Tyrone Spong

Tyrone Spong
Born	Tyrone Clinton Spong (1985-09-03) September 3, 1985 Paramaribo, Suriname
Other names	King of the Ring
Nationality	Surinamese Dutch
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	106 kg (234 lb; 16 st 10 lb)
Division	Super Heavyweight Heavyweight Light heavyweight Cruiserweight Middleweight
Reach	74.5 in (189 cm)
Style	Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Boxing
Stance	Orthodox
Fighting out of	Boca Raton, Florida, United States
Team	Team Mr. Perfect Fighting Factory Carbin Mundo Boxing Blackzilians
Trainer	Ernesto Hoost Lucien Carbin Henri Hooft
Years active	2001 - 2014 (Kickboxing) 2012 - 2013 (MMA) 2015 - present (Boxing)
Professional boxing record
Total	12
Wins	12
By knockout	12
Losses	0
Kickboxing record
Total	83
Wins	74
By knockout	46
Losses	7
By knockout	4
Draws	1
No contests	1
Mixed martial arts record
Total	2
Wins	2
By knockout	1
By decision	1
Losses	0
Other information
Website	http://www.tyrone-spong.nl
Boxing record from BoxRec
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
last updated on: April 12, 2014

Tyrone Clinton Spong (born September 3, 1985) is a Surinamese-Dutch professional boxer and former kickboxer and mixed martial artist. He is the former WFCA Cruiserweight champion, former Glory 95kg Slam Champion and It's Showtime 95MAX World champion. Spong fights out of the Fighting Factory Carbin in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Early life

Tyrone Spong was born in Suriname. In 1990 at the age of 5, he moved to the Netherlands with his family. Growing up in the Bijlmermeer, he was often involved in street fighting and began training in kickboxing at thirteen when he found a gym by coincidence. After getting his "ass whooped" in his first day of training, he was motivated to improve. He had his first match at fifteen and won by first-round knockout.^[1] Some of his early sparring partners included Alistair and Valentijn Overeem, and Gilbert Yvel.^[2]

Kickboxing career

In 2003, his first year as a pro, he made his mark winning 12 fights that year. In 2004, he fought against Rafi Zouheir at the Battle of Zaandam and won his first European Muay Thai Title (World Kickboxing Network). In 2004 Spong also visited Japan to compete in Shootboxing where he lost to Ryuji Goto. Goto suplexed him in the final seconds of the fight to earn a well-received unanimous decision. His next fight in April 2005, was against Belgian Mohammed Ouali for another European Title (WPKL). Spong won the fight by unanimous decision.

In December, 2005 at the A-1 Combat Cup in Duisburg, after three consecutive KO's in one night, Tyrone Spong won his first tournament Championship.

In 2006, Spong had two his biggest victories of his young career, KO wins over Muay Thai veteran Joerie Mes and two weeks later knocking out K-1 superstar Kaoklai Kaennorsing from Thailand in a first round.

In 2007, Spong won the SLAMM world title up to 79kg by defeating the Thai Yodchai Wor Petchpun via TKO in the first round, and in the following match he defeated the Belarusian Dmitry Shakuta.

On January 26, 2008, Spong won the World Full Contact Association (WFCA) World Thaiboxing Cruiserweight Championship by defeating Aurelien Duarte. Following this, he won the KO World Series 2008 by defeating Nikos Sokolis via knockout in the first round, and defended his WFCA Muay Thai title by finishing Ondrej Hutnik with a left liver punch in the second round. On April 26, 2008, Spong faced Azem Maksutaj at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Amsterdam, and won by knockout in the second round. He then defeated Gary Turner via TKO in the first round. On November 29, 2008, he became the first It's Showtime 95MAX World champion after beating Zabit Samedov by unanimous decision.

On March 28, 2009, Spong participated in the first ever K-1 Heavyweight (-100 kg) Title tournament, held in Yokohama, Japan. He was beaten by Gokhan Saki in semifinals by right hook KO of the extra round.^[3]

Spong finally met rival Nathan Corbett at Champions of Champions II on June 27, 2009, in what was widely considered a battle between the two best Muay Thai fighters in the world at their weight class for the W.M.C. world title -93 kg. The fight was a close affair with Spong knocking Corbett down on the second round only for it to end with a controversial decision. In the third round Corbett managed to knock Spong out with a huge right hook causing the referee to stop the fight. However, due to the referee's misleading hand signals, Corbett rushed back in to knock Spong down once more, not sure that the fight had been stopped. After considerable confusion the fight was declared a no contest instead of a Corbett KO win.

