In combat sports, when you hear of two particular fighters names in the same sentence, it instantly grabs your attention. That is what recently has happened in kickboxing when the huge fight between Lee Whitfield and Louis King was announced. Louis KO King is returning to the ring to take on the British kickboxing champion Lee Whitfield. Whitfield will be defending his British title belt on the MTGP promotion at the O2 in London on the 10th July.

Both fighters have outstanding fight records and this fight is not to be missed. It is a great match up as they are both extremely talented, but with very different styles. Whitfield is a highly experienced all round great fighter. He is very technical, powerful and agile with his K1 style skills. Lee isn’t going to make it easy for King to take the title. During lockdown Whitfield has been focusing on his strength and condition and has been training with some of the best sparring partners in his career to prepare for this fight. Whitfield said “I can only see this being an exciting clash that won’t go the distance.”

King, who is not named KO King for nothing, has earned his name on some of the biggest promotions in both MMA and kickboxing for being a ferocious hitter. King, who had a long fighting career is coming out of retirement to challenge Whitfield for the British Title. He said “The fans can expect the best version of me yet. I’m fitter, stronger and hungrier than ever. One thing they can expect is a great fight.”

This is a fantastic fight which we don’t favour either one of the fighters, as they are both great guys. We have got to know King and watch him fight for around 10 years, as he was signed to a MMA management company who we had partnered with.

Whitfield owns his own kickboxing club Bai Lang in Telford and has recently gave Daniel some pointers to teach children kickboxing in a fun way for his new kickboxing classes in Brighton. We caught up with Lee to ask him a few questions about his martial arts journey and his latest fight.

Hi Lee,

How did you get into kickboxing?

Lee: I started kickboxing when around 7 years old. Although I remember very little about it, I was meant to have been bullied by the older kids in my school so my parents were keen for me to start

What made you want to own your own kickboxing club?

Lee: I didn’t actually think about owning my own club. It was an idea of my dads. I liked the idea and jumped straight into a large full time centre teaching 30+ classes a week at 19!

What is it you love most about kickboxing?

Lee: I love the amount of life skills instilled and changes it can make to a person. It’s a tough sport and you can’t help but get a tough competitive mindset from it to apply in real life.

What is your biggest achievement to date?

Lee: I don’t think I could list my biggest achievement! I guess running my club and getting it to where it is. Although a Pro European Kickboxing belt, Pro British K1 belt, a 5th Dan black belt, representing GB and a Hall of Fame award are some of the things along the way achieved, although not finished yet.

You have a huge fight lined up with Louis King next month. How are you preparing for it?

Lee: Yes, very big test. He is a bigger hitter and experienced. I’ve increased my strength massively, skill set has improved even more despite already confident with it, and had some solid sparring partners. I’ve been consistent too with it all.

You have recently launched a new line of kickboxing apparel, Inspired, can you tell us more about that and how it started?

Lee: Yeh, INSPIRED. I was reminiscing over old footage of one of my idols Prince Naseem. I thought it would be cool to have a kickboxing shorts design similar to his leopard print ones. Idea grew from there with 8 designs released so far. I am inspired massively by different people and love merchandise of said people. So i thought kickboxing shorts that had more meaning to the design would be awesome.

Thank you for your time Lee.

The fight between Whitfield and King is on 10th July at the Indigo at the 02. Tickets are available now, so hurry as this is a fight not to be missed.

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