Henri van Opstal (born February 20, 1989) is a Dutch

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

who competes in the

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

division. Van Opstal came to prominence by winning the WMC European Junior Middleweight Championship but found further success competing in Japan, taking wins over a number of the countries' top middleweights and finishing as runner-up in the '' Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2012''. His entrance music is " Proud Mary" by Tina Turner.

Career

After building up an undefeated record on the Dutch kickboxing and Muay Thai scene, Henri van Opstal challenged Martin Akhtar for the WMC World Junior Welterweight (-63.5 kg/140 lb) Championship in Sweden, losing for the first time in his professional career by decision. Afterwards, he began moving up to the weight divisions, settling at middleweight and taking wins over the likes of

Harut Grigorian Harut Grigorian ( hy, Հարութ Գրիգորյան; born 24 March 1989) is an Armenian-born Belgian kickboxer and former Glory Welterweight Champion. He has also competed in the It's Showtime and K-1 promotions. He was ranked in the Combat ...

and Denis Schneidmiller while becoming the WMC European Junior Middleweight (-69.85 kg/154 lb) Champion. He made his

K-1 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquired ...

debut at the ''

K-1 World MAX 2010 West Europe Tournament This is a list of events held and scheduled by the K-1, a kickboxing promotion based in Hong Kong. The first event, K-1 Sanctuary I, took place on March 30, 1993 at Kōrakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. 2023 events 2022 events 2021 events ...

'' in Utrecht, Netherlands on March 21, 2010 where faced

Robin van Roosmalen Robin van Roosmalen (born 1 October 1989) is a retired Dutch kickboxer and mixed martial artist, currently signed with Bellator MMA, competing in their Featherweight division. He is the former Glory Featherweight Champion and former Glory Lig ...

in the quarter-finals. The bout was ruled a draw after the regulation three rounds and so it went into an extension round to decide the winner, after which van Roosmalen was given the nod and inflicted van Opstal's first loss in three years. He lost to another future star in

Andy Ristie Andy Ristie (born March 17, 1982) is a Surinamese- Dutch kickboxer who competes in the lightweight division. After an unremarkable beginning to his career, he came to prominence with a lengthy and entertaining winning streak in the It's Showtim ...

by decision at ''Fighting with the Stars'' in Paramaribo,

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

on August 29, 2010. Venturing into the shoot boxing rule set, van Opstal received the call-up to his first S-Cup at the '' Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2010'' in Tokyo, Japan on November 21, 2010. He easily outclassed Rhyse Saliba in the quarter-finals, knocking him down inside the opening thirty seconds and causing problems with his boxing throughout the match and winning by unanimous decision. He then lost to eventual champion Buakaw Por. Pramuk by the same margin in the semis, unable to rival the Thai's powerful kicks. Van Opstal rematched Harut Grigorian at ''War of the Ring'' in Amsterdam, Netherlands on February 2, 2011, losing by unanimous decision but he soon made a successful return to Japan where he would go on to have a string of wins over some of the nation's top middleweights and earn the moniker of "the Japanese Killer". At ''Shoot Boxing 2011: Act 3'' on June 5, 2011, he stopped former boxer Satoru Suzuki with low kicks in round two. He then beat Mohammed Aouragh by decision at ''Muay Thai Mania 4'' in Rijswijk, Netherlands on October 23, 2011 before ending the year with a third straight win with a unanimous decision over Akihiro Gono at ''Shooto the Shoot 2011'' on November 6, 2011. In his first and only appearance in the It's Showtime promotion, van Opstal lost to Hafid el Boustati by unanimous decision at '' It's Showtime 2012 in Leeuwarden'' in Leeuwarden, Netherlands on January 28, 2012. Replacing Vahid Roshani, van Opstal took on

Hinata Hinata is a common Japanese given name, and a Japanese family name. Possible writings and meanings The reading of ''Hinata'' can be written using many different combinations of kanji, such as: *日, "sun; day; date" *日向, "in the sun; facing t ...

at ''RISE 88'' in Tokyo on June 2, 2012. After an even first two rounds, the Dutchman ended the fight with a high kick nineteen seconds in the third to score something of an upset. In the main event of '' REBELS.12 & It's Showtime Japan Countdown-2'' in Tokyo on July 29, 2012, van Opstal improved to 4-0 over Japanese competition with a majority decision win over Hiroki Nakajima. Nakajima scored early to the body, but his lack of defense allowed van Opstal to find openings throughout the fight and pick apart his opponent. On October 28, 2012, he faced Yuichiro "Jienotsu" Nagashima at ''REBELS.13'' in Tokyo with a place in the '' Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2012'' on the line and he booked his spot in his second consecutive S-Cup by defeating Nagashima by unanimous decision. The 2012 S-Cup was held on November 17, 2012 and van Opstal

outpoint Outpoint is a term frequently used in boxing to describe a situation in which one boxer is awarded more points than his or her opponent by the judges, but does not knock out that opponent. Notes