After defeating the Worlds heavyweight champion, Kyotaro on December 5, 2009, he fought Jerome Le Banner in April 2010. Similar to the Nathan Corbett fight Spong broke his right hand in the first round and was knocked down. Despite coming back strongly he lost by decision. At the end of the year he qualified for the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final, defeating veteran Ray Sefo in an elimination match, only to lose to eventual winner Alistair Overeem at the quarter final stage in what was a more competitive fight than most initial thought - as Overeem was much the bigger fighter. At the start of 2011, Spong had to vacate the It's Showtime 95MAX world title due to a number of issues such as not having had a title defense in the allocated two years and his management stating that he had moved up in weight to fight as a heavyweight.^[4]

He knocked out Igor Mihaljevic with a left knee in the first round at It's Showtime 2011 Lyon on May 14, 2011. He defeated Loren Javier Jorge by unanimous decision at It's Showtime Madrid 2011 on June 18, 2011.

Spong faced Melvin Manhoef at It's Showtime 2012 in Leeuwarden on January 28, 2012, and won by unanimous decision. He faced the legendary Dutchman Peter Aerts at an It's Showtime event in Brussels, Belgium on June 30, 2012, and won by knockout in the third round.

He faced Remy Bonjasky at Glory 5: London in London, England on March 23, 2013.^[5][6][7][8] Spong won via one-punch KO with a right hook in the second round.^[9][10][11]

Spong returned to 95 kg to fight in the Glory 9: New York - 2013 95kg Slam in New York City, New York, United States on June 22, 2013.^[12][13] He had a scare in the quarter-finals when he was dropped by Michael Duut immediately as their bout started, although it was not counted by the referee. Just moments after returning to his feet, he landed a crushing right hand on Duut, sending him crashing to the canvas and ensuring his passage to the semis against Filip Verlinden.^[14] It was a technical battle this time, with Spong outpointing the Belgian and taking a unanimous decision. A match with Danyo Ilunga awaited him in the final but it ended in a controversial and anticlimactic fashion. As the fight began, both fighters met in the center of the ring and Spong unloaded a flurry of punches. As Ilunga covered up and prepared to counter, referee Mufadel Elghazaoui jumped in and stopped the fight, giving Spong the TKO win at just sixteen seconds of the first round.^[15][16][17] Although, it was later revealed that there was a "no standing eight count" rule in effect at the event as per the New York State Athletic Commission's regulations, the stoppage was still deemed premature by much of the kickboxing community.^[18][19]

He twice dropped Nathan Corbett with left hooks, winning by second-round TKO in their long-awaited rematch at Glory 11: Chicago - Heavyweight World Championship Tournament in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States on October 12, 2013.^{[20][21][22][23][24]}

Competing for the inaugural Glory Light Heavyweight Championship, he fought in the Glory 15: Istanbul - Light Heavyweight World Championship Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey on April 12, 2014. After defeating Saulo Cavalari via unanimous decision in the semi-finls, he then faced Gökhan Saki in a highly anticipated rematch in the final. Midway through the opening round, Spong threw a kick to Saki's left leg. Saki checked the kick, causing Spong's lower right leg to fracture immediately and end the fight via TKO.^[25][26][27]

Spong underwent surgery to repair his broken leg and returned to training in October 2014.^[28] On 14 April 2016 he stated that he had retired from kickboxing and was looking forward to new challenges.

Mixed martial arts career

Boxing

Spong defeated Juan Carlos Salas by KO in Round 1 at Brave Warriors in Action PPV event on May 27, 2017 in Mexico.^[33] On October 7, 2017, Spong won the WBC Latino Heavyweight Championship.

Titles

Kickboxing

• 2014 Glory Light Heavyweight World Championship Tournament Runner-up
• 2013 Kickboxingplanet.com Kickboxer of the year^[34]
• 2013 Liver Kick.com Fighter of the Year^[35]
• 2013 Glory 95kg Slam Tournament Champion
• 2008 1st It's Showtime World 95MAX champion (Defense: 0)
• 2008 World Full Contact Association (W.F.C.A.) Thaiboxing World Cruiserweight champion (Defense: 1)
• 2008 KO World Series '08 Oceania winner
• 2007 1st SLAMM Events 79 kg class champion (Defense: 0)
• 2005 A1 World League winner
• 2005 W.P.K.L. European Middleweight champion (Defense: 0)
• 2004 World Kickboxing Network (W.K.N.) Thaiboxing European Middleweight champion (Defense: 0)
• M.T.B.N. Muay Thai Dutch Junior class -66 kg class champion (Defense: 0)

