Catalin Morosanu
Encyclopedia
Cătălin Moroşanu is a Romania
n 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 fighting style. He has stated that he is a fan of Bob Sapp
, and even went so far as to compare his fighting style to him.
He is also a former professional rugby
player, and won season ten of the Romanian version of Dancing with the Stars
.
in Iaşi
, Romania
. After a short career as a professional rugby
player, he began kickboxing professionally in 2005 and spent the majority of his early career competing in the Local Kombat
promotion in his home country.
He made his K-1
debut on April 5, 2007 at K-1 Fighting Network Romania 2007 against Stefan Leko
., and was handed the first defeat of his career by the German veteran as he lost via unanimous decision. Folowing this, he returned to Local Kombat to take three more wins, over Dimitry Podgaisky, Sergei Gur
and Nicolas Vermont, by the end of the year.
European Grand Prix. The opening round was held at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Budapest Europe GP Final Elimination on February 9 where he was able to defeat Turkish fighter Erhan Deniz
via unanimous decision after an extra round. In the quarter-finals at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Amsterdam on April 26, Moroşanu was knocked out
with a knee strike
by Frenchman Freddy Kemayo
just seconds into the opening round.
Following a first round knock out of Junichi Sawayashiki
at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Taipei on July 13, Moroşanu rematched Kemayo on November 6 at Local Kombat 31 in Buzău
, Romania. He was able to avenge his defeat by winning the match by unanimous decision.
He ended the year by defeating Trinidadian brawler Gary Goodridge
in a match for the WKN
Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship at Local Kombat 32 on December 12. After being dominated for most of the fight, Goodridge quit on his stool at the end of the second round.
His impressive KO wins then earned him a chance to compete in a superfight at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Seoul Final 16
on September 26, where he faced Japanese karate fighter Taiei Kin
in a highy-controversial bout. Towards the end of the first round, the "clapper" (the device used to signal the remaining 10 seconds of the round) sounded. Moroşanu seemed to think the sound indicative of the ending of the round, and began walking towards his corner, only to be met by a punch from Kin (who was rightfully continuing in the context of the official rules regarding the fight). The end bell, signifying the officially sanctioned end of the round, sounded moments later. Moroşanu deliberately continued to fight, hitting Taiei (whom was defenseless after dropping his hands at the end of the round) with a two punch flurry, knocking him unconscious. Moroşanu was disqualified from the fight, thus giving the victory to Taiei by means of disqualification.
The audience present at the show booed the decision, which awarded Taiei the victory. The crowd believed the punches to have been thrown before or exactly when the bell had sounded. However, video evidence refutes this.
He rebounded by beating Samoan-American slugger Mighty Mo
in a close match at K-1 ColliZion 2009 Final Elimination on October 24. The bout was ruled a draw after three rounds, so an extra round was permitted to decided a winner, after which Moroşanu was ruled the victor by split decision.
, Hungary
. In his next bout, he faced Errol Zimmerman
at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Bucharest on May 21 and lost via TKO in round one. Just twenty seconds into the round, Zimmerman rocked Moroşanu with a flying knee and right hook which forced the referee to stop the fight.
Following this, he picked up a unanimous decision win over Igor Mihaljević at a show in Sarajevo
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
on October 29. On November 27, he rematched Gary Goodridge
at K-1 Scandinavia Rumble of the Kings 2010 in Stockholm
, Sweden
and was able to better "Big Daddy" once again as he won via TKO (referee stoppage) in the second round.
promotion. On March 18 at SuperKombat: The Pilot Show in Râmnicu Vâlcea
, Romania, he took a unanimous decision victory over Yüksel Ayadin.
On June 16 at the SuperKombat World Grand Prix II
in Constanța
, Romania, he took revenge over Stefan Leko
, the man who handed him his first career loss, winning by unanimous decision.
In October, he took another two decision victories in the space of two weeks by defeating Michael Andrade and Ibrahim Aarab at the SuperKombat World Grand Prix III
and SuperKombat World Grand Prix IV
, respectively.
promotion arbitrarily created the image of him as a crop farmer
. In one of their promotional video-clips, Moroşanu appears driving an old tractor
.
In yet another clip from the company, Moroşanu appears to be drinking and promoting a brand of wine, which supposedly gives him super-hero like fighting powers. The wine is supposed to be, albeit fallaciously, his own signature line.