Boxing terminology Kickboxing terminology { ...

ed tough Thai Bovy Sor Udomson to a unanimous decision in the quarter-finals. He was then set to take on Hiroaki Suzuki in the semi-finals but Suzuki could not continue in the tournament due to injury and so van Opstal instead fought reserve fighter Satoru Suzuki in a rematch. Van Opstal stopped Suzuki for a second time, dropping him twice in under a minute in round one and forcing the referee to call the fight off, setting up a match with his stable mate and mentor Andy Souwer in the final. Souwer beat van Opstal by way of unanimous decision. Van Opstal lost to a Japanese foe for the first time at ''Shootboxing 2013: Act 1'' on February 22, 2013 when he dropped a close majority decision to Yoshihiro Sato. On March 24, 2013, van Opstal participated in an eight man tournament to crown the

WMTA WMTA (1380 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format. It is licensed to Central City, Kentucky, United States. The station is currently owned by Michael and Casey Davis and Jeremy Bennefield, through licensee Custom Voi ...

World Super Welterweight (-69.85 kg/154 lb) Champion at ''Haarlem Fight Night IV'' in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

, Netherlands. He cruised to decision wins over Kevin Hessling and Maiki Karathanasis in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively, and met

Armen Petrosyan Armen Petrosyan ( hy, Արմեն Պետրոսյան, born November 6, 1986) is an Armenians in Italy, Armenian-born Italian Kickboxing, kickboxer who competes in the middleweight division. An aggressive fighter, Petrosyan began training in Muay ...

in a five rounder in the final. Petrosyan caused damage with low kicks over the course of the fight and, after being thrown to the canvas a few times, van Opstal found it increasingly difficult to get up due to his legs being battered and his corner

threw in the towel A submission is a combat sports term for yielding to the opponent, and hence resulting in an immediate defeat. The submission – then also referred to as a "tap out" or "tapping out" – is often performed by visibly tapping the floor or the opp ...

at the end of the third round. He made his return to K-1 to compete against Enriko Kehl in the ''K-1 World MAX 2013 World Championship Tournament Final 16'' in Majorca, Spain on September 24, 2013, losing a unanimous decision. After his successful boxing career, Henri switched to training others. "It gave me a kick to share my knowledge and transfer it to others." When after a while he saw people change both physically and mentally, he was certain that this was what he wanted to continue. He decided to delve into training courses so that he could also help people in other specific areas. For example, he has his diploma as a fitness instructor and diploma as a personal trainer and medical fitness. After these courses he was ready to go for it, he carefully started a number of private lessons and after a while he was able to set up his own bootcamp group. After this fast-growing success, it was time for something new. Since 2015 his own gym ‘HVO-personal training’ was opened. This will mainly be about personal training, including private kickboxing / boxing lessons. But small group training courses and group lessons are part of the program as well. In addition, he also started “GET FIT WITH HVO group lessons” in 2015.

Championships and awards

Kickboxing

*Haarlem Fight Night **Haarlem Fight Night IV 70 kg/154 lb Tournament Runner-up * World Muaythai Council **WMC European Junior Middleweight (-69.85 kg/154 lb) Championship * World Shoot Boxing Association ** Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2012 Runner-up

Kickboxing record

, - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2014-05-17 , , Win , , align=left, Jay de Veiga , , A1 World Combat Cup, First Round , , Eindhoven, Netherlands , , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 25-10 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2013-09-24 , , Loss , , align=left,

Enriko Kehl Enriko Kehl (born February 19, 1992), is a German Muay Thai kickboxer who competes in ONE Championship. He is the 2014 K-1 World Max Championship Tournament Champion. Kehl was voted German Kickboxer of the Year in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Career E ...

