Kevin Rosier

Kevin Rosier (January 6, 1962 – April 14, 2015) was an American kickboxer, boxer and mixed martial artist. He had much success as a kickboxer, winning a number of titles, but did not transition particularly well into the world of boxing and was mostly seen as a journeyman fighter. Notably, he also took part at the inaugural Ultimate Fighting Championship event in 1993 where he reached the semi-finals.

Career

Rosier spent the majority of his fighting career in kickboxing where he held a record of 66 wins, all by knockout, and 8 losses. He was also the 3x WKA World Super Heavyweight Champion and ISKA North American Super Heavyweight Champion.^[1] His kickboxing career began in the 1980s and his last bout came in 1999 when he lost to Mike Labree in a fight for the vacant IKF International Kickboxing Federation Pro Full Contact Rules Super Heavyweight World Title on May 15, 1999 in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. At 26 seconds into round 10, LaBree caught Rosier with a short left to the head and Rosier went down to his knees and the bout was stopped. .^[2]

He also had a 12-year career as a professional boxer in which he held a 7-17 record. He fought between 1989 and 2001 and came up against a number of high-profile opponents including Josué Blocus, Roman Bugaj, Tye Fields, Vincent Maddalone, Joe Mesi, Nikolai Valuev, Taurus Sykes and Paea Wolfgramm.

In 1993, with only 5 weeks notice Rosier elicited the help of his former student World Kickboxing Champion A.J. Verel to coach and train him for UFC 1, the very first mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. and He defeated karateka Zane Frazier by TKO in the quarterfinals when the towel was thrown in. In the semifinals, he came up against Dutch savate fighter Gerard Gordeau and lost via TKO. After this, he continued to compete in MMA and next fought at UFC 4 where he lost via submission 14 seconds into his bout with "The Ghetto Man" Joe Charles. He competed five more time in MMA, losing four and winning one, and retired with a record of 2 wins and six losses.

After retiring from competition, Kevin suffered several bouts of illness (including open-heart surgery and a nearly fatal fall while already in intensive care). As of August 2013, Kevin was in stable health & reportedly residing in a retirement resort in Nashville.

In April 2015 Rosier died of an apparent heart attack.^[3]

Titles

Kickboxing

• 1994 WKKC (World Karate and Kickboxing Council) World Superheavyweight Champion
• 1990 WKA (World Karate Association) World Superheavyweight Champion (above the waist)
• 1990 ISKA (International Sport Karate Association) North American Superheavyweight Champion
• 3X WKA (World Kickboxing Association) World Superheavyweight Champion
• 1989 All-Japan World Champion
• 1987 United States Kung-Fu Karate National No-Rules Tournament Champion

Fight record

Mixed martial arts record

Professional boxing record

7 Wins (6 knockouts, 1 decision, 0 disqualification), 17 Losses, 0 Draws, 0 No Contests
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	7-17	Carlton Johnson	UD	6 (6), 3:00	01/12/2001	Chester, West Virginia, US
Loss	7-16	Josué Blocus	TKO	1 (?), N/A	09/12/2000	Villeurbanne, France
Loss	7-15	Tye Fields	TKO	1 (4), 1:37	28/04/2000	Mashantucket, Connecticut, US
Loss	7-14	Keith Govan	UD	4 (4), 3:00	06/04/2000	Worley, Idaho, US
Loss	7-13	Vinny Maddalone	PTS	6 (6), 3:00	14/03/2000	Yonkers, New York, US
Loss	7-12	Roman Bugaj	UD	4 (4), 3:00	02/03/2000	Rosemont, Illinois, US
Loss	7-11	Taurus Sykes	PTS	4 (4), 3:00	24/02/2000	New York, New York, US
Loss	7-10	Shannon Miller	UD	4 (4), 3:00	19/11/1999	Verona, New York, US
Loss	7-9	Brian Hollins	UD	4 (4), 3:00	17/09/1999	Buffalo, New York, US
Loss	7-8	Derrick Brown	PTS	4 (4), 3:00	11/06/1999	Verona, New York, US
Loss	7-7	Bradley Rone	PTS	4 (4), 3:00	03/09/1999	Mount Pleasant, Michigan, US
Win	7-6	Dave Slaughter	TKO	4 (6), 2:56	29/01/1999	Tampa, Florida, US
Win	6-6	Ed Gissendanner	TKO	1 (6), 1:55	27/11/1998	Tampa, Florida, US
Win	5-6	Tony Velasco	UD	8 (8), 3:00	30/10/1998	Tampa, Florida, US
Loss	4-6	Joe Mesi	TKO	2 (4), N/A	26/07/1998	Verona, New York, US
Loss	4-5	Paea Wolfgramm	TKO	1 (6), 1:12	16/01/1998	Atlantic City, New Jersey, US
Loss	4-4	Nikolai Valuev	KO	1 (?), N/A	27/09/1997	Moscow, Russia
Win	4-3	Christer Markusas	TKO	2 (?), N/A	06/09/1997	Atlantic City, New Jersey, US
Win	3-3	Jim Ellis	TKO	2 (?), N/A	27/08/1994	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, US
Win	2-3	Lee Moore	TKO	3 (?), N/A	12/11/1990	Baton Rouge, Louisiana, US
Loss	1-3	David Dixon	TKO	1 (?), N/A	07/04/1990	Las Vegas, Nevada, US
Win	1-2	John Elacqua	TKO	2 (?), N/A	0/03/1989	Laughlin, Nevada, US
Loss	0-2	Curtis Jackson	PTS	4 (4), N/A	28/02/1989	Inglewood, California, US
Loss	0-1	Andrew Matthews	TKO	1 (?), N/A	14/01/1989	Las Vegas, Nevada, US

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Kevin Rosier from BoxRec
• Kevin Rosier at the Internet Movie Database
• Professional MMA record for Kevin Rosier from Sherdog
• Kevin Rosier on UFC.com
• Kevin Rosier — retired MMA fighter and bodyguard