W.A.K.O. European Championships 1996

There were thirty-seven nations from across Europe in attendance at the 1996 W.A.K.O. European Championships in Belgrade:[2]

Full-Contact was available for both men and women at Belgrade and involved the participants trying to win the contest either by a point decision or via stoppage using both kicks and punches – more detail on the rules can be found at the W.A.K.O. website, although be aware that they may have changed slightly since 1993.[3] The men had twelve weight classes ranging from 51 kg/112.2 lbs to over 91 kg/+200.2 lbs, while the women had six weight divisions ranging from 48 kg/105.6 lbs to over 65 kg/+143 lbs. Notable gold medalists included Gary "Smiler" Turner who would go on to win several regional tournaments in K-1, Roman Bugaj who would later turn to pro boxing (and also won silver at the same event in Light-Contact) and Natascha Ragosina who would become a legend in women's boxing. Another notable medalists was Barrington Patterson who would have some success on the European MMA circuit, as well as becoming a pro-kickboxing world champion. By the end of the championships, Poland were the strongest nation in Full-Contact, winning five golds and four bronzes across both the male and female competitions.[4]

Men's Full-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Light Bantamweight -51 kg	Nurzhan Erbusinov	Alexey Kutsenko	Gabor Aburko Andrei Ivanov
Bantamweight -54 kg	Mariusz Cieśliński	Askar Mozhanov	Innokenti Makarov Bilal Mahmoud Sliman
Featherweight -57 kg	Fouad Habbani	Hidir Erdogan	Goran Vuckovic Maurycy Gojko
Lightweight -60 kg	Agadilov Bakhytzhan	James Dard	Ahmet Pepic Alexander Lebed
Light Welterweight -63.5 kg	Dosaev Gani	Youssef Latahoui	Giuseppe Lorusso Erlan Shiderbaev
Welterweight -67 kg	Arsen Khachatryan	Srdjan Elezovic	Miroslaw Karzinski Árpád Szabó
Light Middleweight -71 kg	Robert Nowak	Gerd Dittrich	Thomas Kristiansen Hatzionidis Tasos
Middleweight -75 kg	Halim El Hakimi	Vladimir Tomkovich	Dusan Plecas Ramin Abtin
Light Heavyweight -81 kg	Igor Pilipenko	Ion Slivestru	Christophe Lartizien Robert Zlotkowski
Cruiserweight -86 kg	Roman Bugaj	Bozidar Dermanovic	Kostas Athanasopoulos Timur Ioussupov
Heavyweight -91 kg	Gary Turner	Frode Holst	John Latsonas Darko Milasinovic
Super Heavyweight +91 kg	Almaz Gismeev	Roman Kracik	Barrington Patterson Askar Kokhanov

Women's Full-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Bantamweight -48 kg	Marie Laure Niviere	Sladana Nikolic	Reka Krempf Francesca Lupo
Featherweight -52 kg	Elisabette Legras	Oksana Ivasiva	Hülya Şahin Michela Barnini
Lightweight -56 kg	Iwona Guzowska	Bea Gulyas	Silvia Bratina Galyna Guenliyska
Middleweight -60 kg	Anna Kasprzqak	Henriette Birkeland	Zoulfia Koutdicussova Christien Derugeiro
Light Heavyweight -65 kg	Sanja Savcic	Olga Slavinskaja	Agnieszka Rylik Margarita Platonova
Heavyweight +65 kg	Natascha Ragosina	Cristina Cerpi	Larisa Berezenko Dragana Ignijatic

Low-Kick differs from Full-Contact kickboxing in that it allows kicks below the knee - more detail on Low-Kick rules can be found at the W.A.K.O. website, although be aware that there may have been some rule changes since 1996.[5] The style was available to men only and there was twelve weight classes ranging from 51 kg/112.2 lbs to over 91 kg/+200.2 lbs. Notable winners in this category included Ivan Strugar who would go on to win multiple European and world kickboxing titles and Cengiz Koç who would also have some success as an amateur boxer. By the championships end the host nation Serbia and Montenegro were the strongest country in Low-Kick, winning two golds, one silver and four bronze medals.[6]

Men's Low-Kick Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Light Bantamweight -51 kg	Elmurat Kalypzhanov	Shanan Shadmanov	Alberto Costa Otkur Hoodoyarov
Bantamweight -54 kg	Vassili Vassilev	Mahmud Abdrahmanov	Saken Aubakirov Dimitar Peschev
Featherweight -57 kg	Sebastien Sanchez	Marat Safin	Zoltan Nagymihaly Aibek Namazbekov
Lightweight -60 kg	Alessio Pastifieri	Vassili Pavlov	Vesel Bitic Omar Akl
Light Welterweight -63.5 kg	Djanbulat Amantaev	Sergej Egorov	Evgeni Denisov Nikolai Korenev
Welterweight -67 kg	Milos Plecas	Jan Kacanovskij	Radonjic Stanislav Csaba Molnár
Light Middleweight -71 kg	Ivan Strugar	Bahyt Drozbaev	Eddy Frair Aleksei Polishuk
Middleweight -75 kg	Daniele Petroni	Csaba Gabnai	Marius Bructer Milovan Gasic
Light Heavyweight -81 kg	Radojica Vakirevic	Konstantin Shvets	Serej Kanunnikov Milan Hrsum
Cruiserweight -86 kg	Igor Skevel	Zoran Pekovski	Thierry Louison Dimitrj Krotov
Heavyweight -91 kg	Ion Georgiu	Resul Doğan	Vesko Cejovic Fanil Durdanov
Super Heavyweight +91 kg	Cengiz Koç	Mirko Vlahović	Arman Ahashev Mouloud Houdbert

