Muay Thai Kickboxing Career
In 1990, after moving to North Hollywood, California, “The Cheetah” adopted kickboxing as her sport under the instructions of Rubin Urquidez, David Krapes & Bangkok’s Master Sur Puk & Saekson Janjira of Muay Thai Academy of North Hollywood. Her Muay Thai manager was Felice Levair & her publicist was William Peele of Los Angeles, Ca. The move to kickboxing was a natural one for Gibbs who had first starting kicking at the age of 11 (and received her black belt at the age of 23) while studying martial arts under the instruction of Master Rick Berri, Nick Nichols, and her Uncle William Groce of Quiet Storm Karate Club in Chester, Pennsylvania. Additionally, Gibbs won her first World Tae Kwon Do Championship Tournament in St. Petersburg, FL, beating the 2 time returning champion from Puerto Rico.
It didn’t take long for Gibbs to burst into the kickboxing world as a fierce contender and great female warrior. She amassed a kickboxing record of 16-0-1 with 15 KO’s. Gibbs’ only draw came from an exhibition fight with a male. Her greatest accomplishment as a professional kickboxer came when she shocked the European circuit by winning the ISKA World Championship with a knockout during her fight with the heavily favored Valerie Henin in "The Battle of the Masters" PPV show. The defeat in April 1994 made Gibbs the first African American female to hold the world kickboxing championship for the International Sport Karate Association. Although Henin had previously been known as “the most dangerous woman in the world’ in the European kickboxing circles, Gibbs took claim to the name.
Read more about this topic: Fredia Gibbs
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