, , K-1 World MAX 2013 World Championship Tournament Final 16, First Round , , Majorca, Spain , , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 24-10 , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2013-03-24 , , Loss , , align=left,

, , Haarlem Fight Night IV, Final , , Haarlem, Netherlands , , TKO (corner stoppage) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 24-9 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2013-03-24 , , Win , , align=left, Maiki Karathanasis , , Haarlem Fight Night IV, Semi Finals , , Haarlem, Netherlands , , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 24-8 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2013-03-24 , , Win , , align=left, Kevin Hessling , , Haarlem Fight Night IV, Quarter Finals , , Haarlem, Netherlands , , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 23-8 , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2013-02-22 , , Loss , , align=left, Yoshihiro Sato , , Shootboxing 2013: Act 1 , , Tokyo, Japan , , Decision (majority) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 22-8 , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2012-11-17 , , Loss , , align=left, Andy Souwer , , Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2012, Final , , Tokyo, Japan , , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 22-7 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2012-11-17 , , Win , , align=left, Satoru Suzuki , , Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2012, Semi Finals , , Tokyo, Japan , , TKO (punches) , , 1 , , 0:42 , , 22-6 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2012-11-17 , , Win , , align=left, Bovy Sor Udomson , , Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2012, Quarter Finals , , Tokyo, Japan , , Decision (majority) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 21-6 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2012-10-28 , , Win , , align=left, Yuichiro Nagashima , , REBELS.13 , , Tokyo, Japan , , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 20-6 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2012-07-29 , , Win , , align=left, Hiroki Nakajima , , REBELS.12 & It's Showtime Japan Countdown-2 , , Tokyo, Japan , , Decision (majority) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 19-6 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2012-06-02 , , Win , , align=left,

, , RISE 88 , , Tokyo, Japan , , KO (right high kick) , , 3 , , 0:19 , , 18-6 , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2012-01-28 , , Loss , , align=left,

Hafid el Boustati Hafid may refer to: * given name ** Hafid Salhi, a Dutch footballer * The Sea (2002 film) ''The Sea'', ( Icelandic: ''Hafið'' ()), is a 2002 Icelandic film, directed by Baltasar Kormákur. The film tells the story of a wealthy Icelandic family, ...

, , It's Showtime 2012 in Leeuwarden , , Leeuwarden, Netherlands , , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 17-6 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2011-11-06 , , Win , , align=left, Akihiro Gono , , Shooto the Shoot 2011 , , Tokyo, Japan , , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2011-10-23 , , Win , , align=left, Mohammed Aouragh , , Muay Thai Mania 4 , ,

Rijswijk, Netherlands Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in , and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also includes t ...

, , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2011-06-05 , , Win , , align=left, Satoru Suzuki , , Shoot Boxing 2011: Act 3 , , Tokyo, Japan , , KO (right low kick) , , 2 , , 0:36 , , , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2011-02-12 , , Loss , , align=left,

, , War of the Ring , , Amsterdam, Netherlands , , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2010-11-21 , , Loss , , align=left, Buakaw Por. Pramuk , , Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2010, Semi Finals , , Tokyo, Japan , , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2010-11-21 , , Win , , align=left, Rhyse Saliba , , Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2010, Quarter Finals , , Tokyo, Japan , , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2010-08-29 , , Loss , , align=left,

, , Fighting with the Stars, , Paramaribo, Suriname , , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2010-03-21 , , Loss , , align=left,

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Utrecht, Netherlands Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Nethe ...

, , Extension round decision , , 4 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2010-01-30 , , Win , , align=left,

Denis Schneidmiller Denis may refer to: People * Saint Denis of Paris, 3rd-century Christian martyr and first bishop of Paris * Denis the Areopagite, Biblical figure * Denis, son of Ampud (died 1236), baron in the Kingdom of Hungary * Denis the Carthusian (1402–1 ...

, , Beast of the East , , Zutphen, Netherlands , , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2009-11-14 , , Win , , align=left, Piotr Kobylański , , Beast of the East , , Gdynia, Poland , , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2007-12-16 , , Win , , align=left,

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Oss, Netherlands OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about O ...

, , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2007-11-24 , , Win , , align=left, Nedrim Ismaili , , Shootboxing in the Autotron , , Rosmalen, Netherlands , , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2007-10-26 , , Win , , align=left, David , , Klash III: Show No Mercy , ,

Sibiu, Romania Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Buchares ...

, , TKO , , , , , , , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2006-10-21 , , Loss , , align=left, Martin Akhtar , , , ,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, , Decision , , 5 , , 3:00 , , , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2005-11-13 , , Win , , align=left, Moustafa Elfarissi , , Time for Action , ,

Nijmegen, Netherlands Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about ...

, , Decision , , 5 , , 3:00 , , , - , - , colspan=9 , ''Legend'':

External links

Official Shoot Boxing profile

Official website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Opstal, Henri van Living people 1989 births Dutch male kickboxers Lightweight kickboxers Welterweight kickboxers Middleweight kickboxers Dutch Muay Thai practitioners Sportspeople from 's-Hertogenbosch