From March 19 through May 7, 2010 Cătălin Moroşanu participated in the most popularly viewed show in the history of Romanian television, Dansez pentru tine (the Romanian version of Dancing with the Stars
). He stated that his motivation and financial winnings would go to support a young widow, who wanted to make her daughter's life easier, and filled with the happiness that she deserved but had lost with the death of her father. He was considered to be the single most talented and entertaining male participant in the competition, and was the fan favorite. He made it to the Final elimination round, and won the 1st place spot at the end of the show, earning 60,000 Euros for Magdalena Ciorobea (his dancing partner in the show), collecting over 13,000 votes.
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 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...
kickboxer, who fights out of the Respect Gym București. He has competed in 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...
, SuperKombat
SuperKombat
SuperKombat is a kickboxing promotion based in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded by Eduard Irimia in 2011 and held its pilot show in the same year.-2011:...
and 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...
promotions and holds notable victories over Gary Goodridge
Gary Goodridge
Gary Goodridge , nicknamed "Big Daddy", is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian-Canadian former super heavyweight kickboxer and heavyweight mixed martial artist fighting out of Barrie, Ontario. Goodridge is known for his hard-hitting fighting style and showmanship...
, Freddy Kemayo
Freddy Kemayo
Freddy "Crazy Horse" Kemayo is a French heavyweight kickboxer, fighting out of Faucon Gym in Villepinte, France. He is three time French Kickboxing champion currently competing in K-1, Local Kombat, SuperKombat and many other promotions....
, Mighty Mo
Mighty Mo (kickboxer)
Siala-Mou "Mighty Mo" Siliga , is an American kickboxer, boxer and mixed martial artist, fighting out of Millennia MMA. He is the K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 in Las Vegas II and the K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Hawaii tournament champion....
and Stefan Leko
Stefan Leko
Stefan "Blitz" Leko is a German-Croatian heavyweight kickboxer. He is former Muay Thai world heavyweight champion and Kickboxing world super-heavyweight champion, K-1 European Grand Prix 1998 champion, 1999 K-1 Dream champion and two time K-1 World Grand Prix in Las Vegas tournament champion...
. Moroşanu is known for his wild, brawling fighting style. He has stated that he is a fan of Bob Sapp
Bob Sapp
Robert Malcolm "Bob" Sapp is an American kickboxer, mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, actor, comedian and former professional American football player. Sapp currently has a combined fight record of 21–21–0, mostly fighting in Japan...
, and even went so far as to compare his fighting style to him.
He is also a former professional rugby
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
player, and won season ten of the Romanian version of Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars is the name of several international television series based on the format of the British TV series Strictly Come Dancing, which is distributed by BBC Worldwide – the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the format has been licensed to over 35 countries...
.
2005-2007
Moroşanu was born in the village of CotnariCotnari
Cotnari is a village and the center of the eponymous commune in Iaşi County, Romania, in the informal region of Moldova. It is located north-west of Iaşi and south of Hârlău, in a major wine-producing region of Romania, and is famous for the wine variety known as Grasă de Cotnari...
in Iaşi
Iasi County
Iași is a county of Romania, in Moldavia, with the administrative seat at Iași.-Demographics:As of 1 July 2007, Iași County had a population of 825,100, making it the second most populous county in Romania after Bucharest, with a population density of 150/km².*Romanians - 98.1%*Roma -...
, 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...
. After a short career as a professional rugby
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
player, he began kickboxing professionally in 2005 and spent the majority of his early career competing in 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...
promotion in his home country.
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 on April 5, 2007 at K-1 Fighting Network Romania 2007 against Stefan Leko
Stefan Leko
Stefan "Blitz" Leko is a German-Croatian heavyweight kickboxer. He is former Muay Thai world heavyweight champion and Kickboxing world super-heavyweight champion, K-1 European Grand Prix 1998 champion, 1999 K-1 Dream champion and two time K-1 World Grand Prix in Las Vegas tournament champion...
., and was handed the first defeat of his career by the German veteran as he lost via unanimous decision. Folowing this, he returned to Local Kombat to take three more wins, over Dimitry Podgaisky, Sergei Gur
Sergei Gur
Sergei Gur is a Belarusian former kickboxer from Minsk. He is a former 2004 WMF World Heavyweight Muay Thai champion and two time K-1 Italy tournament champion.- Biography :...
and Nicolas Vermont, by the end of the year.
2008
In 2008, Moroşanu was invited to take part in the K-1K-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...
