Luis Tavares (born 8 September 1991) is a Dutch-Cape Verdean kickboxer. He is the former Enfusion Heavyweight and Super Heavyweight champion. He is ranked as the second best light heavyweight by Combat Press as of September 2022, and second best by Beyond Kick as of October 2022. He first entered the Combat Press rankings in May 2017.

Early life

Tavares was born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

, the

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to Cape Verdean parents. He played youth football for Sparta Rotterdam, where played together with Georgino Wijnaldum,

Lerin Duarte Lerin Duarte (born 11 August 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Having come through the youth department of Sparta Rotterdam, he started his senior career at the club, before transferring to Heracles Almelo. H ...

and

Garry Rodrigues Garry Mendes Rodrigues (born 27 November 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Greek Super League club Olympiacos and the Cape Verde national team. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the Cape Verde national team. ...

but later switched to kickboxing.

Kickboxing career

In December 2012, Tavares won his first professional title, the IRO 95 kg European title, with a fourth round knockout of

Rodney Glunder Rodney Glunder (born as ''Rodney Faverus'', March 1, 1975) is a retired Dutch professional kickboxer, mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and boxer, current actor, entrepreneur and bodybuilder. He has fought for M-1 Global, Cage Rage, K- ...

. In March 2014, Tavares won his first professional world title, the IKA 95 kg title, with a decision win against Hicham Achalhi. In between these title wins, Tavares made his Glory debut, losing by knockout to

Artem Vakhitov Artyom Olegovich Vakhitov ( rus, Артё́м Оле́гович Вахитов; born April 4, 1991) is a Russian Muay Thai kickboxer who competes in the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. Having begun practicing Muay Th ...

. In October 2015, Tavares participated in the WFL "Unfinished Business" Heavyweight tournament. He defeated

Fred Sikking Fred Sikking (born Hilversum, 20 February 1980) is a Belgian or Dutch Muay Thai kickboxer who competes in the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. He fights for GLORY and SUPERKOMBAT. As of 12 March 2018, he was ranked the #5 light-heav ...

by decision in the semifinals, and

Lorenzo Javier Jorge Lorenzo Javier Jorge (born 2 July 1984 in Tacoronte, Spain), also known as Jorge Loren, is a retired Spanish professional kickboxer and K-1 veteran. Loren was the Super Cruiserweight Champion of the Superkombat Fighting Championship. He is also ...

by an extra round decision in the finals.

Enfusion

At Enfusion 49, Tavares fought Mohamed Boubkari for the Enfusion Heavyweight title. He defeated Boubkari by a first round knockout. Moving up to Super Heavyweight, Tavares fought the reigning champion

Jahfarr Wilnis Jahfarr Wilnis (born February 26, 1986) is a Dutch Surinamese kickboxer, currently competing in the heavyweight division of Glory. He is the 2015 Kunlun Fight Super Heavyweight Tournament winner and the former Enfusion Heavyweight World Champi ...

. He won by unanimous decision. He defended the title twice, knocking out Mrad Akram and Fatih Ulusoy. In May 2018, he took part in the A1WCC Heavyweight tournament. He lost the quarterfinal bout to

Donegi Abena Donegi Abena (born February 23, 1998) is a Surinamese-Dutch kickboxer, currently competing in the Light Heavyweight division of Glory. A professional competitor since 2015, Abena is a one-time Glory Light Heavyweight title challenger. He is r ...

by an extra round decision. He fought Kamran Aminzadeh at Enfusion 69, in a non-title bout. Tavares won the fight by unanimous decision. He vacated the Enfusion title in September 2018, after signing with Glory.

Glory

His Glory debut came at Glory 62 against Artur Gorlov. He defeated him by split decision. His second fight was against

Felipe Micheletti Felipe Stievano Micheletti (born May 24, 1990) is a Brazilian professional kickboxer who fights in the light-heavyweight division of GLORY. Before signing with the promotion, he also competed in Kunlun Fight and SUPERKOMBAT. He is ranked as the ...

, at Glory 66. Micheletti won the fight by split decision. Tavares faced

Michael Duut Michael Duut (born 22 January 1990) is a light heavyweight kickboxer from the Netherlands. He is known for his aggressive fighting style. He is the 2017 Glory Light Heavyweight Contender Tournament Winner,fight of the year 2016 winner. He is ...

at Glory 69. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Tavares was scheduled to fight Stéphane Susperregui at Glory Collision 2. He defeated Susperregui by unanimous decision. For his fifth Glory appearance, Tavares was scheduled to fight

at Glory 77. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Tavares was scheduled to fight

