background

Dennis Alexio was the golden boy of American kickboxing, having lost only one bout in his career (a controversial decision to Don "The Dragon" Wilson at light heavyweight in 1984) and co-starred in the film Kickboxer with Jean-Claude Van Damme. ^[1] The undisputed World Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion, he held titles for all the major kickboxing associations such as PKA, IKF, ISKA, KICK and WKA.

Stan Longinidis, meanwhile, was the first Australian to win a world kickboxing title when he took the KICK full contact Super Heavyweight Championship in 1991, and also held the WKA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.

Both men shared a common opponent in future K-1 World Grand Prix winner Branko Cikatić, who had fought the pair earlier that year. Longinidis had defeated Cikatić while Alexio's bout with him ended in a controversial draw.

The fight

The bout took place on December 6, 1992 at the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre in Melbourne, Australia in front of 8,000 spectators, with the fight set for ten, three-minute rounds.^[2] Also, the fight took place under "Oriental rules" which allows leg kicks; Alexio had spent the majority of his career fighting under full contact rules which only allows kicks above the waist and requires foot pads to be worn.

Six seconds into the fight, Longinidis hit Alexio with a left low kick, causing Alexio's fibula and tibia to break. Officially, the fight lasted just fifteen seconds and Longinidis was named the winner via technical knockout.^[3][4]

Aftermath

As the bout was the most eagerly anticipated kickboxing super fight at the time and a huge media event in Australia, it was considered a disappointment and an anticlimax. Michael Schiavello called it "the greatest anti-climax in ring sport history".^[5] This bout was listed on the Guinness World Records as "the fastest KO in kickboxing world title match".

Alexio and his manager, Bob Wall, disputed the fight and claimed that the fracture was caused by twisting his leg on a depression in the ring floor.^[6] A rematch between Longinidis and Alexio was discussed but a promoter with enough money was never secured.^[7][8]

Although Alexio recovered from the broken leg and went on to fight many more times afterwards, the loss virtually removed him from contention as the world's best heavyweight kickboxer. Stan Longinidis went on be a regular competitor in the K-1 promotion, although never won a Grand Prix.

References

1. ^ Willman, Chris (September 11, 1989). "'Kickboxer' Takes a Giant Step Backwards". LA Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1989-09-11/entertainment/ca-1390_1_van-damme. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
2. ^ Stan Longinidis vs Dennis Alexio Post Fight Media Coverage
3. ^ This sport's really kicking on
4. ^ Alexio breaks leg, loses kickboxing title
5. ^ DENNIS ALEXIO & THE LAST BASTION OF A TEENAGE MEMORY
6. ^ Alexio, Wall dispute loss
7. ^ Rematch set for Longinidis, Alexio
8. ^ Longinidis' title 'in dispute' says ISKA