Jump to content

Curtis Bush

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Alaney2k (talk | contribs) at 16:13, 28 November 2016 (→Acting: per wp:canada canstyle and discussion, add prov., replaced: Toronto, Canada → Toronto, Ontario, Canada using AWB). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Curtis Bush
Born (1962-06-27) June 27, 1962 (age 62)
Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States
Other namesThe Explosive Thin Man
NationalityAmerican
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight69 kg (152 lb; 10.9 st)
DivisionWelterweight
Super-welterweight
Light-middleweight
Middleweight
Reach72.0 in (183 cm)
Style
StanceSouthpaw
Fighting out ofVirginia Beach, Virginia, United States
TeamNIMA Karate (1981-1988)
Karate International (1988-1995)
Bush Karate Club (1995-2003)
TrainerDavid Miller
George Kelly
Tony Ornelas
Rank3rd degree black belt in Tang Soo Do
Years active1979–1999
Professional boxing record
Total19
Wins12
By knockout10
Losses5
By knockout3
Draws2
Kickboxing record
Total56
Wins42
By knockout30
Losses10
Draws2
No contests2
Amateur record
Total17
Wins15
By knockout11
Losses2
Draws0

Curtis Bush (born June 27, 1962) is an American world champion kickboxer who competed in the welterweight, super-welterweight, light-middleweight and middleweight divisions. A tall southpaw possessing dangerous spinning back kicks and spinning back fists, Bush competed entirely under full contact rules and was a two-time Virginia state champion as an amateur before turning professional in 1983. After knocking out Robert Visitacion to become the North American welterweight champion in 1987, he went on to win five world titles in four weight classes and retired from competition in 1999.

Early life

Curtis Bush was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1962 and in 1976, at the age of thirteen, began practicing tang soo do, eventually earning his black belt after five years. He took up kickboxing at seventeen.[1]

Career

Bush with cornermen Robert Dickason and George Kelly.

Bush began competing as an amateur kickboxer in 1979 and amassed a record of 15-2 with 11 knockouts over the next four years before turning professional in 1983. The highlights of his amateur career include decision wins over Darnell Studavent for the Virginia Welterweight (-67 kg/147 lb) title and Alphonzo Claiborne for the Virginia Super Welterweight (-70 kg/154 lb) belt in 1981 and 1982, respectively.[1]

His professional kickboxing debut came on June 11, 1983 in Memphis, Tennessee when he knocked out the previously undefeated Jackie "Hollywood" Dixon 8-0 (5 KO's) in round two of a bout televised nationally on ESPN. He soon became the #9 ranked light welterweight by the PKA when he knocked out the PKA #5 world contender Ken Comer with a fifth round roundhouse kick to the head in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.[1]

His professional boxing debut came on February 16, 1984. Bush knocked out Charles Carter in the second round in Virginia Beach, VA. He was picked by Muhammad Ali in 1984 to box on his Champion Sports Pro Boxing Team in the Cayman Islands. Ali had watched Bush in a kickboxing match on ESPN in which he had knocked out George Morrisey with head kick in the sixth round. Bush won his boxing fight by a fourth-round knockout, which gave him a record of 3-0 with 3 KOs as a professional boxer. Bush signed a six-fight contract with Ali's lawyer, Richard Hirschfeld, to box in the Caribbean with a final bout in London, England, for a minor title. However, the company folded soon after Bush's Cayman Islands fight because of stock fraud. In 2005, captured fugitive Richard Hirschfeld committed suicide.[2]

In 1985, Bush fought four-time PKA world champion Cliff "Magic" Thomas in a non-title bout in Atlanta, Georgia and won the fight by unanimous decision over five rounds.[3][4][5][6] The bout was televised on ESPN, and the win moved Bush to #4 in the PKA rankings. A month later, Bush knocked out Canadian welterweight champion Raynald Lamarre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[7] Those two wins pushed Bush to #2 in the ISKA world ratings after the demise of the PKA. He became the ISKA #1 world welterweight contender after knocking out then current #1 contender Paul Biafore in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1987. Bush won with fifth-round knockout. That same year, he won the ISKA North American Welterweight (-66.8 kg/147.3 lb) Full Contact Championship over Robert Visitacion in Stateline, Nevada. He dominated his opponent throughout, scoring two early knockdowns before finishing him off with a liver punch in round two.[8]

Two years later, in 1989, he won the FFKA United States light welterweight (-67 kg/147 lb) belt in Portland, Maine against Chuck Cypress. After forcing three standing eight counts on Cypress in rounds two and three, he continued to batter his opponent in the fourth and caused his corner to throw in the towel.[9][10][11] Having outgrown the domestic circuit, Bush won his first world championship in 1990 against #3 ISKA world title contender Emmanuel Essissima in Paris, France where he won a twelve round split decision over the Cameroonian for the full contact ISKA light middleweight (-72.3 kg/159.4 lb) belt.[1]