Sergej Maslobojev Sergej Maslobojev; born 22 May 1987), nicknamed 'Kuvalda' ('Sledgehammer'), is a Lithuanians, Lithuanian mixed martial artist, Boxer (boxing), boxer and kickboxer, currently signed with Glory (kickboxing), GLORY, where he is the former Glory (ki ...

at Glory 78: Arnhem. A month before the bout, Maslobojev withdrew due to injury and was replaced by

. Tavares won the rematch by unanimous decision. Tavares was scheduled to challenge the reigning Glory Light Heavyweight champion

at Glory 80 on March 19, 2022. Tavares later withdrew from the fight, as he refused to face Vakhitov due to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

. Tavares was expected to face

Horace Martin Horace Martin (born 7 May 1985) is a Jamaican-Dutch kickboxer. He is two times W.A.K.O. Pro and W.F.C.A. world champion. Titles * 2014 W.F.C.A. Thaiboxing World Champion -95 kg * 2012 Troyes Trophy Tournament Champion -91 kg * 201 ...

at Glory Rivals 1 on May 21, 2022. He was initially expected to face

Tarik Khbabez Tarik Khbabez (born 20 April 1992) is a Moroccan-Dutch kickboxer currently signed to Glory, where he competes in the heavyweight division. He formerly competed SUPERKOMBAT Fighting Championship, having won the SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix Heavyw ...

at the same event, before Khbabez withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons. The event was later postponed, as The Lotto Arena announced that their cooperation with the Antwerp Fight Organisation had been terminated due to various administrative reasons. Tavares faced Florent Kaouachi at Glory Rivals 1, a Glory and Enfusion cross-promotion event, on June 11, 2022. He won the fight by a third-round knockout. The result was overturned to a no contest on November 24, as Tavares tested positive for a banned substance.

Failed drug test and suspension

Tavares was expected to face the #3 ranked GLORY light heavyweight contender

for the vacant Glory Light Heavyweight Championship at Glory 81: Ben Saddik vs. Adegbuyi 2 on August 20, 2022. The fight was cancelled on August 10, 2022, due to "reasons on the part of Tavares". Later that day, it was revealed that Tavares had tested positive for an unspecified banned substance at Glory Rivals 1. He was suspended indefinitely by Dutch Martial Arts Authority (VA), while Glory handed him a ten month suspension.

Move to heavyweight

Tavares moved up to heavyweight to take part in the four-man Glory heavyweight tournament, held as a title eliminator for the interim Glory Heavyweight Championship. Tavares faced Enver Sljivar, in the semifinals of the one-day tournament, at Glory 85 on April 29, 2023.

Titles

*2017

Enfusion Live Enfusion is a Dutch kickboxing promotion company based in Alkmaar, Netherlands. It produces events worldwide, which showcase twelve kickboxing weight classes (7 male and 5 female). Enfusion held its first event in 2013 in the Zwembad Sporthal ...

Heavyweight Champion +95 kg. *2017

Light Heavyweight Champion -95 kg. *2015 WFL -95 kg World Tournament Champion *2014 IKA -95 kg World Champion *2012 IRO -95 kg European Muay Thai Champion

Kickboxing record

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Rotterdam, Netherlands Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

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Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

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57 , ,

The Hague, Netherlands The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

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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 ...

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Igor Bugaenko Igor Bugaenko (born 1981), also known as Ihar Buhaenka, is a Belarusian kickboxer, who has been professionally competing since 2008. He is the former SUPERKOMBAT Cruiserweight Champion, and two-time Tatneft Arena World Cup winner, in 2008 and 2 ...

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Hoofddorp Hoofddorp (; ) is the main town of the Haarlemmermeer municipality in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. In 2021, the population was 77,885. The town was founded in 1853, immediately after the Haarlemmermeer had been drained. His ...

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Redouan Cairo Sergiano Herbert Cairo (born 29 November 1982), better known as Redouan Cairo is a Surinamese-Dutch kickboxer fighting in the Superkombat Fighting Championship where he is the 2013 Superkombat World Grand Prix Tournament Runner-up. Also a Mixed ...

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Zadar, Croatia Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...

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Las Vegas, Nevada, USA The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area i ...

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Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

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Jason Wilnis Jason Wilnis (born 10 December 1990) is a Dutch professional mixed martial artist and former kickboxer of Surinamese descent competing in the Middleweight division. He is the last It's Showtime 85MAX champion and former Glory Middleweight Ch ...

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References

External links

Profile at Glory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tavares, Luis 1991 births Living people Cape Verdean male kickboxers Dutch male kickboxers Light heavyweight kickboxers Heavyweight kickboxers Cape Verdean Muay Thai practitioners Dutch Muay Thai practitioners Dutch people of Cape Verdean descent Sportspeople from Rotterdam Glory kickboxers Doping cases in kickboxing Dutch sportspeople in doping cases