Shemsi Beqiri facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Shemsi Beqiri
Born	(1986-05-03) 3 May 1986 (age 39) Vitina, SAP Kosovo, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Swiss
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	70.0 kg (154.3 lb; 11.02 st)
Division	Lightweight Welterweight Middleweight
Style	Kickboxing • Muay Thai
Fighting out of	Basel, Switzerland
Team	SuperPro Sportcenter Basel (2010–present)
Trainer	Dennis Krauweel (2010–present)
Years active	2002–present
Kickboxing record
Total	96
Wins	87
By knockout	32
Losses	9
By knockout	1
Draws	0
last updated on: 24 January 2017

Shemsi Beqiri (born 3 May 1986) is a famous Swiss kickboxer. He competes in the middleweight division, which means he fights against others in a similar weight range.

Early Life and Training

Shemsi Beqiri was born on May 3, 1986, in Vitina, which is now part of Kosovo. When he was five years old, his family moved to Basel, Switzerland. He became a Swiss citizen.

In Basel, Shemsi started learning martial arts like karate and taekwondo. When he turned sixteen, he began training in kickboxing and Muay Thai. These are sports where fighters use their hands and feet to score points or knock out their opponents.

Shemsi has three brothers, Hysni, Ilir, and Sabedin. All of them also became professional kickboxers. Hysni and Sabedin still compete today.

Kickboxing Career

Shemsi Beqiri started his professional kickboxing journey in 2002. He began fighting in the lightweight division.

Becoming a Champion (2002–2008)

Just two years after starting, Shemsi won his first big title. On May 8, 2004, he became the World Professional Kickboxing Council (WPKC) Swiss Muay Thai Champion. He won this title in his hometown of Basel.

Soon after, he traveled to Italy and won another title. He became the WPKC European Kickboxing champion. This showed he was one of the best fighters in Europe.

In November 2004, he won his second Swiss championship. Shemsi kept winning many fights. His first loss came in February 2005 against Giorgio Petrosyan in Italy.

In 2006, Shemsi entered a Muay Thai tournament in Basel. He won his first two fights but got injured. Because of his injury, he couldn't compete in the final match.

He then went on a winning streak. This led him to win the World Fighters Council (WFC) European K-1 title in December 2007. He successfully defended this title in August 2008.

Reaching the World Stage (2008–2012)

After becoming a two-time European champion, Shemsi got a chance to fight for a world title. In November 2008, he won the WKA World Welterweight Kickboxing Championship. He won by knocking out his opponent in the second round.

Shemsi then started moving up to the middleweight division. This division has many strong fighters. In September 2009, he won a tournament in Germany called Human's Fight Night III. He won three fights in one night!

Before 2009 ended, he won two more world titles. He became the World Full Contact Association (WFCA) World Junior Middleweight Thaiboxing champion. He also won the WFC World Middleweight Muay Thai Championship.

The year 2010 was very busy for Shemsi. He competed in four tournaments and won many fights. He also started training with Dennis Krauweel, a famous coach. In March 2010, he won the WKA World Middleweight Kickboxing title.

In 2011, Shemsi faced Yoshihiro Sato, a top fighter from Japan. Shemsi fought well, even though Sato was ranked much higher. Later that year, he won the SuperPro Fight Night II tournament in Basel.

In March 2012, Shemsi became a five-time world champion. He won the WFCA World Junior Middleweight K-1 title.

Fighting in Glory (2012–Present)

In April 2012, Shemsi joined Glory, a major kickboxing organization. He was chosen to compete in their 2012 Lightweight Slam tournament. This tournament featured sixteen of the best fighters in the world.

In his first Glory fight, he had a rematch with Yoshihiro Sato. Shemsi won this time, which helped him enter the top ten world rankings.

He continued to fight and win titles outside of Glory. In September 2012, he won the SuperPro Fight Night -70 kg Championship.

In November 2012, he fought Davit Kiria in the Glory tournament quarter-finals. Shemsi lost a close fight, but he still showed he was one of the top middleweight fighters in the world.

In September 2013, Shemsi fought Robin van Roosmalen at Glory 10: Los Angeles. It was a tough fight, and Shemsi lost by decision.

He was scheduled to fight Andy Souwer in January 2014, but Souwer had to withdraw. Shemsi fought and defeated Foad Sadeghi instead.

Championships and Awards

Shemsi Beqiri has won many championships throughout his career:

Kickboxing

• Human's Fight Night
  • Human's Fight Night III -72.5 kg/160 lb Tournament Championship
• Klash
  • Klash I -72.5 kg/160 lb Tournament Championship
  • Klash II -72.5 kg/160 lb Tournament Runner-up
• S-1
  • 2006 S-1 -72.5 kg/160 lb Tournament Runner-up
• Schweizerische Kick-Boxing Verbände
  • SKBV Swiss -63.5 kg/140 lb Kickboxing Championship (One time)
• SuperPro Fight Night
  • SuperPro Fight Night II -70 kg/154 lb Tournament Championship
  • SuperPro Fight Night -70 kg/154 lb Championship (Five time)
• World Fighters Council
  • WFC European Welterweight (-67 kg/147 lb) K-1 Championship (Three time)
  • Three Successful title defence
  • WFC World Middleweight (-72.5 kg/160 lb) Muay Thai Championship (Two time)
• World Full Contact Association
  • WFCA World Junior Middleweight (-69.8 kg/154 lb) Thaiboxing Championship (Five time)
  • WFCA World Junior Middleweight (-69.8 kg/154 lb) K-1 Championship (Four time)
• World Kickboxing Association
  • WKA World Welterweight (-67 kg/147 lb) Kickboxing Championship (One time)
  • WKA World Middleweight (-72.5 kg/159.8 lb) Kickboxing Championship (One time)
• World Professional Kickboxing Council
  • WPKC Swiss -63.5 kg/140 lb Muay Thai Championship (One time)
  • WPKC Interconintinetal -66 kg/140 lb Kickboxing Championship (One time)
  • WPKC European -63.5 kg/140 lb Kickboxing Championship (One time)

Kickboxing Record Summary