Daniel Ghita
Encyclopedia
Daniel Ghiţă is a Romanian super heavyweight
Super heavyweight
In amateur boxing, the super heavyweight division is a weight class division for fighters weighing in excess of 91 kilograms . Introduced for the 1984 Summer Olympics, the division, despite its grandiose name, is merely the amateur equivalent of the professional heavyweight division...

 kickboxer. He is a former WKN
World Kickboxing Network
The World Kickboxing Network is a professional kick boxing and thai boxing organization and is one of the largest professional sanctioning organizations in the world, represented in more than 100 countries....

 European Muaythai champion, currently competing in the K-1
K-1
K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...

, It's Showtime
It's Showtime
It's Showtime is a kickboxing and mixed martial arts promotion based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was founded by Simon Rutz in 1998 and held its first show in 1999. They are known to cross promote their events with K-1 and other European promotions from Italy, Belgium and England...

 and Local Kombat
Local Kombat
Local Kombat is a kickboxing and mixed martial arts promotion based in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded by Eduard Irimia in 2003 and held its first show in the same year...

 promotions. He made his K-1
K-1
K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...

 debut at K-1 Fighting Network Romania 2007 against Nobu Hayashi.

Aside from kickboxing, from 2001 to 2008, Ghiţă was a secret service
Secret service
A secret service describes a government agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For instance, a country may establish a secret service which has some...

 (SPP
Serviciul de Protectie si Paza
Protection and Guard Service is an institution of the Romanian state. It operates in the domain of national security and it is specialized in protecting the Romanian officials, the foreign officials during their stay in Romania, and their families, according to the law...

) agent assigned to protect the Romanian President.

Personal life

Ghiţă has a kid with his current girlfriend but he is not married. He stated he would like to marry her and would quit fighting to pursue a more normal family life. He went on to say that he would retire if he did not end up the victory of the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final
K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final
K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final was a martial arts event that was held by the K-1 on Saturday, December 11, 2010. It was the 18th K-1 World GP Final, the culmination of a year full of regional elimination tournaments...

. However, he was persuaded to continue fighting by his trainer, Anil Dubar. He is thankful for this, along with kickboxing fans the world over, as he has continued to improve his fighting abilities and has become widely regarded as one of the top five Superheavyweight
Super heavyweight
In amateur boxing, the super heavyweight division is a weight class division for fighters weighing in excess of 91 kilograms . Introduced for the 1984 Summer Olympics, the division, despite its grandiose name, is merely the amateur equivalent of the professional heavyweight division...

 kickboxing fighters in the world. Ghiţă has also stated that as soon as he wins a K-1 World Grand Prix Final, he will retire. His mother gave an interview where she stated that he was a very naughty child growing up, and she had to punish him extensively. Ghiţă has also had a longstanding rivalry with fellow Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

n fighter Cătălin Moroşanu
Catalin Morosanu
Cătălin Moroşanu is a Romanian heavyweight kickboxer, who fights out of the Respect Gym București. He has competed in the Local Kombat, SuperKombat and K-1 promotions and holds notable victories over Gary Goodridge, Freddy Kemayo, Mighty Mo and Stefan Leko. Moroşanu is known for his wild, brawling...

. After winning the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Tokyo Final 16 Qualifying GP in Tokyo, he declared that he is the best fighter in the entire country of Romania. Moroşanu said he does not agree, and that he could beat Ghiţă easily. Daniel Ghiţă then said that he is not interested in having a match with Moroşanu, saying : "Moroşanu is not on my level!"

Biography and career

"The Savage Samurai" made his debut in the World Muay Thai Championships in 1999 in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

. Daniel won all his matches by knockout before the semifinal, where he lost against Alexey Ignashov
Alexey Ignashov
Alexey "The Red Scorpion" Ignashov is a Belarusian Super Heavyweight kickboxer. He is a four-time Muay Thai World champion, K-1 World GP 2003 in Paris and K-1 World GP 2001 in Nagoya tournament champion...

 by one round (the only match the Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

ian won by decision and not KO).

Ghiţă's career continued with outstanding performances: European Muay Thai champion in Germany in 2000, bronze medal at the World Muay Thai Championships in Thailand in 2001 and European Muay Thai runner-up in Portugal in 2002. In 2003, he recorded the fastest KO at the World Muay Thai Championships in Thailand, 30 seconds against an Australian fighter.

In 2004, Ghiţă entered the Local Kombat
Local Kombat
Local Kombat is a kickboxing and mixed martial arts promotion based in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded by Eduard Irimia in 2003 and held its first show in the same year...

 fighting circuit in Romania. His good record there gave him the opportunity to fight also in the K-1 fighting circuit
K-1
K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...

. His K-1 debut was in 2007 at K-1 Fighting Network Romania 2007 against Nobu Hayashi.

