Kick-Boxing Promotions Hurt by Sharp Infighting

In a nation saturated with sports, how does a newcomer like full-contact karate kick its way into the public eye?

Howard Hanson, president of the World Karate Assn., believes that kick boxing could gain widespread popularity in this country if a few major sponsors would commit to the sport.

“We’re not used to playing the Don King/Bob Arum game,” Hanson said, referring to two of the top promoters in professional boxing. “Sponsors say they are interested if we get TV, and TV wants to know if we’ve secured sponsors. It’s a Catch-22.”

Another reason kick boxing has had trouble gaining an audience in the United States is the infighting between the 9-year-old WKA and 11-year-old Professional Karate Assn., according to Hanson. The major difference between the groups: The PKA doesn’t permit kicks below the waist.

“Kick boxers in every country allow leg kicks,” said Benny Urquidez, who has won titles in both organizations. “The WKA plays by the world’s rules. PKA fighters won’t fight abroad.”

Judy Quine, vice president of the PKA, said that leg kicks are too brutal for American viewers.

“There is a history of long-term, disabling injuries with leg kicks,” she said. “The sensibility of the American audience is not ready for that kind of brutality.”

PKA bouts have been broadcast on cable network ESPN since 1979. They are watched by about 400,000 households per broadcast, according to Nielsen ratings.

Said Quine: “We provide a safe, action-packed sport that is improving in quality every year. We are building a tradition.”

Hanson and Urquidez both said the bouts on ESPN do a disservice to the sport.

“Those PKA bouts hurt us badly,” Hanson said. “Any boxer watching ESPN can see he would knock out a PKA kick boxer.”

Added Urquidez, on why WKA bouts aren’t televised on ESPN: “The money ESPN offers is an insult. We are the pioneers of a sport and have to make a stand for its future.”

Neither Quine nor ESPN spokesman John Domino would discuss the contract between the PKA and the cable network.