Joe Lewis (martial arts)
Encyclopedia
Joe Lewis is an American
kickboxer
, point karate
fighter, and actor
. As a fighter, Lewis gained fame for his matches in the 1960s and 1970s. He has twice been voted the greatest fighter in karate history, and has attained the titles of "United States Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion," "World Heavyweight Karate Champion," and "United States National Black Belt Kata Champion."
in 1962 and was stationed at Cherry Point
in Havelock, North Carolina. He studied Shorin-ryu
Karate with Eizo Shimabukuro, John Korab, Chinsaku Kinjo and Seiyu Oyata in Okinawa while serving in the United States Marine Corps
, earning his black belt
in a mere seven months. He was one of the first Marines stationed in Vietnam, there meeting Rocky Marciano. Upon returning to the USA, he began a winning tournament career. From 1967 to 1968, he studied privately with the influential martial artist and Jeet Kune Do
founder Bruce Lee
. Hong Kong cinema historian Bey Logan
says Lewis was the original pick of Bruce Lee for the villain Colt in Way of the Dragon
, but that Lee and Lewis had a falling out before the film and thus Chuck Norris
was tapped instead.
by 2-0 decision. Lewis reigned as the U.S. Nationals grand champion from 1966-1969. At the 1967 Nationals in Washington, Lewis won the championship by beating Frank Hargrove 3-2 in the finals. Previously, Lewis defeated Hargrove in New York City at 'Henry Cho
's Karate Tournament'. During that time he was defeated by Chuck Norris
.
In 1966, at the Long Beach Internationals, Lewis lost an upset decision to Allen Steen
. In 1967, Lewis defeated Weiland Norris (brother of Chuck Norris), Steve LaBounty, Frank Knoll, and Frank Hargrove (for the 3rd time).
In February, 1968, Lewis and five other top rated fighters (Bob Wall, Skipper Mullins, J. Pat Burleson, David Moon, and Fred Wren) fought in the 1st World Professional Karate Championships (WPKC) promoted by Jim Harrison. This was the first "professional" tournament in karate history and took place in Harrison's dojo in Kansas City. The rules allowed "heavy contact." Lewis won the tournament and was paid 1-dollar, thus officially making him the first professional champion in karate history.
At the 1968 'Orient vs. U.S. Tournament', promoted by Aaron Banks, Lewis lost a decision to Japanese-American N. Tanaka. In Dallas, Texas, at the 'First Professional Karate Tournament', Lewis won the championship trophy by decisioning Larry Whitner, Phil Ola, and Skipper Mullins.
In August, 1968, Lewis was defeated by Victor Moore
at the 2nd professional karate tournament in history. The event was called the World's Hemisphere Karate Championships and it took place in San Antonio, Texas
; promoted by Robert Trias
and Atlee Chittim. Both Moore and Lewis split the championship purse of 1-thousand dollars. That same year, Lewis defeated Louis Delgado (Delgado had beaten Chuck Norris the year before).
On November 24, 1968 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City
, Lewis won Aaron Banks', World Professional Karate Championships by defeating Victor Moore to win the World Heavyweight Title. Lewis was paid $600 for his title winning effort.
In 1970, Lewis lost in yet another upset to John Natividad at the All-Star Team Championships in Long Beach, California
. However, at the 'Battle of Atlanta' promoted by Joe Corley
, Joe Lewis defeated Mitchell Bobrow
in a closely contested come from behind victory for the Heavyweight Championship, and Joe Hayes for the Grand Championship.
At Ed Parker
's 1972 'International Karate Championships', Daniel Garcia scored an upset victory over Lewis.
Joe Lewis was voted by the top fighters and promoters as the greatest karate fighter of all time in 1983. Chuck Norris
and Bill Wallace
tied for second place. Gene Lebell
has credited Joe as the person who "brought us full-contact karate."
1974 was to be a busy year for Joe Lewis and it would mark his final year in tournament karate competition. In May, Lewis lost to Charles Curry in New York at the Hidy Ochiai National Karate Tournament. That same month, Lewis won the PAWAK tournament which lasted from May 11-May 12. Lewis scored victories over Frank Harvey, Smiley Urquidez, Benny Urquidez
, and Cecil Peoples in the elimination matches. Joe won the championship with a 4-3 points decision over Steve Sanders. Finally, at Mike Anderson's, 'Top 10 National Professional Karate Tournament', Lewis lost to Eddy "Monster Man" Everett in the finals.
