Sebastian Ciobanu to Make Boxing Debut

Last Updated on Friday, 04 February 2011 06:42 Wednesday, 02 February 2011 11:05

Written by Fraser Coffeen

The charismatic "Son of Dracula" Sebastian Ciobanu is trying something new.  The K-1 fighter will make his professional boxing debut on February 25.  Ciobanu will take part in an 8 man tournament titled Bigger's Better 4.  His opponent is not yet determined.

Ciobanu is coming off his career best year as a kickboxer.  The young Romanian has been a professional since 2005, competing mainly for Local Kombat shows in Romania and picking up some good wins over the likes of Doug Viney, Petr Vondracek, and Roman Kleibl.  He made his K-1 debut in late 2009, losing to Sergei Lascenko in the quarter final round of the Tokyo GP (the event won by Daniel Ghita).  But it was last year's East Europe GP where he finally turned some heads.  There, Ciobanu blasted his way to the finals, defeating Daniil Sapljoshin and Mighty Mo both via first round KO in a combined time of just over 3 minutes.  In the finals, he squared off with Freddy Kemayo in an excellent fight.  Despite losing to Kemayo, Ciobanu increased his standing in that tournament, looking very impressive in all 3 fights.  He has since bounced back from that loss with a win over Petar Valkov at the Local Kombat 10th Anniversary show.

Trying boxing may be a good move for Ciobanu, who has always relied more on his hands than his kicks.  That area of Europe is also seeing increased interest in boxing thanks to the big shows put on by the Klitschkos.  If Ciobanu can get on those Klitschko shows, there's a good opportunity for some higher profile fights.

As for his future, Ciobanu remains open to options, saying that he'll see how this fight goes before deciding how much he wants to pursue boxing.  Local Kombat promoter Eduard Irimia assured fans that Ciobanu is not done with kickboxing permanently, and will continue to compete for the company.

For all the details on Ciobanu's boxing career, check out our friends at Kombat.ro.

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