Bush then became a world champion for the second time in 1990 with a fourth round KO of #1 WKKO world middleweight contender Bubba "Blackhawk" Walters. Curtis won the WKKO World Middleweight (-73 kg/160 lb) Championship.[1]

1991 saw Bush fight in the kickboxing hotbed of Amsterdam, Netherlands for the first time where he faced local fighter Marlon Boldewijn. He was stunned and given a standing eight count in round three before losing on points.[12][13] Despite this setback, he was still granted a shot at his third world title and he knocked out Piotr Falender in round seven to take the ISKA's world welterweight title in his home town of Virginia Beach, Virginia. He defended this belt in Ajaccio, Corsica in 1992, outpointing Toussaint Andarelli. Bush and Andarelli would later rematch but fought to a no contest.[1]

Having boxed occasionally since 1984, Bush won his first title in the sport on February 3, 1994 by defeating Lynn Jackson via technical knockout in round ten in Virginia Beach for the USBA Southern Light Middleweight (-69.9 kg/154 lb) belt. This earned him the spot as the IBF #1 Intercontinental contender.[1] Returning to kickboxing, he became a four time world champion when he won a unanimous twelve round decision over Tom Montgomery in Brighton, England to be crowned the ISKA World Super Welterweight (-69.5 kg/153.2 lb) Full Contact Champion, setting up a unification fight with Roberto Fatica at the Dundonald International Ice Bowl in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1996. With both Bush's ISKA super welterweight title and Fatica's WKA super welterweight (-70 kg/154.3 lb) strap on the line, Bush stopped the Italian in round eight to become the undisputed world champion.[14][15][16]

He lost the ISKA super welterweight world title to Mark Weller when he was TKO'd in the eight round in Cambridge, England in May 1997.[17][18] He rebounded later in the year by taking the vacant ISKA North American crown in the same division with a controversial majority decision win over Melvin Murray in Toronto,Canada.[19][20][21] Bush won his second USBA Boxing title when he won a twelve round split decision over Kevin Hall 15-2(11 KOs) for the USBA Southern Middleweight Championship on October 2, 1997 in Virginia Beach, Va. In his first attempt at the NBA World Middleweight (-72.64 kg/160 lb) boxing title, Bush was TKO'd in round nine by Elvis Alexander in Virginia Beach on April 16, 1998. He also lost a unanimous decision to Tom Kimber at the Mass Destruction pay-per-view in Lowell, Massachusetts in May 1999 in a IKF World Middleweight (-75 kg/165.3 lb) Full Contact title challenge.[22]

Bush retired on June 30, 1999 aged thirty-seven after being stopped in the ninth round by Elvis Alexander again for the NBA World title.[23]

Acting

Bush appeared with Bill "Superfoot" Wallace in five commercials for the Treco Powerstretch and SABBA in 1985. His first film role was as a deranged poacher in the 1988 Canadian film Dragon Hunt, filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[24] Bush's character was killed by star Michael McNamara in a fight scene. Bush also had a small role as a member of the Foot gang in the films Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze in 1990 and 1991, respectively. In 1992, he starred in a locally produced UPN television series 464 Roadhouse, which was based on the film Roadhouse starring Patrick Swayze. Bush played Dillon and Swayze played Dalton. The series lasted four episodes before being cancelled. Bush also released a 60-minute training video, A Beginner's Guide To Professional Kickboxing, in 1992. Ringside Products and Asian World of Martial Arts distributed it. He played a terrorist in the film Major Payne, starring Damon Wayons, in 1995. He starred in the independent horror film Psycho Kickboxer, which premiered in 1997. In 2000, Bush was chosen to do the motion-capture and face scanning for the character "Cobra" in the Xbox video game Bruce Lee: Quest of the Dragon released in 2002. Bush continues to act and played an Army sergeant in the ABC series LOST in 2006 and a Naval officer in the 2012 film Battleship. In 2013, Bush auditioned and won a speaking role as Security Guard #3 in Season 3 of Hawaii Five O. Episode 3.23 "He welo 'oihana'.