Boxing

• 2017 WBC Latino Heavyweight Champion
• 2018 WBO Latino Heavyweight Champion

Personal life

Spong has four children.^[36] He is an avid lover of animals, as is evidenced by the majority of his tattoos. He is the owner of several pit bull terriers, which he bred himself.^[37] Spong has trained in the United States with Floyd Mayweather, Sr.^[38] He is friends with mixed martial artists Rashad Evans, Alistair Overeem, Muhammed Lawal and Rodney Glunder. He has helped all of them prepare for some of their fights.^[39] Spong trains his physical conditioning at the ReAT Sports athletic performance facility in Amsterdam, under the Strength & Conditioning specialist Rayen Bindraban.^[40] He has also been decorated with the Honorary Order of the Yellow Star the highest order of Suriname by President Dési Bouterse.

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
12	Win	12–0	Santander Silgado	KO	1 (10)	31 Aug 2018	Convention Center, West Palm Beach
11	Win	11–0	Carlos Nascimento	KO	5 (10), 1.53	24 Feb 2018	Domo Unidad Deportiva del F.U.T.V., Merida, Yucatán, Mexico	Retained WBC Latino heavyweight title. Won WBO Latino heavyweight title.
10	Win	10–0	Sergio Ramirez	KO	1 (8)	07 Oct 2017	Domo Unidad Deportiva del F.U.T.V., Merida, Yucatán, Mexico	Won WBC Latino heavyweight title.
9	Win	9–0	Juan Carlos Salas	KO	1 (6), 1:44	27 May 2017	Polyforum Zam Ná, Merida, Yucatán, Mexico
8	Win	8–0	Jose Felix	TKO	1 (8), 1:34	18 Apr 2017	Casa de los Clubes, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
7	Win	7–0	Carlos Rodriguez	TKO	1 (8), 1:06	31 Mar 2017	Coliseo Pepe Mayen, San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic
6	Win	6–0	Hugo Leon	KO	3 (6), 0:36	04 Sep 2016	Club Deportivo Ferrocarrilero, Aguascalientes City, Aguascalientes, Mexico
5	Win	5–0	Tracey Johnson	TKO	2 (6), 1:41	06 Aug 2016	Doubletree Miamimart Hotel, Miami, Florida, United States
4	Win	4–0	Lucas Queen	KO	1 (4), 1:04	01 Apr 2016	War Memorial Auditorium , Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
3	Win	3–0	David Gogishvili	TKO	2 (4), 1:05	05 Mar 2016	Colosseum Sport Hall, Grozny, Chechnya, Russia
2	Win	2–0	Emre Altintas	TKO	1 (4), 1:54	21 Mar 2015	Unihalle Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
1	Win	1–0	Gabor Farkas	KO	1 (4), 1:14	6 Mar 2015	Bruno Gehrke Halle , Spandau, Berlin, Germany

