For the die hard fight fans out there, you may know Tyrone Spong from the K1, Glory and kickboxing circuits. One of the great kickboxers of our time, Mr Spong chose to hang up his shin guards in favour of a fresh new pursuit. After a brief stint at MMA he made the move to heavyweight boxing. Suriname born, Netherlands raised, Spong made a big name for himself as an explosive puncher in the kickboxing ring. Spong wasn't always a heavyweight, he put on a lot of size and muscle onto his 6'2 frame over the past decade to campaign with the much larger kickboxers of todays era who stand 6'5 on average. He was somewhat of a child prodigy in Muay Thai, revered for his technique and explosiveness, his nickname was 'King of the Ring'. For the past 2-3 years Spong has steadily worked himself up the boxing rankings, and has only recently shown up on the top 10 WBO rankings. Spong has come along way, and is currently holder of the WBO and WBC Latino heavyweight titles. Spong has his sights set on mixing with the top heavies. He's a man on a mission fueled with undying belief in himself. Personally, Spong has always been one of my top 5 fighters (In General). He is true to the art of fighting, honing his technique and was the striking coach for Blackzilians - a successful UFC fighting camp. Does he have a legitimate chance? Whatever happens, he will always have my respect, switching careers so late in the game to compete at the highest level. Check him out on YouTube.
On the eye test, he looks OK to me, but he fought useless opponents, the worst of the worst, he should fight a Fred Kassi or Gary Cornish type of guy to see where he really is at. I don't think he will be a force to be reckoned with.
His name comes up in the dedicated HW/CW thread. He beat Nascimento early this year but I hope he either starts taking on opposition with name recognition or at least fights frequently. He's obviously got a lot of good experience and attributes but as you allude to, not many people know he's out there. Dinu is another HW who beat Nascimento, and I really hope Song doesn't plan to take the scenic route like Dinu who fights a couple of times a year at most against opposition no-one knows anything about.
Petrosyan is the best KB I personally have seen. From the west anyway.. Andy Hug, Aerts, Hoost, Crocop, Schilts Dekkers & Kaman are greater than Spong.
I'd agree with you, they are better. Ernesto Hoost hands down being the best heavy ever. ETA: Hoost who managed/trained Spong as well
Spong is a former Kickboxer (a really good one) turned MMA (okay at MMA too) now turned to Boxing (to which I've found him pretty meh so far.)
Yeah Aerts is a legend in his own right, but we saw how Ernesto dominated top level competition, the likes of crocop. He's the guy your trainer tells you be scared about, who practices the same deadly comibination 1000 times a day till its perfect, and then makes fighters quit with it. Nickamed Mr Perfect for a reason! Badr Hari is a nut case but happens to be my top 5 of all time, I like fighters with that style.. Tyson, Spong, Melvin Manhoef, Hari
Aerts did well and even defeated Hoost more than a couple times, Hug with his somewhat Karate style was pretty badass in K-1 as well.
Yeah all true! Hoost beat them more times though Listen they were all great, prime athletes never shy to fight each other mutliple times over their careers even when they were all so close competitively. More than we can say for heavyweight boxing today lol, except maybe Whyte/ Joshua
dude was indeed a prodigy talent wise, the problems with him are that he went up in weight way to much and that he is trying to translate way to late.
Where you guys all following MMA back when Aerts and Hoost were prime way back in the 90's/early 2000's, or did you come to the sport a little later?
Yeah, I watched K-1. Hell I miss K-1. Boxing has always been my favorite combat sport but there is no event in combat sports as fun and exciting as the K-1 GP. Check Fujimoto if you haven't heard of him....you probably should have given he's ranked now, but either way good K-1 fighters those guys.