Personal life

Bush was honored with "Curtis Bush Day" on April 27, 1995 by Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He currently lives in Oahu, Hawaii and works as a Behavior Therapist .[1]

Championships and awards

Boxing

Kickboxing

  • Virginia State Kickboxing
    • Amateur Virginia Welterweight (-67 kg/147 lb) Championship
    • Amateur Virginia Super Welterweight (-70 kg/154 lb) Championship
  • Fight Factory Karate Association
    • FFKA United States Light Welterweight (-67 kg/147 lb) Championship
  • International Sport Karate Association
    • ISKA Southeast Welterweight (-66.8 kg/147 lb) Full Contact Championship
    • ISKA North American Welterweight (-66.8 kg/147 lb) Full Contact Championship
    • ISKA North American Super Welterweight (-69.5 kg/153 lb) Full Contact Championship
    • ISKA World Welterweight (-66.8 kg/147 lb) Full Contact Championship
    • ISKA World Super Welterweight (-69.5 kg/153 lb) Full Contact Championship
    • ISKA World Light Middleweight (-72.3 kg/159 lb) Full Contact Championship
  • World Karate and Kickboxing Organization
    • WKKO World Middleweight (-73 kg/160 lb) Championship
  • World Kickboxing Association
    • WKA World Super Welterweight (-70 kg/154 lb) Full Contact Championship

Boxing record

Boxing record
12 wins (10 KOs), 5 losses, 2 draws
Date Result Opponent Venue Location Method Round Time Record
1999-06-30 Loss United States Elvis Alexander Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA TKO 9 12-5-2
For the NBAWorld Middleweight (-72.64 kg/160 lb) Championship.
1998-04-16 Loss United States Elvis Alexander Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA TKO 9 12-4-2
For the NBA World Middleweight (-72.64 kg/160 lb) Championship.
1997-10-02 Win United States Kevin Hall Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA Decision 12 3:00 12-3-2
Wins the USBA Southern Middleweight (-72.64 kg/160 lb) Championship.
1994-07-28 Draw United States Kevin Hall Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA Technical draw 1 11-3-2
1994-02-03 Win United States Lynn Jackson Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA TKO 10 11-3-1
Wins the USBA Southern Light Middleweight (-69.9 kg/154 lb) Championship.
1993-10-07 Draw United States Lynn Jackson Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA Draw 10-3-1
1992-11-09 Win United States Sherman Harris Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA TKO 6 10-3
1992-08-06 Win United States Bubba Walters Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA TKO 4 9-3
1992-01-30 Win United States Tony Rios Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA TKO 2 8-3
1991-11-21 Win United States Calvin Moody Virginia Beach, Virginia DQ 4 7-3
1989-11-11 Loss United States Dave Wyatt, Jr. Arthur Ashe Athletic Center Richmond, Virginia KO 1 6-3
1987-06-25 Win United States Len Robinson Nags Head, North Carolina KO 1 6-2
1987-03-05 Win United States Chuck Davis Virginia Beach, Virginia TKO 1 5-2
1986-01-22 Loss United States Kevin Vieldhouse Harrah's Atlantic City Atlantic City, New Jersey Decision (majority) 6 3:00 4-2
1985-07-20 Loss United States Mike Peoples Norfolk Scope Norfolk, Virginia, USA Decision (split) 6 3:00 4-1
1985-03-13 Win United States Tony Rios Norfolk Scope Norfolk, Virginia, USA TKO 5 2:08 4-0
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

