Dennis Alexio
Dennis Alexio is an American former professional kickboxer and actor who competed in the light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. Beginning his career as a light heavyweight in 1980, Alexio embarked on an extensive, knockout-laden undefeated streak before losing a decision to Don "The Dragon" Wilson in a World Kickboxing Association World Super Light Heavyweight Full Contact Championship match in 1984. He rebounded from this by winning the Professional Karate Association World Light Heavyweight title that same year before moving up to cruiserweight and taking the International Sport Karate Association World Cruiserweight Full Contact title.
In the late 1980s, he began his transition to the heavyweight division where he won six world titles and was at one point considered the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion. He faced the two toughest tests of his career in 1992 against Branko Cikatić and Stan Longinidis - both of whom were heavier fighters - fighting to a controversial draw with Cikatić and losing to Longinidis via an early low kick KO which resulted in a broken leg. He won 16 championship titles before retiring in 1999. An aggressive fighter possessing good boxing skills, a powerful spinning back kick and Muay Thai style roundhouse kick to the midsection, head and legs, Alexio retired with an impressive 92% KO ratio.
In April 2017, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison on multiple counts of fraud and tax evasion.
Early life
Alexio was born and raised in Vacaville, California, the son of a high school teacher and coach. He attended Will C. Wood Middle School before graduating from Vacaville High School in 1977. Alexio was a standout athlete in his youth, excelling in American football, baseball and basketball. In an interview with Inside Karate magazine, he claimed to have turned down an offer to play baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He began his martial arts training in Kajukenbo and in college, he played American football as a linebacker, using karate to get faster and more flexible for football. Liking karate, he decided to pursue the full contact aspect of it, not just point sparring. So Alexio started learning other styles like tang soo do before moving on to full-contact karate/professional kickboxing, where he added boxing and Muay Thai skills to his kickboxing repertoire along with his karate training.Career
Early career (1980–1983)
Alexio debuted as a professional kickboxer in early 1980, losing to Mike King via technical knockout in Culver City, California in his freshman appearance. The outcome of the bout was later overturned to a no contest by the PKA, however, with the fight deemed a mismatch as Alexio was competing for the first time with no amateur fights or any fighting experience, while King was a Professional Full Contact Karate/Kickboxer. Alexio learned from that fight and trained hard, he went on to win seventeen consecutive fights after that, all by knockout with only one going past the third round. In his first international match-up, Alexio stopped Basil Gura with a kick in round three of their contest in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia on November 19, 1983.Alexio went by the ring names "The Menace" and "The Terminator".
Light heavyweight and cruiserweight world championships (1984–1986)
Having established himself as a force on the world stage with his extensive winning streak, Alexio was given the chance to fight Don "The Dragon" Wilson for the inaugural WKA World Super Light Heavyweight Full Contact Championship in Hollywood in Wilson's home state of Florida on March 29, 1984. Televised on NBC's Sports World and with the #1 spot in the STAR System World Kickboxing Ratings on the line, Alexio's straight forward, boxing-based style played into the hands of the counterfighter Wilson, who pelted him with unchecked low kicks throughout the twelve round bout. Wilson won by a unanimous decision 119-106,119-112,118-114. Alexio disputed the result, calling it a "hometown decision." A second bout between the pair would never come to fruition.Alexio rebounded from this defeat by winning the PKA World Light Heavyweight title in his hometown of Vacaville on September 14, 1984, knocking down Rob Salazar twice in round five en route to a decision win. He made successful defences of this belt against Bernard Clark and Neil Singleton the following year before moving up to the cruiserweight division where he was soon crowned the International Sport Karate Association World Cruiserweight Full Contact Champion. He also briefly pursued a career in professional boxing between 1984 and 1985, going 5-1 with five KO victories.
In an ISKA title defence on August 16, 1986, in Denver, Colorado, Alexio survived an early scare as he was dropped with a big right hook from Lowell Nash in the first round, coming back by flooring Nash with a right hook of his own before finishing him with a right cross at the end of the fourth.