European Grand Prix. The opening round was held at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Budapest Europe GP Final Elimination on February 9 where he was able to defeat Turkish fighter Erhan Deniz
Erhan Deniz
Erhan "Pitbull Attack" Deniz is a Turkish heavyweight kickboxer, who fights out of Mejiro Gym and Global Gym . His nickname comes from his passion on pit bull dogs.-Career:...
via unanimous decision after an extra round. In the quarter-finals at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Amsterdam on April 26, Moroşanu was knocked out
Knockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
with a knee strike
Knee (strike)
A knee strike is a strike with the knee, either with the kneecap or the surrounding area. Kneeing is a disallowed practice in many combat sports, especially to the head of a downed opponent...
by Frenchman Freddy Kemayo
Freddy Kemayo
Freddy "Crazy Horse" Kemayo is a French heavyweight kickboxer, fighting out of Faucon Gym in Villepinte, France. He is three time French Kickboxing champion currently competing in K-1, Local Kombat, SuperKombat and many other promotions....
just seconds into the opening round.
Following a first round knock out of Junichi Sawayashiki
Junichi Sawayashiki
is a Japanese heavyweight kickboxer from Tokyo currently competing in K-1. -Biography:Sawayashiki, at only 19 years old, turned pro in 2004 and started fighting for R.I.S.E. kickboxing promotion in Japan...
at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Taipei on July 13, Moroşanu rematched Kemayo on November 6 at Local Kombat 31 in Buzău
Buzau
The city of Buzău is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Wallachia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carpathian Mountains and the lowlands of Bărăgan Plain.The city's name dates back to 376 AD when the name...
, Romania. He was able to avenge his defeat by winning the match by unanimous decision.
He ended the year by defeating Trinidadian brawler Gary Goodridge
Gary Goodridge
Gary Goodridge , nicknamed "Big Daddy", is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian-Canadian former super heavyweight kickboxer and heavyweight mixed martial artist fighting out of Barrie, Ontario. Goodridge is known for his hard-hitting fighting style and showmanship...
in a match for the 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....
Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship at Local Kombat 32 on December 12. After being dominated for most of the fight, Goodridge quit on his stool at the end of the second round.
2009
Moroşanu began 2009 with a fifty-eight second knockout of Musab Gulsari at the K-1 Rules Tournament 2009 in Budapest on February 28. In his next match on May 16 at K-1 ColliZion 2009 Mlada Boleslav, he lost by another knee KO in an upset loss to Slovakian Tomas Kohut. He bounced back, however, by knocking out Wiesław Kwaśniewski in round one at K-1 ColliZion 2009 Sarajevo.His impressive KO wins then earned him a chance to compete in a superfight at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Seoul Final 16
K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Seoul Final 16
K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Seoul Final 16 was a martial arts event held by the K-1 on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul, Korea. It will be the Final Elimination tournament for top sixteen fighters...
on September 26, where he faced Japanese karate fighter Taiei Kin
Taiei Kin
Kin Taiei is a Korean-Japanese light heavyweight karateka, kickboxer and mixed martial artist competing in K-1 and DREAM. He's also a karate instructor and a trainer for professional fighters...
in a highy-controversial bout. Towards the end of the first round, the "clapper" (the device used to signal the remaining 10 seconds of the round) sounded. Moroşanu seemed to think the sound indicative of the ending of the round, and began walking towards his corner, only to be met by a punch from Kin (who was rightfully continuing in the context of the official rules regarding the fight). The end bell, signifying the officially sanctioned end of the round, sounded moments later. Moroşanu deliberately continued to fight, hitting Taiei (whom was defenseless after dropping his hands at the end of the round) with a two punch flurry, knocking him unconscious. Moroşanu was disqualified from the fight, thus giving the victory to Taiei by means of disqualification.
The audience present at the show booed the decision, which awarded Taiei the victory. The crowd believed the punches to have been thrown before or exactly when the bell had sounded. However, video evidence refutes this.
He rebounded by beating Samoan-American slugger Mighty Mo
Mighty Mo (kickboxer)
Siala-Mou "Mighty Mo" Siliga , is an American kickboxer, boxer and mixed martial artist, fighting out of Millennia MMA. He is the K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 in Las Vegas II and the K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Hawaii tournament champion....
in a close match at K-1 ColliZion 2009 Final Elimination on October 24. The bout was ruled a draw after three rounds, so an extra round was permitted to decided a winner, after which Moroşanu was ruled the victor by split decision.