Joe Lewis is a veteran of the Vietnam War
where he served in the communications field. He has acted in films and on TV, and was briefly married to actress Barbara Leigh
. Today he continues to give seminars and work in the entertainment industry.
. Lee had Lewis test out his theories of fighting at tournaments. Lewis also began training boxing with Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Orbillio, enhancing his skills.
In late 1969 promoter Lee Faulkner contacted Joe Lewis to fight in his upcoming United States Karate Championships. Lewis had retired from point fighting at the time but agreed to fight if Faulkner would promote a full-contact karate bout with Lewis and an opponent who would fight to the knockout. Faulkner agreed. As Lewis and Greg Baines entered the ring wearing boxing gloves the announcer identified the fighters as "kickboxers". That night Joe Lewis won the first-ever kickboxing bout in North America on January 17, 1970 with a second round knockout over Greg Baines.
Previous to this bout, Lewis defeated Chuck Lemmons in point karate at the US Pro Team Karate finals that were held prior to the kickboxing main event.
On June 20, 1970 in Dallas, Texas, Lewis defended his United States Kickboxing Association
heavyweight title against "Big" Ed Daniel at the U.S.A. Professional Open Karate Championships promoted by Lee Faulkner and Allen Steen
. Lewis knocked out Daniel in 2 rounds. In a later rematch, Lewis KO'd Daniel in 3 rounds.
On January 24, 1971, at the 2nd Annual United Nations Open Karate Championships promoted by Aaron Banks
, Lewis knocked out Ronnie Barkoot at 1:25 of the first round. At another Banks promotion; United States Championship Kickboxing Bouts, Lewis scored a 3rd round knockout over "Atlas" Jesse King.
In total, Lewis defended his United States Heavyweight Kickboxing title with 8 straight knockouts between 1970/71. The 1970-71 rules for US kickboxing included striking, kicking, knees, elbows and footsweeps. Only crescent kicks and round kicks were permitted to the head.
Lewis is the first kickboxer to be featured in both The Ring
boxing magazine and Sports Illustrated
. Although promoter Lee Faulkner attempted to organize a legitimate "world" title fight between US champ Joe Lewis and a Thai kickboxing champion, a fight never materialized.
By the end of 1971, interest in kickboxing had hit an all time low, with promoters unable to attract a crowd to a kickboxing event. Lewis retired as undefeated United States Heavyweight Kickboxing champion in 1971. His record as the undisputed United States heavyweight kickboxing champion was a perfect 10-0 with 10 KO's.
September 14, 1974 on ABC's Wide World of Entertainment
promoter Mike Anderson introduced PKA 'full-contact' karate. In the bouts, competitors wore foam hand and foot protection and fought to the knockout (Kickboxing rules allowed for leg kicks: full-contact karate rules did not permit kicks to the legs). Lewis, the retired US Heavyweight Kickboxing champion was accustomed to full contact fighting. In 1974 he beat his only opponent in the new sport of full contact karate with a 2nd round ridge hand knockout over Yugoslavia's Frank Brodar in Los Angeles, California to win the Professional Karate Association (PKA) Heavyweight full-contact karate title.
The original 1974 PKA world champions, including Joe Lewis (heavyweight), Jeff Smith (light heavyweight) and Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace (middleweight) received so much fanfare from the PKA title wins and resultant publicity in popular martial arts magazines that their status as "legends of the karate world" was guaranteed. Lewis advanced his public persona the next year by appearing on the cover of Playgirl
magazine. In 1975 Joe Lewis was inducted into the Black Belt magazine Hall of Fame as the 1974 full contact karate "fighter of the year".
In a 1975 comeback fight in Hawaii Lewis lost a 3-round decision (non title) to Teddy Limoz in Hawaii, and in September, he lost a 7-round decision to Ross Scott after suffering a dislocated shoulder. Lewis was stripped of the PKA World Heavyweight championship title after contract disputes. Lewis continued with his acting career and starred in Jaguar Lives in 1978 and Force Five
in 1981.
