ANDY SOUWER
Biography
Andy Souwer began kickboxing in his hometown of Den Bosch at Ling Ho Gym at the age of 7 and the following year had his first bout at 8 years old. He continued to train regularly under John De Ling from 1989 until 2005 and when he was 16 years old he fought in his first A Class MTBN Title match which he was able to win on points.
Born on November 1982 Souwer has become the most famous Dutch kickboxer currently active. With an extremely high work rate Souwer keeps his opponents very busy attempting to defend against the onslaught of his attacks. He is well known for wearing long legging tights that highlight his shoot boxing origins.
Fight Career
Souwer first competed in the S-Cup shoot boxing competition in 2002. The event was held in Japan and worked under normal shoot boxing rules which allows kicks, punches, knees, elbows, throws, and a variety of standing submissions. Shoot boxing was created in 1985 by kickboxer Caesar Takeshi.
Souwer debuted at K-1 Max in 2003 where he lost via TKO to Albert Kraus. He then moved onto win his first K1 Championship in 2005 beating out Buakaw Banchamek in a bout that was extended two extra rounds. The judges gave him the split decision win.
The following year saw him once again battle Buakaw for the final bout and this time the Thai superstar was able to stop Sower in the second round via referee stoppage.
In 2007 Souwer made it to the finals once again and faced Japanese favorite Masato. He was able to best Masato in the second when the Japanese fighter’s corner threw in the title.
The next year saw him once again in the K-1 Max Championship but he was unable to make it to the finals as he was knocked out of the competition by Artur Kyshenko. Souwer would face Kyshenko again in 2009. This time Souwer was able to beat out Kyshenko along with his long term rival Buakaw Banchamek but in the final bout he lost on a unanimous decision to the very skilled Giorgio Petrosyan.
After his successful run at K-1 Souwer went on to beat the acclaimed Thai fighter Kem Sitsongpeenong via points for the Shoot Boxing World Championship in 2012.
His next few bouts saw him face Kyshenko again, and he lost in their rubber match. He also took a loss to the hard hitting Russian Dzhabar Askerov on Yokkao Extreme in 2013.
Souwer has continued to fight abroad with regular fights in Tokyo Japan for Shootboxing organizations. He has transitioned into the seminar circuit regularly teaching seminars for kickboxing students. Souwer has moved onto acting and was featured in a short film entitled Oss which also features American Muay Thai fighter Kevin Ross. He currently runs and operates a gym of his own at Souwer Sport Institute and holds an impressive kickboxing record of 180 fights with 160 wins, 19 losses and only 1 draw. He has competed in 5 mixed martial arts bouts as well, winning 3 and losing 2.
Are you are interested in hosting a seminar with Andy Souwer or inviting him to fight on your show?