Semi-Contact is a form of kickboxing in which fights were won by points given due to technique, skill and speed, with physical force limited - more information on Semi-Contact can be found on the W.A.K.O. website, although the rules will have changed since 1996.[7] Men and women both took part with the men having eight weight divisions ranging from 57 kg/125.4 lbs to over 89 kg/+195.8 lbs and the women having five ranging from 50 kg/110 lbs to over 65 kg/143 lbs. By the end of the championships Italy was the most successful nation overall in Semi-Contact, winning four golds, one silver and four bronze medals.[8]

Men's Semi-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
-57 kg	Dezső Debreczeni	Hasan Aslan	Rafal Kaluzny Giampaolo Calajò
-63 kg	Martin Kilgus	Hasan Cataltas	Andrei Kassianenko James Boylan
-69 kg	Elrik Gundersen	Danny Harrison	István Tóth Marco Ferrarese
-74 kg	Peter Moltner	Lajos Hugyetz	Gribl Svenko Miroslav Topic
-79 kg	Peter Edwards	Peter Csikos	Christian Patterer Roland Conar
-84 kg	Emanuele Bozzolani	Zoltan Szucs	Clifton Findley Josef Ebner
-89 kg	Zsolt Molnar	Daough Geogleger	Giuseppe Fracaroli Michael Kruckenhauser
+89 kg	Marco Culiersi	Josef Patterer	Andreas Knab Nikolai Morozov

Women's Semi-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
-50 kg	Renate Sandland	Erna Obralic	Stefani Zimmermann Semra Cetintas
-55 kg	Alessandra Catalano	Jana Moravoova	Rita Pesuth Gonca Bagci
-60 kg	Ann-May Viksund	Miriam Diller	Beata Gulyas Marina Pappalardo
-65 kg	Ivana Derdic	Sallie McKirdle	Anja Binder Anita Madsen
+65 kg	Line Nilsen	Elisabetta Degani	Nicola Corbett Gerlinde Melch

More physical than Semi-Contact but less so than Full-Contact with points awarded and fights won on the basis of speed and technique over power, Light-Contact is seen as a transition stage for fighters who were considering a move from Semi to Full-Contact. More information on Light-Contact rules can be found of the W.A.K.O. website, although be aware that the rules may have changed since 1996.[9] Similar to Semi-Contact the men had eight weight divisions ranging from 57 kg/125.4 lbs to over 89 kg/+195.8 lbs while the women had five ranging from 50 kg/110 lbs to over 65 kg/143 lbs. There were a couple of notable medalists with kickboxing and taekwon-do champion Tomaž Barada winning gold, and future E.B.U. boxing champion Rafał Jackiewicz gaining a bronze. Poland were the strongest country in Light-Contact at the end of the championships, winning three golds, six silvers and two bronzes across the male and female events.[10]

Men's Light-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
-57 kg	Maurycy Goiko	Fouad Habanni	Hidir Erdigan Martin McMahon
-63 kg	Tomaž Barada	Marco Seifert	Jaroslaw Madziar Rocco Cipriano
-69 kg	István Tóth	Marco Fuselli	Rafał Jackiewicz Imed Mathlouti
-74 kg	Lajos Hugyetz	Robert Nowak	Paul Lynch Ivo Bachor
-79 kg	Herman Muehlheim	Robert Zlotkowski	Alessandro Assiro Dirk Mell
-84 kg	Martin Wilkinson	Bartolomeo Bonvino	Zoltan Szucs Emmanuel Mendy
-89 kg	Carlos Caneschi	Roman Bugaj	Anders Gustavsson Carsten Tipelmann
+89 kg	Alex Melcher	Woijci Szczerbinski	Michael Krukenhauser David Souchard

Women's Light-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
-50 kg	Daria Chichkina	Najda Trebse	Ildiko Kocs Giovanna Neglia
-55 kg	Iwona Guzowska	Elisabeth Legras	Rita Pesuth Marzia Davide
-60 kg	Beata Gulyas	Anna Kasprzak	Deline Horlaville Tina Casey
-65 kg	Agnieszka Rylik	Sallie McKirdle	Emanuela Amisani Ivana Derdic
+65 kg	Denise Bailey	Katarzyn Balcerzak	Isabella Orlando Silvia Steinke

• List of WAKO Amateur European Championships
• List of WAKO Amateur World Championships
• List of male kickboxers
• List of female kickboxers

• WAKO World Association of Kickboxing Organizations Official Site