At the age of 39, in 1983, Joe Lewis launched a comeback which saw him earn a top-10 PKA world ranking. In his bid for a title Lewis defeated T. Morrison, Charlton Young, Melvin Cole and Curtis Crandal. On April 16, Lewis lost to Tom Hall in an upset. On August 10, Lewis suffered a disappointing 4th round technical knockout (TKO) loss to US heavyweight champion Kerry Roop for the PKA US heavyweight title. Lewis retired after the defeat. Joe Lewis's competitive career in kickboxing and PKA full-contact karate ended with a combined record of 15 wins and 4 losses (The PKA World title record was 5 wins 4 losses). In 1990 Lewis (198 lbs) fought one last exhibition kickboxing/karate match with friend Bill Wallace (166 lbs) on pay per view. Both Lewis and Wallace were refused a boxing license because of their age. The exhibition ended with two judges scoring a tie and one judge giving the fight to Wallace in the exhibition event.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
kickboxer
Kickboxing
Kickboxing refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Muay Thai and western boxing....
, point karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
fighter, and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. As a fighter, Lewis gained fame for his matches in the 1960s and 1970s. He has twice been voted the greatest fighter in karate history, and has attained the titles of "United States Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion," "World Heavyweight Karate Champion," and "United States National Black Belt Kata Champion."
Biography
Joe Lewis was born on March 7, 1944 in Knightdale, North Carolina. Joined the United States Marine CorpsUnited States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
in 1962 and was stationed at Cherry Point
Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point or MCAS Cherry Point is a United States Marine Corps airfield located in Havelock, North Carolina, USA, in the eastern part of the state...
in Havelock, North Carolina. He studied Shorin-ryu
Shorin-Ryu
is one of the major modern Okinawan martial arts. It was founded by Choshin Chibana in 1933. Shōrin-ryū combines elements of the traditional Okinawan fighting styles of Shuri-te.-History:Chosin Chibana was a top student of the great master of shuri-te, Anko Itosu...
Karate with Eizo Shimabukuro, John Korab, Chinsaku Kinjo and Seiyu Oyata in Okinawa while serving in the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
, earning his black belt
Black belt (martial arts)
In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...
in a mere seven months. He was one of the first Marines stationed in Vietnam, there meeting Rocky Marciano. Upon returning to the USA, he began a winning tournament career. From 1967 to 1968, he studied privately with the influential martial artist and Jeet Kune Do
Jeet Kune Do
Jeet Kune Do is a hybrid martial arts system and life philosophy founded by martial artist Bruce Lee with direct, non classical and straightforward movements. Due to the way his style works they believe in minimal movement with maximum effect and extreme speed. The system works on the use of...
founder Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
. Hong Kong cinema historian Bey Logan
Bey Logan
Bey Logan is a respected expert on East Asian cinema, particularly Hong Kong action cinema. He is also notable as a screenwriter, film producer and as a martial artist who has had roles in a number of films, including the 2003 Dante Lam film The Twins Effect.He has written two books - Hong Kong...
says Lewis was the original pick of Bruce Lee for the villain Colt in Way of the Dragon
Way of the Dragon
The Way of the Dragon is a 1972 Hong Kong martial arts film written, produced, directed by and starring Bruce Lee.- Plot :Tang Lung is sent from Hong Kong to Rome to help his friend's niece Chen Ching Hua, and family friends, whose restaurant is being targeted by the local Mafia, which has been...
, but that Lee and Lewis had a falling out before the film and thus Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris is an American martial artist and actor. After serving in the United States Air Force, he began his rise to fame as a martial artist and has since founded his own school, Chun Kuk Do...
was tapped instead.
Karate career
In 1966, with only 22-months of training, Lewis won the grand championship of the 1st tournament he entered, The U.S. Nationals promoted by Jhoon Rhee. Lewis defeated 7 opponents before defeating Thomas CarrollThomas Carroll (martial artist)
Thomas "Lapuppet" Carrol, was an African-American martial artist, and also a member of USA Karate Hall of Fame , and the Black belt Hall of fame of Brooklyn, NY. He was also a member of the US Ju-Jitsu Federation. . He focused in Ronin Karate and shotokan karate...
by 2-0 decision. Lewis reigned as the U.S. Nationals grand champion from 1966-1969. At the 1967 Nationals in Washington, Lewis won the championship by beating Frank Hargrove 3-2 in the finals. Previously, Lewis defeated Hargrove in New York City at 'Henry Cho
S. Henry Cho
S. Henry Cho is a Tae Kwon Do pioneer and instructor with the ranking of 9th Dan.Cho arrived in the United States in 1958 creating many schools across the nation. It is thought that he opened the first permanent tae kwon do school in the United States in 1961. He was the head of the All American...
