Frédéric Sinistra (13 January 1980 – 15 December 2021) was a Belgian kickboxing champion who died from
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
.
Born in
Seraing
Seraing (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia located in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-M ...
, Sinistra taught himself
kickboxing
Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...
at a young age and began competing in the sport at age sixteen. He went on to win the Belgian National Championship title four times and the World Championship a total of three times.
Sinistra was nicknamed "the Undertaker", and at one time was called "Belgium's strongest man".
Opponents that Sinistra defeated included
Stefan Leko
Stefan Leko (born June 3, 1974) is a German heavyweight kickboxer. He is the current WKA Super-Heavyweight world champion in kickboxing, and former Muay Thai world super-heavyweight champion and Kickboxing world super-heavyweight champion, WMT ...
and
Dževad Poturak
Dževad Poturak (born September 20, 1977) is a Bosnian heavyweight kickboxer, fighting out of Jumruk Gym in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is the former WAKO Pro World Low-Kick champion and K-1 Fighting Network Prague 2007 tournament cham ...
, while he was defeated by
Badr Hari
Badr Hari (Arabic: بدر هاري; born 8 December 1984) is a Moroccan-Dutch professional kickboxer and Muay Thai fighter. Born in Amsterdam, Hari made his professional kickboxing debut in 2000, and quickly rose to fame with his aggressive and ...
,
, and
Patrice Quarteron.
Sinistra, an
anti-vaccinationist
Anti-vaccine activism, which collectively constitutes the "anti-vax" movement, is a set of organized activities expressing opposition to vaccination, and these collaborating networks have often sought to increase vaccine hesitancy by dissem ...
, was unvaccinated and a
denier of COVID-19. When he became infected with COVID-19 in late November 2021, he would not acknowledge he had it. He was admitted to hospital but voluntarily discharged himself soon after. He
died of COVID-19 complications in
Havelange
Havelange (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Namur Province, province of Namur, Belgium.
On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 4,844 inhabitants. The total area is 104.73 km², giving a population d ...
a few weeks later.
[Avis Avis de déces Frédéric Sinistra]
''inmemoriam.be''
References
1980 births
2021 deaths
Sportspeople from Seraing
Belgian male kickboxers
Belgian anti-vaccination activists
Anti-vaccination activist deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium
21st-century Belgian sportsmen
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