2010
On February 6, Moroşanu defeated Deutsch Pu'u via technical knockout in the first round at the K-1 ColliZion MAX 2010 Europe GP in BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. In his next bout, he faced 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....
at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Bucharest on May 21 and lost via TKO in round one. Just twenty seconds into the round, Zimmerman rocked Moroşanu with a flying knee and right hook which forced the referee to stop the fight.
Following this, he picked up a unanimous decision win over Igor Mihaljević at a show in Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
on October 29. On November 27, he rematched Gary Goodridge
Gary Goodridge
Gary Goodridge , nicknamed "Big Daddy", is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian-Canadian former super heavyweight kickboxer and heavyweight mixed martial artist fighting out of Barrie, Ontario. Goodridge is known for his hard-hitting fighting style and showmanship...
at K-1 Scandinavia Rumble of the Kings 2010 in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and was able to better "Big Daddy" once again as he won via TKO (referee stoppage) in the second round.
2011
In 2011, Moroşanu began competing regularly for the newly-founded SuperKombatSuperKombat
SuperKombat is a kickboxing promotion based in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded by Eduard Irimia in 2011 and held its pilot show in the same year.-2011:...
promotion. On March 18 at SuperKombat: The Pilot Show in Râmnicu Vâlcea
Râmnicu Vâlcea
Râmnicu Vâlcea is the capital city of Vâlcea County, Romania .-Geography and climate:Râmnicu Vâlcea is situated in the central-south area of Romania...
, Romania, he took a unanimous decision victory over Yüksel Ayadin.
On June 16 at the SuperKombat World Grand Prix II
SuperKombat World Grand Prix II
SuperKombat World Grand Prix II was a kickboxing event promoted by SuperKombat which took place on July 16, 2011 at Sala Sporturilor in Constanța, Romania.-Background:The event was broadcast live on Pro TV in Romania and on Eurosport throughout Europe....
in Constanța
Constanta
Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
, Romania, he took revenge over Stefan Leko
Stefan Leko
Stefan "Blitz" Leko is a German-Croatian heavyweight kickboxer. He is former Muay Thai world heavyweight champion and Kickboxing world super-heavyweight champion, K-1 European Grand Prix 1998 champion, 1999 K-1 Dream champion and two time K-1 World Grand Prix in Las Vegas tournament champion...
, the man who handed him his first career loss, winning by unanimous decision.
In October, he took another two decision victories in the space of two weeks by defeating Michael Andrade and Ibrahim Aarab at the SuperKombat World Grand Prix III
SuperKombat World Grand Prix III
SuperKombat World Grand Prix III was a kickboxing event promoted by SuperKombat which took place on October 1, 2011 at Polyvalent Hall in Brăila, Romania.-Background:It was broadcast live on Pro TV in Romania and on Eurosport throughout Europe....
and SuperKombat World Grand Prix IV
SuperKombat World Grand Prix IV
SuperKombat World Grand Prix IV was a kickboxing event promoted by SuperKombat which took place on October 15, 2011 at Sala Polivalentă in Piatra Neamţ, Romania...
, respectively.
Personal life
Moroşanu is a law student, and also owns his own kickboxing gym in his home country of Romania. A notably interesting fact about Moroşanu is that the K-1K-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...
promotion arbitrarily created the image of him as a crop farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
. In one of their promotional video-clips, Moroşanu appears driving an old tractor
Tractor
A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction...
.
In yet another clip from the company, Moroşanu appears to be drinking and promoting a brand of wine, which supposedly gives him super-hero like fighting powers. The wine is supposed to be, albeit fallaciously, his own signature line.
From March 19 through May 7, 2010 Cătălin Moroşanu participated in the most popularly viewed show in the history of Romanian television, Dansez pentru tine (the Romanian version of Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars is the name of several international television series based on the format of the British TV series Strictly Come Dancing, which is distributed by BBC Worldwide – the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the format has been licensed to over 35 countries...
). He stated that his motivation and financial winnings would go to support a young widow, who wanted to make her daughter's life easier, and filled with the happiness that she deserved but had lost with the death of her father. He was considered to be the single most talented and entertaining male participant in the competition, and was the fan favorite. He made it to the Final elimination round, and won the 1st place spot at the end of the show, earning 60,000 Euros for Magdalena Ciorobea (his dancing partner in the show), collecting over 13,000 votes.
Kickboxing record
| Kickboxing record | |
|---|---|
Legend: |
|