Danyo Ilunga

Danyo Ilunga
Born January 31, 1987
Kinshasa, Zaire
Other names Dibuba
Nationality Democratic Republic of the Congo Congolese
Germany German
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight 94.9 kg (209 lb; 14.94 st)
Division Heavyweight
Reach 79 in (200 cm)
Style Kickboxing, Muay Thai
Stance Orthodox
Fighting out of Waldbröl, Germany
Team Fighting Gym Waldbröl
Trainer Asmir Burgic
Remy Bonjasky
Kickboxing record
Total 54
Wins 49
By knockout 40
Losses 5
last updated on: April 12, 2014

Danyo "Dibuba" Ilunga (born January 31, 1987) is a Congolese-German Muay Thai kickboxer currently competing in GLORY's Heavyweight division. Ilunga is a four-time Kickboxing and Muay Thai World Champion - most notably being the former It's Showtime 95MAX World Champion.

As of 22 June 2014, Ilunga is ranked the #1 light heavyweight in the world by GLORY[1] and #3 by LiverKick.com.[2]

Background

Ilunga was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo as one of seven children. The son of a prominent politician and the grandson of a local chief, the family had to flee due to the recurring conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, resettling in Germany. A fan of martial arts films starring actors such as Jean-Claude Van Damme and Jackie Chan, Ilunga's main motivation to compete in kickboxing was watching the legendary Remy Bonjasky's fights. In 2007 at the age of 19, Ilunga took up kickboxing under the tutelage of K-1 Germany 2003 Champion and now trainer, Asmir Burgic.[3] Ilunga would go on to train with Bojansky himself. Ilunga's father, who later became a pastor, did not initially approve of Ilunga's career path, but his viewpoint switched after seeing his son win multiple titles and have a wealth of success in the sport.

Kickboxing career

After winning several domestic titles Ilunga entered the four man "1-King" Muay Thai Tournament in Bamberg, defeating both of his opponents on the night by stoppage to claim the Super Heavyweight Championship.[4] He followed up this victory the next year by claiming the vacant W.K.A. European Championship by defeating Tomi Colic, a late replacement for original opponent Roland Dabinovci, in what was a competitive fight.[5]

By the end of 2009, Ilunga won his first world title beating Jochen Gieb by TKO in the third to claim the I.M.C. belt.[6] He then followed his trainer and mentor Asmir Burgic by winning the German King Cup later that year (Burgic had won the previous edition)[7] and retained his I.M.C. world title later that year by easily stopping his Turkish opponent in the first round.[8] After an extensive winning streak on the local scene, beating fighters such as Karl Glischynski, Danyo lost his first match in a while, dropping a decision to the Dutch based Angolan Henriques Zowa. Unused to defeat, Danyo had a chance to make up for this setback in Leverkusen facing previous foe Karl Glischynski for the I.K.B.O. world title recently vacated by Florian Ogunade.[9] Danyo won the rematch in spectacular fashion, stopping Glischynski in the second with a knee/punch combination to become the new world champion.[10]

In 2011 Danyo, who had recently been training with x3 time K-1 world champion Remy Bonjasky, was called up to make his It's Showtime debut against Wendell Roche for the vacant 95MAX world title recently held by Tyrone Spong.[11] Coming in to the fight relatively unheard of outside of Germany, Danyo outworked It's Showtime regular Wendell Roche over five rounds, scoring well with counterattacks to frustrate Roche and gain the unanimous decision victory and the It's Showtime world title belt.[12]

He faced Ali Cenik at Glory 2: Brussels on October 6, 2012 in Brussels, Belgium and won via unanimous decision.[13][14]

He beat Florian Ogunade bt TKO in round three at the Get in the Ring event in Hamburg, Germany on November 3, 2012.[15][16]

He KO'd Stephane Susperregui with a second round flying knee at Glory 5: London on March 23, 2013 in London, England.[17][18][19]

He went into the Glory 9: New York - 2013 95kg Slam in New York City on June 22, 2013 as the #1 ranked 95 kg fighter in Glory's internal rankings.[20][21] Ilunga took a wide unanimous decision over Mourad Bouzidi in the quarter-finals before going up against Dustin Jacoby in the semis. The American rookie put up a good fight in round one but Ilunga pulled away in the last two rounds with his low kicks. A highly anticipated match with Tyrone Spong 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.[22][23][24] 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.[25][26]

Ilunga defeated Michael Duut by first round TKO at Glory 11: Chicago - Heavyweight World Championship Tournament in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, US on October 12, 2013.[27][28][29]

