Tarık Solak facts for kids

Tarık Solak (born 1964, died 2020) was a famous kickboxing promoter. He was Turkish-Australian, meaning he had roots in Turkey but lived in Australia. A promoter helps organize and put on exciting kickboxing events.

Tarık Solak's Early Life and Training

Tarık Solak was born in 1964 in Ankara, Turkey. He came from a family with five children. When he was five years old, his family moved to Australia.

He grew up in Brunswick, a suburb in Northern Melbourne, Australia. He lived there among the Turkish community. Tarık started learning martial arts, specifically taekwondo, when he was young. He became very skilled, reaching the rank of 4th dan.

Later, he decided to work in kickboxing. He became a gym manager, helping to run a place where people trained for kickboxing.

His Final Years

After a long battle with cancer, Tarık Solak passed away in October 2020 in Australia. His funeral was held in Ankara, Turkey, at the Karşıyaka Cemetery.

Tarık was married from 1983 to 2005. He had one son, named Arif, who was born in 1983.

Tarık Solak's Career in Kickboxing

Tarık Solak began his career as a kickboxing promoter in 1993. His first event featured Turkish fighters who were trained by Jemal Hasan. These fighters included Tibet Hamza, Gerald Ilhan, Recep Saka, and Gürkan Özkan.

The next year, Solak put on another big show. The main fight was between Tibet Hamza and Gürkan Özkan. A major Australian sports TV channel, Fox Sports, started showing Solak's events. By 1998, he was organizing a huge event at the Crown Casino in Melbourne.

Working with K-1

In 1999, Tarık Solak traveled to Japan and met Kazuyoshi Ishii, who started a famous kickboxing organization called K-1. Solak became the CEO for K-1 in the Oceania region (which includes Australia).

In 2001, he organized the first K-1 World Grand Prix event in Melbourne. Thanks to Solak's events, famous K-1 fighters like Mike Zambidis and Mark Hunt got their chances to compete.

Creating A-1 World Combat Cup

In 2003, Tarık Solak left K-1. By 2004, he had started his own new kickboxing promotion called A-1 World Combat Cup. A-1 was special because it mixed kickboxing with exciting show business elements.

After holding several events in Australia, A-1 had its first event in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2005. Solak worked with a French co-promoter, Kader Marouf, to connect with the European kickboxing scene.

A-1 became very popular in Turkey. Events promoted by Solak were often shown and talked about in Turkish media. By 2006, Solak made the show business part of A-1 even bigger. He created a tournament called A-1 Model Boxing, which featured female fashion models.

In 2008, the Turkish edition of Forbes magazine said that A-1's success in Turkey had created a "kickboxing economy." This meant that kickboxing became a very important business in the country.

Tarık Solak in Television

Tarık Solak also appeared on Turkish television. In 2007, he had a supporting role in a TV series called "Pusat." He played a character named Arif Boz in 13 episodes of the show.

He also made guest appearances on various TV programs. These included the "Hülya Avşar Show" in 2006, "Burada Laf Çok" on CNN Turk in 2013, and "Spor Aktüel" on Akit TV in 2016.