Nieky Holzken


Nieky "The Natural" Holzken is a Dutch super middleweight kickboxer and professional boxer. He is the former Glory Welterweight Champion. He is also a two-time European Muay Thai champion and the K-1 MAX Scandinavia 2006 tournament champion. As of 1 November 2018, he is ranked the #7 welterweight in the world by Combat Press.
In 2018, Holzken participated in the World Boxing Super Series as a substitute.

Biography and career

Nieky Holzken made his K-1 debut on November 26, 2006 at K-1 World MAX North European Qualification in Stockholm, Sweden. He won the tournament by three consecutive KO's over Björn Kjöllerström, Joakim Karlsson and Elias Daniel. The win qualified him for the K-1 World MAX 2007 Final Elimination, where he was matched up against the reigning K-1 MAX champion Buakaw Por. Pramuk. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.
He faced Murat Direkçi at ' on October 6, 2012 in Brussels, Belgium and won via TKO due to a cut in the second round.
He defeated Karim Ghajji via TKO due to a cut in an extension round at ' in Istanbul, Turkey on April 6, 2013.
He was to fight at SLAMM!! - Soema na Basi IV: Londt vs. Adegbuyi in Paramaribo, Suriname on August 8, 2013 but withdrew for undisclosed reasons.
He was initially scheduled to fight Marc de Bonte in the ' semi-finals in Tokyo, Japan on December 21, 2013 but his opponent was then changed to Karapet Karapetyan who he had previously fought and beat in February 2012 by decision. He knocked Karapetyan down in rounds one and two en route to a clear unanimous decision win before facing Joseph Valtellini in the final. In a back-and-forth fight where both pressed forward, landing powerful but technical punches and kicks, Holzken scored a TKO in the dying seconds of the third and final round to be crowned the inaugural Glory World Welterweight Tournament Champion.
He was set to fight for the inaugural Glory Welterweight Championship against Marc de Bonte at ' in Zagreb, Croatia on March 8, 2014 but the fight was cancelled when he suffered a shoulder injury in a car accident. The match was rescheduled for in Broomfield, Colorado, US on May 3, 2014 but his lingering shoulder injury again forced him out, and he was replaced by Karapet Karapetyan.
On February 6, 2015, Holzken was part of a one-night, four-man at Glory 19 to determine who would get the next title shot. In the semifinals, he faced Alexander Stetsurenko and won via unanimous decision. In the finals, he faced Raymond Daniels and won via TKO in the third round.
On April 16, 2016, he defeated Yoann Kongolo. After the match-up Holzken expressed his desire to in-ring commentator Joseph Valtellini that he wished to face him again.
Since 2013, Holzken had competed in professional boxing alongside his kickboxing career, but in February 2018 he got the biggest opportunity in the sport when he stepped in at late notice to face Callum Smith in the World Boxing Super Series super-middleweight tournament. The Dutchman was 13-0 coming in, and Smith 23-0. Smith took the win by unanimous decision, and then went on to KO George Groves in the final.
Holzken returned to kickboxing when he signed for ONE Championship, making his debut with a second round KO over Cosmo Alexandre in November of 2018.
He would challenge Regian Eersel for the inaugural ONE Kickboxing Lightweight World Title in May 2019 and lose via unanimous decision. The two would rematch in October 2019, but Holzken lost again via unanimous decision.

Titles

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes
15Win14–1 Bernard DonfackTKO3 28 Apr 2018Baden-Württemberg, Germany .png" />
14Loss13–1 Callum SmithUD1224 Feb 2018Arena Nürnberger Versicherung, Nuremberg, Germany.png" />For WBC super middleweight title
World Boxing Super Series: super-middleweight semi-final
13Win13–0 Viktor PolyakovTKO2 3 Feb 2018Golden Glory, Helmond, Netherlands.png" />
12Win12–0 Cagri ErmisKO3 1 Apr 2017
11Win11–0 Matingu KindeleUD109 Jul 2016Retained BeNeLux super middleweight title.
10Win10–0 Farouk DakuUD1020 Feb 2016Won vacant BeNeLux super middleweight title.
9Win9–0 Yesilat BerktaKO2 11 Nov 2015
8Win8–0 Ahmed El GhoulbzouriPTS66 Jun 2015
7Win7–0 Mikheil KhutsishviliKO3 19 Apr 2015
6Win6–0 Ruslan ShchelevKO6 12 Oct 2014
5Win5–0 Ismael AltintasTKO2 13 Jul 2014
4Win4–0 Gary AbajyanTKO3 14 Oct 2013
3Win3–0 Philipp KolodziejTKO2 21 Sep 2013
2Win2–0 Ata DoganTKO1 6 Jul 2013
1Win1–0 Anatolij BaronKO2 3 Mar 2013