Transition to heavyweight (1987–1991)
By 1987, Alexio's record consisted of twenty-six wins and one loss, and so he made the transition to the heavyweight class where, at 1.80m/5 ft 11in and just over 91 kg/200 lb, he was one of the smaller competitors. After winning the Karate International Council of Kickboxing full contact world heavyweight title, he made one last defence of his ISKA cruiserweight belt on June 3, 1987, when he outpointed Larry McFadden over twelve rounds in Stateline, Nevada. Less than a month later, he defended his KICK Heavyweight belt and also won the vacant ISKA Heavyweight title against Jeff Hollins on June 20, 1987, in Denver.On August 6, 1990, at Harrah's Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Alexio faced Canadian taekwondo stylist Darrell Henegan in a heavyweight unification fight with Alexio's ISKA and KICK titles, and Henegan's Fight Factory Karate Association title on the line. Alexio won via TKO after the referee stopped the fight towards the end of the fifth round.
In late 1990, Alexio relocated to Waianae, Hawaii. Adopting the nickname "Kaheke", Alexio began fighting in a Hawaiian grass skirt, which, along with his entrance music of "The Final Countdown" by Swedish rock band Europe, became his trademark. He fought twenty times at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, winning all twenty by knockout.
In another heavyweight title unification bout, Alexio put his ISKA belt on the line against Jerry Rhome with the vacant Professional Kickboxing Council title also up for grabs at KarateMania III held at Caesars Tahoe in Stateline on August 24, 1991. He floored Rhome with a roundhouse kick on the bell at the end of the fourth before going out and finishing him off early in five. Alexio then defeated a number of middle-of-the-road challengers from around the world under full contact before seeking super fights with champions from other rule sets.
Fights with Cikatić and Longinidis (1992)
On March 16, 1992, Alexio faced his toughest opponent to date when he met Croatian Muay Thai fighter Branko Cikatić in at the World Martial Arts Challenge at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although Alexio still held the ISKA, KICK and FFKA heavyweight world titles, and Cikatić was the World Kickboxing Association –International Kick Boxing Federation World Cruiserweight Champion, the only title on the line was the inaugural World Martial Arts Challenge Heavyweight Championship. The rules of the bout were disputed between both fighters right up to the day of the fight. Alexio, who had competed exclusively under full contact rules, wanted both fighters to wear foot pads. Cikatić, a Muay Thai stylist and international rules fighter, wanted low kicks as well as the Thai clinch to be allowed. In the end, low kicks were allowed and Alexio wore foot pads, and knees and the clinch were banned. The duration of the fight was set at eight, three-minute rounds.The first two rounds were a battle but Alexio was winning with his barrage of un-answered uppercuts, hooks to the head and body kicks, but Cikatić was game and did fire back. Alexio utilized his better boxing skills but Cikatić used his powerful low kicks to his advantage. Cikatić was docked a point in the second round for kneeing Alexio in the clinch, which was not legal for this bout. The fight then ended in confusion in the third round when a stoppage was called as Alexio's right foot pad came off. The referee, Pat Burleson, decided to continue the fight without retrieving the foot pad as it had fallen out of the ring. However, before the fight was restarted Alexio hit Cikatić with two left hooks and then kicked at him but missed as he fell to the canvas. The fight was stopped there and, as it had gone less than half of the set eight rounds, was ruled a technical draw.
Following this, Alexio went on to collect three straight KO wins before agreeing to fight Australian Stan Longinidis, an up-and-coming fighter who had been calling him out for some time. One of the most highly anticipated fights in the sport's history at the time, and a bad-blooded affair, the bout took place in Longinidis' hometown of Melbourne, Victoria on December 6, 1992, with the vacant ISKA International rules Heavyweight Championship of the World up for grabs. Six seconds into the fight, Longinidis hit Alexio with a right low kick, causing Alexio's fibula and tibia to break. Officially, the fight lasted just fifteen seconds and Longinidis was named the winner via technical knockout.
Alexio and his manager, Bob Wall, disputed the fight and claimed that the fracture was caused by Alexio twisting his leg on a depression in the ring floor. Although Wall did initially comment after the fight, that Longinidis clearly won with an excellent legal kick. The outcome of the review was divided: the United States division of the ISKA overturned the ruling to a no contest, while the WKA and Australian division of the ISKA upheld the original decision.
A rematch between Longinidis and Alexio was discussed but never materialized.