Kickboxing record

Professional kickboxing record
42 wins (30 KOs), 10 losses, 2 draws, 2 no contests
Date Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time
1999-05-00 Loss United States Tom Kimber Mass Destruction Lowell, Massachusetts, USA Decision (unanimous) 12 2:00
For the IKF World Middleweight (-75 kg/165 lb) Full Contact Championship.
1997-00-00 Win Canada Melvin Murray Toronto, Ontario, Canada Decision (majority) 10 2:00
Wins the ISKA North American Super Welterweight (-69.5 kg/153 lb) Full Contact Championship.
1997-05-00 Loss England Mark Weller Cambridge, England TKO (punches) 8
Loses the ISKA World Welterweight (-66.8 kg/147 lb) Full Contact Championship.
1996-00-00 Win Italy Roberto Fatica Dundonald International Ice Bowl Belfast, Northern Ireland TKO (left cross) 8 1:44
Retains the ISKA World Super Welterweight (-69.5 kg/153 lb) Full Contact Championship and wins the WKA World Super Welterweight (-70 kg/154 lb) Full Contact Championship.
0000-00-00 Win England Tom Montgomery Brighton, England Decision 12 2:00
Wins the ISKA World Super Welterweight (-69.5 kg/153 lb) Full Contact Championship.
0000-00-00 NC France Michel Louart Montreal, Quebec, Canada No contest 7
1994-00-00 NC France Toussaint Andarelli Ajaccio, Corsica No contest 3
1992-00-00 Win France Toussaint Andarelli Ajaccio, Corsica Decision 12 2:00
Retains the ISKA World Welterweight (-66.8 kg/147 lb) Full Contact Championship.
0000-00-00 Win Poland Piotr Falender Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA KO 7
Wins the ISKA World Welterweight (-66.8 kg/147 lb) Full Contact Championship.
1991-00-00 Loss Netherlands Marlon Boldewijn Amsterdam, Netherlands Decision (unanimous) 12 2:00
0000-00-00 Win United States Bubba Walters Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA KO 4 -
Wins the WKKO World Middleweight (-73 kg/160 lb) Championship.
1990-00-00 Win Cameroon Emmanuel Essissima Paris, France Decision (split) 12 2:00
Wins the ISKA World Light Middleweight (-72.3 kg/159 lb) Full Contact Championship.
1989-00-00 Win United States Chuck Cypress ESPN Championship Karate Portland, Maine, USA TKO (corner stoppage) 4 0:23
Wins the FFKA United States Light Welterweight (-67 kg/147 lb) Championship.
0000-00-00 Win United States Lafayette Lawson Rumble on the River New Orleans, Louisiana, USA KO 7
1987-00-00 Win United States Robert Visitacion Harrah's Lake Tahoe Stateline, Nevada, USA KO (left hook to the body) 2 1:22
Wins the ISKA North American Welterweight (-66.8 kg/147 lb) Full Contact Championship.
0000-00-00 Loss Canada Paul Biafore Decision 12 2:00
1987-00-00 Win Canada Paul Biafore Toronto, Ontario, Canada KO 5
0000-00-00 Draw Canada Paul Biafore Draw 10 2:00
0000-00-00 Win United States Alan Watson Paradise Island, Bahamas KO 3
Wins the ISKA Southeast Welterweight (-66.8 kg/147 lb) Full Contact Championship.
1985-00-00 Win Canada Raynald Lamarre Montreal, Quebec, Canada TKO (punches)
1985-00-00 Win United States Cliff Thomas PKA Karate Atlanta, Georgia, USA Decision (unanimous) 5 2:00
1984-00-00 Win United States George Morrisey United States KO (left high kick) 6
0000-00-00 Win United States Roy McKown United States KO 3
0000-00-00 Draw United States Jerry Trimble United States Draw 12 2:00
0000-00-00 Loss United States Richard Hill United States TKO 9
0000-00-00 Win United States Richard Hill United States KO 1
0000-00-00 Win United States Trevor Ambrose United States KO 2
1983-00-00 Win Canada Ken Comer Gatineau, Quebec, Canada KO (high kick) 5
1983-06-11 Win United States Jackie Dixon Memphis, Tennessee, USA KO 2
Amateur kickboxing record
15 wins (11 KOs), 2 losses, 0 draws
Date Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time
1982-00-00 Win United States Alphonzo Claiborne Chesapeake, Virginia, USA Decision 3
Wins the Amateur Virginia Super Welterweight (-70 kg/154 lb) Championship.
1981-00-00 Win United States Darnell Studavent Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA Decision 3
Wins the Amateur Virginia Welterweight (-67 kg/147 lb) Championship.
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h IKF profile
  2. ^ Schudel, Matt (2005-01-13). "Flashy Fugitive Richard Hirschfeld Dies". Washington Post. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  3. ^ Kick Boxing Classics Curtis Bush vs Cliff Thomas 1985 Part 1
  4. ^ Kick Boxing Classics Curtis Bush vs Cliff Thomas Part 2
  5. ^ Kick Boxing Classics Curtis Bush vs Cliff Thomas Part 3
  6. ^ Kick Boxing Classics Curtis Bush vs Cliff Thomas Part 4
  7. ^ Knockout: Curtis Bush vs Reynald Lamarre
  8. ^ Kick Boxing Classics Curtis Bush vs Robert Visitacion 1987
  9. ^ Kick Boxing Classics: Curtis Bush vs Chuck Cypress 1989 Part 1
  10. ^ Kick Boxing Classics: Curtis Bush vs Chuck Cypress Part 2
  11. ^ Kick Boxing Classics: Curtis Bush vs Chuck Cypress Part 3
  12. ^ Kick Boxing Classics Curtis Bush vs Marlon Boldewijn 1991 Part 1
  13. ^ Kick Boxing Classics Curtis Bush vs Marlon Boldewijn Part 2
  14. ^ Kick Boxing Classics Curtis Bush vs Roberto Fatica 1996 Part 1
  15. ^ Kick Boxing Classics Curtis Bush vs Roberto Fatica Part 2
  16. ^ Kick Boxing Classics Curtis Bush vs Roberto Fatica Part 3
  17. ^ Mark Weller v Curtis Bush Part One
  18. ^ Mark Weller V Curtis Bush Part 2
  19. ^ Kick Boxing Classics Curtis Bush vs Melvin Murray 1997 Part 1
  20. ^ Kick Boxing Classics Curtis Bush vs Melvin Murray Part 2
  21. ^ Kick Boxing Classics Curtis Bush vs Melvin Murray Part 3
  22. ^ Tom Kimber vs Curtis Bush
  23. ^ "NBA website". NBA. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  24. ^ "Dragon Hunt Review". Canuxploitation. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Curtis_Bush&oldid=751931930"