's Karate Tournament'. During that time he was defeated by Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris is an American martial artist and actor. After serving in the United States Air Force, he began his rise to fame as a martial artist and has since founded his own school, Chun Kuk Do...
.
In 1966, at the Long Beach Internationals, Lewis lost an upset decision to Allen Steen
Allen Steen
Allen R. Steen is an American martial arts practitioner, teacher, and promoter. He was taught by Jhoon Rhee, the "Father of American Taekwondo", and was the first of Rhee's American students to reach black belt standing. He was inducted into the Taekwondo Hall of Fame in 2007.Steen was a business...
. In 1967, Lewis defeated Weiland Norris (brother of Chuck Norris), Steve LaBounty, Frank Knoll, and Frank Hargrove (for the 3rd time).
In February, 1968, Lewis and five other top rated fighters (Bob Wall, Skipper Mullins, J. Pat Burleson, David Moon, and Fred Wren) fought in the 1st World Professional Karate Championships (WPKC) promoted by Jim Harrison. This was the first "professional" tournament in karate history and took place in Harrison's dojo in Kansas City. The rules allowed "heavy contact." Lewis won the tournament and was paid 1-dollar, thus officially making him the first professional champion in karate history.
At the 1968 'Orient vs. U.S. Tournament', promoted by Aaron Banks, Lewis lost a decision to Japanese-American N. Tanaka. In Dallas, Texas, at the 'First Professional Karate Tournament', Lewis won the championship trophy by decisioning Larry Whitner, Phil Ola, and Skipper Mullins.
In August, 1968, Lewis was defeated by Victor Moore
Vic Moore
Victor Moore holds a 10th Degree Black Belt in Karate and was one of the late Robert Trias' Chief instructors of the Shuri-ryū Karate system. Moore was one of the first ten original members of the Trias International Society and also studied and trained with William J. Dometrich in the style of...
at the 2nd professional karate tournament in history. The event was called the World's Hemisphere Karate Championships and it took place in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
; promoted by Robert Trias
Robert Trias
Robert A. Trias was a U.S. karate pioneer, founding the first karate school in the mainland United States. He also developed Shuri-ryū karate, an eclectic style with roots in the Okinawan Shuri-te tradition.-Early years:...
and Atlee Chittim. Both Moore and Lewis split the championship purse of 1-thousand dollars. That same year, Lewis defeated Louis Delgado (Delgado had beaten Chuck Norris the year before).
On November 24, 1968 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Lewis won Aaron Banks', World Professional Karate Championships by defeating Victor Moore to win the World Heavyweight Title. Lewis was paid $600 for his title winning effort.
In 1970, Lewis lost in yet another upset to John Natividad at the All-Star Team Championships in Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
. However, at the 'Battle of Atlanta' promoted by Joe Corley
Joe Corley
Joe Corley is an American karate and kickboxing competitor, instructor, broadcaster and promoter who was instrumental in the success of the Professional Karate Association and the early establishment of professional kickboxing in the United States....
, Joe Lewis defeated Mitchell Bobrow
Mitchell Bobrow
Mitchell Bobrow was a champion martial arts fighter trained by Master Ki Whang Kim in the early 1960s and quickly developed as Great Grand Master Kim's first Grand Champion student...
in a closely contested come from behind victory for the Heavyweight Championship, and Joe Hayes for the Grand Championship.
At Ed Parker
Ed Parker
Edmund Kealoha "Ed" Parker was an American martial artist, promoter, teacher, and author.-Life:Parker was born in Hawaii, and raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He began his training in the martial arts at a young age in judo and later boxing...
's 1972 'International Karate Championships', Daniel Garcia scored an upset victory over Lewis.
Joe Lewis was voted by the top fighters and promoters as the greatest karate fighter of all time in 1983. Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris is an American martial artist and actor. After serving in the United States Air Force, he began his rise to fame as a martial artist and has since founded his own school, Chun Kuk Do...
and Bill Wallace
Bill Wallace (martial arts)
William "Bill" Louis Wallace is an American martial artist who was a Professional Karate Association world full- contact karate champion. He was the Professional Karate Association Middleweight Champion kickboxer for almost six years.- Background :Wallace was born in Portland, Indiana, and...
tied for second place. Gene Lebell
Gene LeBell
Ivan Gene LeBell is a former American Judo champion, instructor, stunt performer, stunt coordinator, and professional wrestler born in Los Angeles, California. LeBell has worked on over 1,000 films and TV shows, and has authored a number of books.In 2000, he was promoted to 9th Dan in US Ju-Jitsu...
has credited Joe as the person who "brought us full-contact karate."
