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 b ...

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 Entrance music (also known as an entry theme or walk-on music) is a musical piece or song that is played for athletes or entertainers when they first appear in front of the spectators before beginning a performance. Popular music acts may have rec ...

is "

Proud Mary "Proud Mary" is a song written by John Fogerty and first recorded by his band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was released by Fantasy Records as a single from the band's second studio album, '' Bayou Country'', which was issued by the same re ...

" by

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

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 and Denis Schneidmiller while becoming the WMC European Junior Middleweight (-69.85 kg/154 lb) Champion. He made his K-1 debut at the '' K-1 World MAX 2010 West Europe Tournament'' in

Utrecht 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 Ne ...

, Netherlands on March 21, 2010 where faced Robin van Roosmalen 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 Showtime ...

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

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

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 A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which figh ...

. 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 kick A low kick (also known as a leg kick) is a kick in which the attacker uses their leg to strike the opponent's lower body (thigh or calf) with the shinbone or foot. This type of kick, under different names, is utilized in numerous full-contact mart ...

s in round two. He then beat Mohammed Aouragh by decision at ''Muay Thai Mania 4'' in

Rijswijk 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 ...

, Netherlands on October 23, 2011 before ending the year with a third straight win with a unanimous decision over

Akihiro Gono (born October 7, 1974) is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 1994, he is best known for his clever and deceptive fighting style, and for his flashy ring entrances. Go ...

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 Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of th ...

, Netherlands on January 28, 2012. Replacing Vahid Roshani, van Opstal took on Hinata 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 A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. In a majority decision, two of the three judges agree on which ...

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 outpointed tough Thai

Bovy Sor Udomson Bovy Sor Udomson (โบวี่ ส.อุดมศร) born January 21, 1984, is a Thai Muay Thai kickboxer. He is known for his iron chin and brawling fighting style. Biography and career Bovy Sor Udomson was born as ''Piyapong Chuanpo'' in ...

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 Andy Souwer (born 9 November 1982) is a Dutch former welterweight kickboxer and mixed martial artist. He is a two-time K-1 World MAX champion (2005, 2007) and four-time Shootboxing World tournament champion as well as former It's Showtime 70MAX ...

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 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 in a five rounder in the final. Petrosyan caused damage with low kicks over the course of the fight and, after being

thrown Throwing is an action which consists in accelerating a projectile and then releasing it so that it follows a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a remote target. This action is best characterized for animals with prehensi ...

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 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 The World Muaythai Council (WMC) is one of the oldest and the largest professional sanctioning organizations of Muaythai in the world for the sport. The organization was set up in 1995 by parliament resolution, and is incorporated by the Royal ...

**WMC European Junior Middleweight (-69.85 kg/154 lb) Championship * World Shoot Boxing Association ** Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2012 Runner-up

Kickboxing record

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Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, , Decision (majority) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 22-8 , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2012-11-17 , , Loss , , align=left,

, , Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2012, Final , ,

, , 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 , ,

, , TKO (punches) , , 1 , , 0:42 , , 22-6 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2012-11-17 , , Win , , align=left,

, , Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2012, Quarter Finals , ,

, , Decision (majority) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 21-6 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2012-10-28 , , Win , , align=left, Yuichiro Nagashima , , REBELS.13 , ,

, , 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 , ,

, , Decision (majority) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 19-6 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2012-06-02 , , Win , , align=left, Hinata , , RISE 88 , ,

, , KO (right high kick) , , 3 , , 0:19 , , 18-6 , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2012-01-28 , , Loss , , align=left, Hafid el Boustati , , It's Showtime 2012 in Leeuwarden , , Leeuwarden, Netherlands , , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 17-6 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2011-11-06 , , Win , , align=left,

, , Shooto the Shoot 2011 , ,

, , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2011-10-23 , , Win , , align=left, Mohammed Aouragh , , Muay Thai Mania 4 , , Rijswijk, Netherlands , , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2011-06-05 , , Win , , align=left, Satoru Suzuki , , Shoot Boxing 2011: Act 3 , ,

, , KO (right low kick) , , 2 , , 0:36 , , , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2011-02-12 , , Loss , , align=left, Harut Grigorian , , War of the Ring , ,

Amsterdam, Netherlands Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2010-11-21 , , Loss , , align=left, Buakaw Por. Pramuk , , Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2010, Semi Finals , ,

, , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2010-11-21 , , Win , , align=left, Rhyse Saliba , , Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2010, Quarter Finals , ,

, , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2010-08-29 , , Loss , , align=left,

, , Fighting with the Stars, ,

Paramaribo, Suriname Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

, , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2010-03-21 , , Loss , , align=left, Robin van Roosmalen , , K-1 World MAX 2010 West Europe Tournament, Quarter Finals , , Utrecht, Netherlands , , Extension round decision , , 4 , , 3:00 , , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2010-01-30 , , Win , , align=left, Denis Schneidmiller , , 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, Harut Grigorian , , KlasH 4 , , Oss, Netherlands , , 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 , , 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 countries, Nordic c ...

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