The Chinese fighters are coming and their mission is not just to conquer Manila, but to dominate the rest of the world.
They are also bringing good news to professional kickboxing fans.
The Wu Lin Feng Global Fighting Championship-Philippines, the first-ever professional kickboxing competition in the country, gets underway on Oct.23 at the Cove in Okada, Manila.
The highlight of the blockbuster 10-fight promotion, presented by the MSM Promotion and sanctioned by the Games and Amusements Board, will pit defending titlist Fu Gaofeng of China against Philipp Engeroff of Germany in the 75-kg main event.
“It is with great honor to introduce to local fight fans the Wu Lin Feng Global Championships-Philippines, the first-ever professional kickboxing tournament to be held here in Manila,” said MSM Promotions’ head Maynard S. Marinas during the recent Media Launch at the Cove, Manila.
Marinas said professional kickboxing competitions have become popular since 2007, drawing a worldwide audience and attracting more fighters from the United States, Germany, Iran, Thailand, Russia and New Zealand, among others.
Participants have included K1 Fighters, mixed martial arts professionals, muay thai fighters and wushu and sanda practitioners.
“In 2013, the kickboxing promotion was ranked among the top 100 most viewed satellite and cable television programs in China,” said Marinas.
The promoter also introduced some of the foreign fighters in the fight card, which will pit “China against the Rest of the World.”
Also in the blockbuster promotion are the fights between Li Ning against Kanchit Chai; Zhao Chongyang against Osman Yannis; Zhang Chuyun against Alex Wellin and Zhuo Wei against Mehrab Sanneh.
Completing the cast are Pan Jiajun against Yousef Gorgis, Hu Zheng against Dmitri Mordvinov, Zhang Lanpie against Spyro Besri, Cai Hungbin versus Tofik and Guo Wentao against Javad Bigdeli.
The GAB, headed by Chairman Abraham “Baham” Mitra, will supervise the event.