1974 was to be a busy year for Joe Lewis and it would mark his final year in tournament karate competition. In May, Lewis lost to Charles Curry in New York at the Hidy Ochiai National Karate Tournament. That same month, Lewis won the PAWAK tournament which lasted from May 11-May 12. Lewis scored victories over Frank Harvey, Smiley Urquidez, Benny Urquidez
Benny Urquidez
Benny Urquidez is an American kickboxer, martial arts choreographer and actor. Nicknamed, The Jet, Urquidez was a non-contact karate competitor who later pioneered full-contact fighting in the U.S. He made the transition from point to full-contact karate in 1974 – the year of its inception...
, and Cecil Peoples in the elimination matches. Joe won the championship with a 4-3 points decision over Steve Sanders. Finally, at Mike Anderson's, 'Top 10 National Professional Karate Tournament', Lewis lost to Eddy "Monster Man" Everett in the finals.
Joe Lewis is a veteran of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
where he served in the communications field. He has acted in films and on TV, and was briefly married to actress Barbara Leigh
Barbara Leigh
Barbara Leigh is an American former actress and fashion model. In 1972 she appeared in the film Junior Bonner with former boyfriend Steve McQueen....
. Today he continues to give seminars and work in the entertainment industry.
Kickboxing and full-contact karate career
Starting in 1967, Lewis began training privately with Bruce LeeBruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
. Lee had Lewis test out his theories of fighting at tournaments. Lewis also began training boxing with Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Orbillio, enhancing his skills.
In late 1969 promoter Lee Faulkner contacted Joe Lewis to fight in his upcoming United States Karate Championships. Lewis had retired from point fighting at the time but agreed to fight if Faulkner would promote a full-contact karate bout with Lewis and an opponent who would fight to the knockout. Faulkner agreed. As Lewis and Greg Baines entered the ring wearing boxing gloves the announcer identified the fighters as "kickboxers". That night Joe Lewis won the first-ever kickboxing bout in North America on January 17, 1970 with a second round knockout over Greg Baines.
Previous to this bout, Lewis defeated Chuck Lemmons in point karate at the US Pro Team Karate finals that were held prior to the kickboxing main event.
On June 20, 1970 in Dallas, Texas, Lewis defended his United States Kickboxing Association
United States Kickboxing Association
The first American sanctioning body to regulate kickboxing matches, the United States Kickboxing Association was established in early 1970 by former Green Beret Lee Faulkner following his promotion of North America’s debut kickboxing bout featuring Joe Lewis’ knockout victory over Greg Baines. ...
heavyweight title against "Big" Ed Daniel at the U.S.A. Professional Open Karate Championships promoted by Lee Faulkner and Allen Steen
Allen Steen
Allen R. Steen is an American martial arts practitioner, teacher, and promoter. He was taught by Jhoon Rhee, the "Father of American Taekwondo", and was the first of Rhee's American students to reach black belt standing. He was inducted into the Taekwondo Hall of Fame in 2007.Steen was a business...
. Lewis knocked out Daniel in 2 rounds. In a later rematch, Lewis KO'd Daniel in 3 rounds.
On January 24, 1971, at the 2nd Annual United Nations Open Karate Championships promoted by Aaron Banks
Aaron Banks
Aaron Banks is a Grand Master Martial Artist born in 1928 in Bronx, New York and made it his personal mission to distribute the different forms of martial arts to the western world. He has brought Chinese Kung Fu, Korean Moo Duk Kwan, Japanese and Okinawan Goju-Ryu karate, judo and boxing under the...
, Lewis knocked out Ronnie Barkoot at 1:25 of the first round. At another Banks promotion; United States Championship Kickboxing Bouts, Lewis scored a 3rd round knockout over "Atlas" Jesse King.
In total, Lewis defended his United States Heavyweight Kickboxing title with 8 straight knockouts between 1970/71. The 1970-71 rules for US kickboxing included striking, kicking, knees, elbows and footsweeps. Only crescent kicks and round kicks were permitted to the head.
