With Alistair Overeem leaving K-1 for a full time stint in the UFC, and Kimbo Slice leaving MMA to pursue a career in boxing gloves, kickboxing great Badr Hari is changing sports in similar fashion. Hari has announced his retirement from that sport to venture into another: professional boxing.
From the “It’s Showtime” Website:
"Badr Hari has decided to retire from kickboxing to start a new career as a boxer. On January 28, 2012, Badr Hari will fight his last kickboxing match on the It's Showtime event in WTC Expo in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. After this fight, he will go to the United States to fully work on his boxing career.
"This announcement will be a shock to the millions of kickboxing fans all around the world, but the sport of boxing will welcome and embrace this charismatic fighter.
"In the U.S., many see Badr Hari as the man to relaunch the popularity of boxing, and he’s being seen as a mix of Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson."