Kickboxing record

74 Wins (47 (T)KO's, 27 decisions), 7 Losses (4 (T)KO's, 3 decisions), 1 Draw, 1 No Contest
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Location	Method	Round	Time
2014-04-12	Loss	Gökhan Saki	Glory 15: Istanbul - Light Heavyweight World Championship Tournament, Final	Istanbul, Turkey	TKO (leg fracture)	1	1:37
For the Glory Light Heavyweight Championship and the Glory Light Heavyweight World Championship Tournament.
2014-04-12	Win	Saulo Cavalari	Glory 15: Istanbul - Light Heavyweight World Championship Tournament, Semi Finals	Istanbul, Turkey	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2013-10-12	Win	Nathan Corbett	Glory 11: Chicago	Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA	TKO (left hook)	2	1:10
2013-06-22	Win	Danyo Ilunga	Glory 9: New York - 95 kg Slam Tournament, Finals	New York City, New York, USA	TKO (punches)	1	0:16
Wins the Glory 95kg Slam Tournament.
2013-06-22	Win	Filip Verlinden	Glory 9: New York - 95 kg Slam Tournament, Semi Finals	New York City, New York, USA	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2013-06-22	Win	Michael Duut	Glory 9: New York - 95 kg Slam Tournament, Quarter Finals	New York City, New York, USA	KO (right hook)	1	0:31
2013-03-23	Win	Remy Bonjasky	Glory 5: London	London, England	KO (right hook)	2	2:02
2012-06-30	Win	Peter Aerts	Music Hall & BFN Group present: It's Showtime 57 & 58	Brussels, Belgium	KO (punch)	3	2:10
2012-01-28	Win	Melvin Manhoef	It's Showtime 2012 in Leeuwarden	Amsterdam, Netherlands	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2011-06-18	Win	Loren Javier Jorge	It's Showtime Madrid 2011	Madrid, Spain	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2011-05-14	Win	Igor Mihaljevic	It's Showtime 2011 Lyon	Lyon, France	KO (left knee)	1	2:01
2010-12-11	Loss	Alistair Overeem	K-1 World GP 2010 Final, Quarter Final	Tokyo, Japan	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2010-10-02	Win	Ray Sefo	K-1 World GP 2010 Seoul Final 16	Seoul, Republic of Korea	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
Qualifies for K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final.
2010-04-03	Loss	Jerome Le Banner	K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Yokohama	Yokohama, Japan	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2009-12-05	Win	Keijiro Maeda	K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final	Yokohama, Japan	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2009-06-27	NC	Nathan Corbett	Champions of Champions II	Montego Bay, Jamaica	No contest	3	0:55
2009-05-16	Win	Attila Karacs	It's Showtime 2009 Amsterdam	Amsterdam, Netherlands	Decision (split)	3	3:00
2009-03-28	Loss	Gökhan Saki	K-1 World GP 2009 in Yokohama	Yokohama, Japan	KO (right hook)	4	1:58
2009-01-24	Win	Samir Benazzouz	Beast of the East	Zutphen, Netherlands	TKO (corner stoppage)	3	2:23
2008-11-29	Win	Zabit Samedov	It's Showtime 2008 Eindhoven	Eindhoven, Netherlands	Decision (unanimous)	5	3:00
Wins It's Showtime 95MAX World title.
2008-10-05	Win	Gary Turner	K.O. Events "Tough Is Not Enough"	Rotterdam, Netherlands	TKO (doctor stoppage)	1	1:05
2008-04-26	Win	Azem Maksutaj	K-1 World GP 2008 in Amsterdam	Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO (knee strike)	2	0:45
2008-03-15	Win	Ondrej Hutnik	It's Showtime 75MAX Trophy 2008, World Title Fight	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	KO (Left liver punch)	2	2:32
Retains title of (W.F.C.A.) World Thaiboxing Cruiserweight championship.(1)
2008-02-09	Win	Nikos Sokolis	KO World Series 2008 in Auckland	Auckland, New Zealand	KO (left liver punch)	1	2:25
Wins KO World Series 2008 in Auckland Cruiserweight world title.
2008-02-09	Win	Chad Walker	KO World Series 2008 in Auckland	Auckland, New Zealand	KO (overhand right)	1	1:08
2008-01-26	Win	Aurelien Duarte	Beast of the East	Zutphen, Netherlands	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
Wins vacant title of (W.F.C.A.) World Thaiboxing Cruiserweight (-86.18kg) title.
2007-12-24	Win	Rasmus Zoeylner	Return of the King 2	Paramaribo, Suriname	KO (strikes)	2	N/A
2007-10-27	Win	Emil Zoraj	One Night in Bangkok	Antwerp, Belgium	TKO (doctor stoppage)	4	1:02