On August 11, 2009, Ghiţă broke Peter Aerts
Peter Aerts
Peter "The Dutch Lumberjack" Aerts is a Dutch super heavyweight kickboxer. He is a three-time K-1 World Grand Prix and Muay Thai World Champion. Aerts is best known for his powerful strikes and high kicks.- Biography :...

' record of fastest K-1 tournament win by defeating all three of his opponents in a total of 5 minutes and 15 seconds. Peter Aerts' record at that time was 6:43 and stood for 10 years before Ghiţă's milestone, however, Aerts' record was set at a K-1 Grand Prix Final Round, whereas Ghiţă's record was set in a qualifying GP.

In October 2010, Daniel Ghiţă became the first Romanian fighter to qualify for the K-1 World Grand Prix Final
K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final
K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final was a martial arts event that was held by the K-1 on Saturday, December 11, 2010. It was the 18th K-1 World GP Final, the culmination of a year full of regional elimination tournaments...

 in Tokyo, defeating Errol Zimmerman
Errol Zimmerman
Errol Zimmerman is a Surinamese-Curaçaoan kickboxer, fighting out of Golden Glory Gym in Breda, Netherlands. He is three time Dutch Muay Thai champion and K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Amsterdam tournament champion....

 by KO in the last qualifying tournament in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

.

At the tournament he fought Gokhan Saki
Gökhan Saki
Gökhan Saki is a Turkish-Dutch heavyweight kickboxer, fighting out of Golden Glory Gym in Breda, Netherlands...

 in the quarterfinals. He however turned up to the fight with a injury to his leg and it showed in the fight as he was unable to dictate the pace of the fight at all. He managed to get a extra round after it seemed Saki had already won. He started to get more tired in the round and lost by decision.

On March 6, 2011, Daniel Ghiţă faced the Chakuriki fighter Hesdy Gerges
Hesdy Gerges
Hesdy Gerges is a Dutch kickboxer of Egyptian descent, fighting out of the Chakuriki Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He holds the W.F.C.A. Super Heavyweight World title and It's Showtime World Title .-Biography and career:...

 and the current It's Showtime
It's Showtime
It's Showtime is a kickboxing and mixed martial arts promotion based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was founded by Simon Rutz in 1998 and held its first show in 1999. They are known to cross promote their events with K-1 and other European promotions from Italy, Belgium and England...

 Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...

 champion in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

. Ghiţă was a slight underdog as Gerges almost beat Semmy Schilt
Semmy Schilt
Semmy Schilt , also known as Sem Schilt, is a Dutch Ashihara karateka, kickboxer, mixed martial artist and four time K-1 World GP champion. He is the first and only fighter in K-1 history to win the championship three times in a row, and also shares the record with Ernesto Hoost for most GPs won,...

 the previous year and gave Badr Hari
Badr Hari
Badr "The Golden Boy" Hari is a Moroccan-Dutch super heavyweight kickboxer, fighting out of Mike's Gym in Amsterdam. He is a former K-1 Heavyweight champion and K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 finalist. As of May 2011, Hari is ranked the #2 heavyweight in the world by LiverKick.com...

 trouble in their fight. Though from the first round Ghiţă scored more effective shots, until the second round where a knee that skimmed his groin was ruled an 8 count. Ghiţă dominated the third round throughout but lost by unanimous decision. However it was only because of the wrong 8 count which, if it had not been counted, then an extra round would have been held, where many people thought Ghiţă would have won.

Ghita was scheduled to face Polish-Australian fighter Paul Slowinski
Paul Slowinski
Paul "The Sting" Slowinski is a Polish-Australian kickboxer, a four-time WMC Muay Thai World champion and two-time K-1 World GP 2006 in Auckland and K-1 World GP 2007 in Amsterdam champion...

 at the It's Showtime 2011 Lyon
It's Showtime 2011 Lyon
It's Showtime 2011 Lyon was a martial arts event promoted by the It's Showtime organization in association with Kader Marouf. The event was held at the Palais des Sports de Gerland in Lyon, France on Saturday, 14 May, 2011. It was the 48th event hosted by the organization and the first ever to be...

, but his opponent pulled out and was replaced by Fikri Ameziane. As expected the fight was one-sided for one round, with Ghita beating his opponent with ease in the first round.

Titles

  • 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Tokyo Final 16 Qualifying GP champion
  • Local Kombat
    Local Kombat
    Local Kombat is a kickboxing and mixed martial arts promotion based in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded by Eduard Irimia in 2003 and held its first show in the same year...

     Heavyweight champion
  • 2005 WKN
    World Kickboxing Network
    The World Kickboxing Network is a professional kick boxing and thai boxing organization and is one of the largest professional sanctioning organizations in the world, represented in more than 100 countries....

     European Thai-boxing Heavyweight champion
  • 2002 European Muay Thai champion in Portugal
  • 2001 IFMA World Muay Thai Championships Bronze medalist (+91 kg)
  • 2000 European Muay Thai champion in Germany

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing record

Legend:

External links

  • Profile at K-1
    K-1
    K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...

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