Loading AI tools
Tarık Solak (English: Tarik Solak; 1964 – 24 October 2020) was a Turkish-Australian kickboxing promoter.
Tarık Solak | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1964 Ankara, Turkey |
| Died | October 24, 2020 (aged 56) Australia |
| Resting place | Karşıyaka Cemetery, Ankara |
| Citizenship | Turkish, Australian |
| Occupation | Kickboxing promoter |
| Known for | A1 World Combat Cup |
| Spouse |
1
(m. 1983; div. 2005) |
| Children | 1 (Arif Solak; born 1982) |
Solak was born in Ankara to a working class family with 5 children, hailing from Yozgat.[1] His family emigrated to Australia when he was five and Solak grew up in the Northern Melbourne suburb of Brunswick among the Turkish community and in a crowded family.[1][2] He started his martial arts training in taekwondo under Jemal Hasan and achieved the rank of 4th dan.[2] He later pursued a career in kickboxing and became a gym manager.[2]
After a long fight with cancer, he died in October 2020, in Australia.[3][4] His funeral took place in Karşıyaka Cemetery, Ankara, on 24 October 2020.[5] Solak was married between 1983 and 2005,[6] and had one son, born 1983,[6] named Arif.[7]
Solak started his career as a kickboxing promoter in 1993 with an event where Turkish fighters trained by Jemal Hasan such as Tibet Hamza, Gerald Ilhan, Recep Saka, and Gürkan Özkan were featured.[8] In the following year, Solak staged another show where Tibet Hamza vs. Gürkan Özkan bout was the main event.[2] Major Australian sports broadcaster Fox Sports began covering Solak's promotions and by 1998, as he organised a major event at the Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex.[2][8]
In 1999, Solak met K-1 founder Kazuyoshi Ishii in Japan.[8][9] After becoming the CEO for K-1's Oceania region, Solak promoted the first K-1 World Grand Prix event in Melbourne in 2001. Later K-1 fighters Mike Zambidis and Mark Hunt got their opportunities at K-1 events promoted by Solak.[2][8]
In 2003, Solak left K-1 and, by 2004, founded his new promotion A-1 World Combat Cup.[10][11] A-1 was created with a show business concept that blended kickboxing with various spectacles.[8][12] After several events in Australia, in 2005, A-1 held its first event in Istanbul[9] and Solak bolstered his ties with the European kickboxing scene through his partnership with French co-promoter Kader Marouf.[13] A-1 was well received by the Turkish public in following years and events promoted by Solak had serious representation in Turkish media.[1] By 2006 and later, the show business aspect of A-1 was even furthered by Solak with the tournament A-1 Model Boxing that featured female fashion models.[14][15] Turkish edition of Forbes magazine asserted in 2008 that the success of A-1 in Turkey resulted in a 'kickboxing economy' with very significant dimensions.[9]
In 2007, Solak was featured with a supporting role, named "Arif Boz", in Turkish TV series titled "Pusat", lasted 13 episodes, directed by Osman Sınav.[16]
TV series
| Year | Channel | Series | Role | Notes |
| 2007 | Show TV | Pusat | Arif Boz | Supporting actor (13 episodes) |
| 2018 | Kanal D | Yüreğin Kadar | Himself | Promoter (1 episode) |
Guest appearances
| Year | Channel | Program | Notes |
| 2006 | TGRT | Hülya Avşar Show | Guest[17] |
| 2013 | CNN Turk | Burada Laf Çok | Guest |
| 2016 | Akit TV | Spor Aktüel | Guest |
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