2007-08-26	Win	Human Nikmaslak	Return of the King 1	Paramaribo, Suriname	KO (knee strike)	1	2:31
2007-06-02	Win	Dmitry Shakuta	Gentleman Fight Night IV	Tilburg, Netherlands	Decision	5	3:00
2007-05-06	Win	Yodchai Wor Petchpun	SLAMM "Nederland vs Thailand III"	Haarlem, Netherlands	TKO (referee stoppage)	1	2:38
Wins the vacant title of SLAMM World 79kg title.
2007-03-25	Loss	Amir Zeyada	Rings Gala, Vechtsenbanen	Utrecht, Netherlands	TKO (referee stoppage/punches)	3	1:49
2006-11-12	Win	Joerie Mes	Pride & Honor Ahoy 2006	Rotterdam, Netherlands	TKO (knee)	5	1:12
2006-10-01	Win	Kaoklai Kaennorsing	SLAMM "Nederland vs Thailand II"	Almere, Netherlands	KO (right punch)	1	1:55
2006-06-18	Win	Sem Braan	2H2H The Road To Tokyo	Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO (left hook)	3	1:40
2006-06-03	Win	Henry Akdeniz	Gentleman Fight Night 3	Tilburg, Netherlands	TKO (doctor stoppage)	3	3:00
2006-05-06	Win	Farid M'Laika	Gala de Kickboxing	Geneva, Switzerland	Decision (unanimous)	5	2:00
2006-04-29	Win	Cho In Jun	MARS World Fighting GP	Seoul, Korea	KO (strikes)	1	2:07
2005-12-03	Win	Senol Kiziltas	A-1 Combat League	Duisburg, Germany	TKO (knee)	2	N/A
Wins A-1 Combat League World title.
2005-12-03	Win	Senol Cetin	A-1 Combat League	Duisburg, Germany	TKO (corner stoppage)	1	N/A
2005-12-03	Win	Rene Litchko	A-1 Combat League	Duisburg, Germany	KO (right hook)	1	0:45
2005-10-09	Win	Vincent Vielvoye	Rotterdam Rumble	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Decision	5	3:00
2005-05-08	Win	Youness El Mhassani	Muay Thai Gala	Amsterdam, Netherlands	Decision	5	3:00
2005-04-09	Win	Mohammed Ouali	Muay Thai Champions League XIV	Netherlands	Decision	5	3:00
Wins title of W.P.K.L. European Middleweight(-72.5kg) championship.
2004-12-23	Win	Renato Hasset	The Night of Legend	Paramaribo, Suriname	KO (strikes)	4	N/A
2004-11-14	Win	Richard Weston	Muay Thai/Mixed Fight Gala, Sporthal Stedenwijk	Almere, Netherlands	KO (strikes)	1	N/A
2004-10-17	Win	Rafi Zoufeir	Battle in Zaandam II	Zaandam, Netherlands	TKO (low kicks)	3	N/A
Wins title of W.K.N. Thaiboxing European Middleweight (-76.2kg) championship.
2004-04-18	Loss	Ryuji Goto	Shoot　boxing: Infinity-S Vol.2	Tokyo, Japan	Decision	3	3:00
2004-03-21	Win	Hamid El Caid	Profighters Gala in Almere	Almere, Netherlands	Decision	5	3:00
2004-02-22	Win	William Diender	2H2H	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Decision (majority)	5	3:00
2003-11-12	Draw	Youness El Mhassani	Veni, Vidi, Vici II	Veenendaal, Netherlands	Draw	5	3:00
2003-11-02	Win	Xavier Gatez	Immortality	Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO (strikes)	2	N/A
2003-10-13	Win	Rocky Grandjean	2H2H in Ahoy	Netherlands	TKO (doctor stoppage)	2	N/A
2003-07-04	Win	Gregory Costina	Baas Sports	Willemstad, Curaçao	TKO (low kicks)	4	N/A
2003-05-18	Win	Melvin Rozenblad	Killerdome III	Amsterdam, Netherlands	Decision	5	3:00
Makes His A-class debut.
2003-04-19	Win	Henry Akendiz	Beast of The East	Zutphen, Netherlands	TKO (corner stoppage)	1	3:00
2003-04-13	Win	Jan van Denderen	East Side III	Gorinchem, Netherlands	Decision	5	2:00
2003-02-02	Win	Harry Lodewijks	Killerdome II	Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO (strikes)	1	N/A
2003-01-11	Win	Tarik Slimani	Dudok Arena	Hilversum, Netherlands	N/A	N/A	N/A
2002-10-27	Win	Ray Staring	Beast of The East	Arnhem, Netherlands	Decision	5	2:00
2002-05-19	Loss	Amir Zeyada	Itai-Te Promotions, Thaiboksgala Predators III	Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO (slam)	4	0:47
2002-03-08	Win	Dave van der Ploeg	Beast of The East	Zutphen, Netherlands	Decision	5	2:00
2002-03-03	Win	Olli Koch	Loasana Promotions, The Palace	Groningen, Netherlands	KO (strikes)	1	N/A
2001-09-22	Win	Werner Stoel	Champions Gym Gala in Hanenhof	Geleen, Netherlands	Decision	5	2:00
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

Mixed martial arts record

See also

• List of K-1 events
• List of It's Showtime champions
• List of male kickboxers

References

External links

• Profile at K-1
• Professional boxing record for Tyrone Spong from BoxRec
• Professional MMA record for Tyrone Spong from Sherdog