The New Mecca of Kickboxing in Europe

In 2003, Northern Ireland was established as the Mecca of Kickboxing in Europe – and Belfast hero Gary Hamilton was the sport’s biggest star.
During the year, there were thrills with world titles, tears as one of the biggest names in the sport called it a day and excitement as a TV audience of millions tuned in live to watch kickboxing from Belfast.
A sport that for many years had been seen as the poor cousin to conventional boxing became one of the fastest growing participation sports in the Province, thanks in a large part to the ProKick Gym group - home of world champions featherweight Gary Hamilton and welterweight Gary Noade.
An early summer kickboxing highlight came on June 7 when sports network Eurosport broadcast the Kickboxing Mania VI show live from Belfast’s Ulster Hall. It was a watershed moment. Over 50 countries tuned in, commentary was translated into 19 languages and the event brought the network their highest ever viewing figures for a live Saturday night show.
“It was a fantastic night,” said Billy Murray, the man behind the ProKick empire and also responsible for Kickboxing’s explosive growth. “Eurosport had broadcast 24 hours of Irish kickboxing in the months leading up to Mania VI, which is in itself a record for a minority sport. But that show firmly established Belfast as Europe’s Kickboxing Mecca. We had Gary Hamilton on that card defending his world title showing why he is the most formidable talent in the sport. Just as importantly we had backing from sporting and local government agencies like Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Events Company. For 20 years, we had fought to be taken seriously as a sport, now we are in the box-seat.”
Membership in ProKick Gyms grew throughout the year. There are now over 3,000 members across 15 clubs Province-wide. Films such as ‘The Matrix’ and Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill’ had a positive effect, turning people onto the martial arts. But it was ProKick’s growing profile that did the most work.
As the year reached it’s climax, it became impossible to open a newspaper or turn on the TV without stumbling upon new kickboxing news – remember the pictures with pneumatic pin-up Jordan or more recently the naked kickboxers who tried to bring some festive cheer wearing little more than a cheeky smile.
Just before Christmas came the Kickmas Box, a sold-out show at the Ulster Hall – Ulster’s former home of boxing unquestionably became the home of Kickboxing in 2003. It saw Downpatrick’s great warrior Gary Noade go down in a blaze of glory in a heart-stopping bout with young turk Wilson Snoddy. It was Noade’s last fight and it will live long in the memory. Hamilton also positioned himself for a crack at a world title unification bout with a peerless display over hardy scot Willie Chapell.
“2003 was unquestionably the best year the sport has had,” said Murray. “We were everywhere – our fighters were travelling around the world, taking on the best and winning. We were in Las Vegas, Barcelona, Geneva, Paris, the Algarve, Rostok in Germany and Bergen in Norway. Numbers of people turning to kickboxing as a way of getting fit have gone through the roof. Our classes are jam packed and its marvellous to see.”
And what for 2004?
“Onwards and upwards, of course,” said Murray. “It’s great to see our fighters competing with the best in the world, but it’s the people who come every week, not to build a competitive career, but to get fit, to lose weight, to have fun in kickboxing that make the sport. And we will continue to help the grass-roots grow.”

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