Nenad Pagonis
Encyclopedia
Nenad "Greek" Pagonis is a Serbian
heavyweight
-cruiserweight
Muay Thai
kickboxer currently fighting out of Mike's Gym
in Amsterdam, Netherlands and Team Pagonis in Novi Sad, Serbia. He is the current W.A.K.O. Pro
world champion (K-1
rules) who has also won a number of world and European titles at amateur
level.
and kickboxing
at the Ronin Gym in Novi Sad
, Nenad quickly developed into one of Serbia's
top kickboxing prospects. In 2006 at the age of 19 he won a gold medal at the yearly Balkan games, going one better by the end of the year by taking gold at the W.A.K.O.
European championships held in Macedonia
. This early success was replicated between 2007-2009 as Nenad forged a reputation as not only Serbia's top amateur fighter in his weight class but also one of the world's best, winning two world championships, two world cups and a further Balkan’s championship.
In 2010 Nenad took his amateur form into the pro game when he won his first professional world title (W.A.K.O Pro
) against reigning champion Antonio Sousa, outclassing the Portuguese fighter on route to a third round stoppage victory in Milan
– a fight in which Sousa was knocked down three times before the referee stepped in to end it. To further his career Nenad joined Mike's Gym
in the Netherlands
where he would train with fighters of the calibre of Badr Hari
and Melvin Manhoef
. This switch also lead into Nenad's It's Showtime
debut in Athens
in 2010 where he defeated the experienced Rustemi Kreshnik by decision - paving the way for a title shot against the reigning It's Showtime 95MAX champion Danyo Ilunga
the following year.
Amateur
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
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...
-cruiserweight
Cruiserweight
Cruiserweight is a weight class in boxing between light heavyweight and heavyweight. Before the advent of the current cruiserweight class, "light heavyweight" and "cruiserweight" were sometimes used interchangeably in the United Kingdom....
Muay Thai
Muay Thai
Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...
kickboxer currently fighting out of Mike's Gym
Mike's Gym
Mike's Gym is a kickboxing and mixed martial arts gym, founded by Mike Passenier and headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.-History:The gym was founded by Mike Passenier in 2003....
in Amsterdam, Netherlands and Team Pagonis in Novi Sad, Serbia. He is the current W.A.K.O. Pro
World Association of Kickboxing Organizations
The World Association of Kickboxing Organisations is one the international organization of kickboxing, and the governing body of Amateur kickboxing sport certified by SportAccord...
world champion (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...
rules) who has also won a number of world and European titles at amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
level.
Biography/Career
While training in Muay ThaiMuay Thai
Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...
and kickboxing
Kickboxing
Kickboxing refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Muay Thai and western boxing....
at the Ronin Gym in Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
, Nenad quickly developed into one of Serbia's
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
top kickboxing prospects. In 2006 at the age of 19 he won a gold medal at the yearly Balkan games, going one better by the end of the year by taking gold at the W.A.K.O.
World Association of Kickboxing Organizations
The World Association of Kickboxing Organisations is one the international organization of kickboxing, and the governing body of Amateur kickboxing sport certified by SportAccord...
European championships held in Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
. This early success was replicated between 2007-2009 as Nenad forged a reputation as not only Serbia's top amateur fighter in his weight class but also one of the world's best, winning two world championships, two world cups and a further Balkan’s championship.
In 2010 Nenad took his amateur form into the pro game when he won his first professional world title (W.A.K.O Pro
World Association of Kickboxing Organizations
The World Association of Kickboxing Organisations is one the international organization of kickboxing, and the governing body of Amateur kickboxing sport certified by SportAccord...
) against reigning champion Antonio Sousa, outclassing the Portuguese fighter on route to a third round stoppage victory in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
– a fight in which Sousa was knocked down three times before the referee stepped in to end it. To further his career Nenad joined Mike's Gym
Mike's Gym
Mike's Gym is a kickboxing and mixed martial arts gym, founded by Mike Passenier and headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.-History:The gym was founded by Mike Passenier in 2003....
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
where he would train with fighters of the calibre of 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...
and Melvin Manhoef
Melvin Manhoef
Melvin Manhoef is a Dutch-Surinamese Muay Thai kickboxer and mixed martial artist, trained by Mike Passenier and fighting out of Mike's Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In kickboxing, he is the current It's Showtime 85MAX World Champion, and in MMA he was the Cage Rage Light Heavyweight World champion...
. This switch also lead into Nenad's 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...
debut in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
in 2010 where he defeated the experienced Rustemi Kreshnik by decision - paving the way for a title shot against the reigning It's Showtime 95MAX champion Danyo Ilunga
Danyo Ilunga
Danyo "Dibuba" Ilunga is a Congolese-German Muay Thai heavyweight kickboxer. He is currently fighting out of the Fighting Gym Waldbröl based in Waldbröl, Germany, where he is trained by Asmir Burgic and K-1 star Remy Bonjasky...
the following year.
Titles
Professional- 2010-Present W.A.K.O. ProWorld Kickboxing AssociationThe World Kickboxing Association is one of the oldest and the largest amateur and professional sanctioning organizations of kickboxing in the world for the sport. Its official name is "World Kickboxing and Karate Association"....
heavyweight world champion -88.6 kg (K-1 Rules)
Amateur
- 2009 W.A.K.O. World Championships in Villach, Austria
-86 kg (K-1 Rules) - 2009 W.A.K.O. World Cup in Szeged, Hungary -86 kg (K-1 Rules)
- 2008 W.A.K.O. European Championships in Guimarães, Portugal
-86 kg (K-1 Rules) - 2008 W.A.K.O. Balkans Championships in Ohrid, Macedonia -86 kg (K-1 Rules)
- 2008 W.A.K.O. World Cup in Szeged, Hungary -86 kg (K-1 Rules)
- 2007 W.A.K.O. World Championships in Belgrade, SerbiaW.A.K.O. World Championships 2007 (Belgrade)W.A.K.O. World Championships 2007 in Belgrade were the joint 16th edition of the W.A.K.O. world championships - the second event would be held later that year in Coimbra, Portugal. They were for amateur male and female kickboxers and covered the following categories; K-1, Low-Kick and Light-Contact...
-81 kg (Low-Kick) - 2007 W.A.K.O. World Cup in Szeged, Hungary -81 kg (Low-Kick)
- 2006 W.A.K.O. European Championships in Skopje, MacedoniaW.A.K.O. European Championships 2006 (Skopje)W.A.K.O. European Championships 2006 in Skopje were the joint eighteenth European kickboxing championships held by the W.A.K.O. organization...
-81 kg (Low-Kick) - 2006 W.A.K.O. Balkans Championships in Burgas, Bulgaria -81 kg (Low-Kick)
Professional Kickboxing Record
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Amateur Kickboxing Record
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See also
- List of It's Showtime events
- List of It's Showtime champions
- List of WAKO Amateur World Championships
- List of WAKO Amateur European Championships
- List of male kickboxers