He knocked out Andrei Stoica in the first round of the tournament reserve bout at GLORY 15 - Light Heavyweight World Championship Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey on April 12, 2014. The two had spirited exchanges in the first round. Ilunga was consistent with his piercing knees to Stoica, who countered them well with his right hand. Both men were successful and landed hard shots. Stoica thought that he had an advantage on a particular combination but just grazed Ilunga with a hook instead of landing clean. This allowed Ilunga to get underneath it and come back with a huge counter right hand that floored and took Stoica out, who didn't have his feet beneath him to answer the ten count.[30][31][32]

In February 2015 Ilunga signed for Croatia's Final Fight Championship promotion. [33]

Titles

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing Record

Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw/No contest       Notes

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Fighters Rankings".
  2. ↑ "LiverKick - LiverKick".
  3. ↑ "Über mich (Early Career/Biography - German Language)". www.danyoilunga.com. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
  4. ↑ "The Champions Club - TCC 2, Germany". www.the-championsclub.com. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
  5. ↑ "Danyo Ilunga wird neuer Europameister im K1 (WKA) (Scroll down to June 2009 - In German)". www.the-championsclub.com. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
  6. ↑ "DANYO ILUNGA IS THE NEW IMC HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION". www.imc-muaythai.com. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
  7. ↑ "ROSTOCKER FIGHTNIGHT am 16.04.2011 in Rostock". www.germankingcup.de. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
  8. ↑ "IMC WORLD TITLE FIGHT". www.imc-muaythai.com. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
  9. ↑ "Ilunga vs. Glischynski II . Thai/Kickboxen . GroundandPound (In German)". www.groundandpound.de. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
  10. ↑ "Ilunga ist IKBO Worldchampion - Waldbröl - Extra-Blatt Siegburg (In German)". www.extra-blatt.de. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
  11. ↑ "Wendell Roache gets world title fight". teamredragonz.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
  12. ↑ "It's Showtime 46: Danyo Ilunga Frustrates Wendell Roche to Win the ...". liverkick.com. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
  13. ↑ Dave Walsh. "LiverKick - LiverKick".
  14. ↑ Dave Walsh. "LiverKick - LiverKick".
  15. ↑ Dave Walsh. "LiverKick - LiverKick".
  16. ↑ Dave Walsh. "LiverKick - LiverKick".
  17. ↑ Dave Walsh. "LiverKick - LiverKick".
  18. ↑ Dave Walsh. "LiverKick - LiverKick".
  19. ↑ "Results and Recap: Glory 5 ~ Muay Thai Authority".
  20. ↑ Dave Walsh. "LiverKick - LiverKick".
  21. ↑ Dave Walsh. "LiverKick - LiverKick".
  22. ↑ "Glory 9 Results and Recap: Tyrone Spong Wins Light Heavyweight Tournament ~ Muay Thai Authority".
  23. ↑ "GLORY 9 Results and Review: Tyrone Spong Wins Light Heavyweight Tournament, Ghita Dominates Guidon". FSA - FightSport Asia.
  24. ↑ Dave Walsh. "LiverKick - LiverKick".
  25. ↑ Michael Stets. "Tyrone Spong Wins Glory 9 Light Heavyweight Slam with 16-Second TKO in Final". Bleacher Report.
  26. ↑ Dave Walsh. "LiverKick - LiverKick".
  27. ↑ "News - THREE NEW FIGHTS CONFIRMED FOR GLORY 11 CHICAGO".
  28. ↑ Dave Walsh. "LiverKick - LiverKick".
  29. ↑ "Glory 11 Results and Recap ~ Muay Thai Authority".
  30. ↑ "Glory 15 Results and Recap ~ Muay Thai Authority".
  31. ↑ "GLORY 15 Results/Pictures: Saki wins title, Spong suffers horrific leg injury". FSA - FightSport Asia.
  32. ↑ "Gokhan Saki Wins Title, Tyrone Spong Suffers Gruesome Leg Injury at Glory 15". Sherdog.
  33. ↑ Danyo Ilunga Signs with FFC
  34. ↑ LANDA NEPĚL – ÚPĚL, VZDOROVAL FINOVI CHLAPSKY: PRAŽSKÝ RING MĚL THAIBOXERSKÉ HODY, HUTNÍK SI PROŽIL K. O., ŽÁK SUKCES S El-GAOUIM, HRON TRIUMFOVAL(Czech)

External links