Lewis is the first kickboxer to be featured in both The Ring
The Ring (magazine)
The Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication...
boxing magazine and Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
. Although promoter Lee Faulkner attempted to organize a legitimate "world" title fight between US champ Joe Lewis and a Thai kickboxing champion, a fight never materialized.
By the end of 1971, interest in kickboxing had hit an all time low, with promoters unable to attract a crowd to a kickboxing event. Lewis retired as undefeated United States Heavyweight Kickboxing champion in 1971. His record as the undisputed United States heavyweight kickboxing champion was a perfect 10-0 with 10 KO's.
September 14, 1974 on ABC's Wide World of Entertainment
ABC's Wide World of Entertainment
ABC's Wide World of Entertainment is a late night block of programs created by the American Broadcasting Company. It premiered on January 8, 1973 and ended three years later.-Program schedule:...
promoter Mike Anderson introduced PKA 'full-contact' karate. In the bouts, competitors wore foam hand and foot protection and fought to the knockout (Kickboxing rules allowed for leg kicks: full-contact karate rules did not permit kicks to the legs). Lewis, the retired US Heavyweight Kickboxing champion was accustomed to full contact fighting. In 1974 he beat his only opponent in the new sport of full contact karate with a 2nd round ridge hand knockout over Yugoslavia's Frank Brodar in Los Angeles, California to win the Professional Karate Association (PKA) Heavyweight full-contact karate title.
The original 1974 PKA world champions, including Joe Lewis (heavyweight), Jeff Smith (light heavyweight) and Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace (middleweight) received so much fanfare from the PKA title wins and resultant publicity in popular martial arts magazines that their status as "legends of the karate world" was guaranteed. Lewis advanced his public persona the next year by appearing on the cover of Playgirl
Playgirl
Playgirl is a print quarterly adult magazine published in the United States that is marketed mainly to heterosexual women, but has also gained a considerable gay following...
magazine. In 1975 Joe Lewis was inducted into the Black Belt magazine Hall of Fame as the 1974 full contact karate "fighter of the year".
In a 1975 comeback fight in Hawaii Lewis lost a 3-round decision (non title) to Teddy Limoz in Hawaii, and in September, he lost a 7-round decision to Ross Scott after suffering a dislocated shoulder. Lewis was stripped of the PKA World Heavyweight championship title after contract disputes. Lewis continued with his acting career and starred in Jaguar Lives in 1978 and Force Five
Force Five
Force Five was a syndicated anime cartoon anthology during the late 1970s/early 1980s. In the US, this series was primarily shown only in New England and Virginia, though it did make brief appearances in other markets, such as Dallas, Texas and San Jose, California on KICU-TV 36. It was also shown...
in 1981.
At the age of 39, in 1983, Joe Lewis launched a comeback which saw him earn a top-10 PKA world ranking. In his bid for a title Lewis defeated T. Morrison, Charlton Young, Melvin Cole and Curtis Crandal. On April 16, Lewis lost to Tom Hall in an upset. On August 10, Lewis suffered a disappointing 4th round technical knockout (TKO) loss to US heavyweight champion Kerry Roop for the PKA US heavyweight title. Lewis retired after the defeat. Joe Lewis's competitive career in kickboxing and PKA full-contact karate ended with a combined record of 15 wins and 4 losses (The PKA World title record was 5 wins 4 losses). In 1990 Lewis (198 lbs) fought one last exhibition kickboxing/karate match with friend Bill Wallace (166 lbs) on pay per view. Both Lewis and Wallace were refused a boxing license because of their age. The exhibition ended with two judges scoring a tie and one judge giving the fight to Wallace in the exhibition event.
Kickboxing record
| Kickboxing record | |
|---|---|
Legend: |
|
See also
- List of male kickboxers
- United States Kickboxing AssociationUnited States Kickboxing AssociationThe first American sanctioning body to regulate kickboxing matches, the United States Kickboxing Association was established in early 1970 by former Green Beret Lee Faulkner following his promotion of North America’s debut kickboxing bout featuring Joe Lewis’ knockout victory over Greg Baines. ...
- Professional Karate AssociationProfessional Karate AssociationThe Professional Karate Association was originally a martial arts sanctioning organization, now transformed into a martial arts promotion company....