Steve Morris
ECM Post Review

By day he works construction. By night he works lightening speed kicks into the face of his opponents.

On Saturday, Sept. 29, Heath “Heater” Fonnest of Stacy won the International Kickboxing Federation Lightweight World Title at the Grand Casino in Hinckley.

With the win, Fonnest became the No. 1 kickboxer in the world for his weight class.

With his wife and family in attendance, he beat the champion from England, Stacy Gosden, in a 12-round fight in front of more than 1,000 people.

Fonnest, with a record of 15-3, won by a unanimous vote as he nailed Gosden with a punishing combination of kicks and punches that made the crowd cringe.

The tone of the match was set in the second round when Fonnest connected on a powerful straight-left punch to the jaw of Gosden, to which he never fully recovered.

“He was punch drunk,” medical officer Tim Runquist said of Gosden.

For the next 11 rounds, Fonnest methodically picked apart his opponent, leaving little chance for the fighter from across the pond to come back.

Weighing 137 pounds, Fonnest may have the strongest and most deadly kick around. At the United States Kickboxing Championship in April, Fonnest kicked his opponent in the face with so much force he fractured the orbital eye socket in two places and broke his cheek bone to where reconstructive surgery was necessary with a metal plate.

“He basically broke his face,” Runquist said.

Runquist, who was at the fight Saturday, has seen Fonnest fight on several occasions and knows how lethal his kicks are. Runquist said he was at a fight when Fonnest broke another fighter’s ribs.

“He gives me a lot of business, that is for sure,” Runquist said. “I believe he is one of the best kickers in the world. He is one of the finest athletes I have ever met.”

After the fight, Gosden spoke about the way he started and the kick he didn’t recover from.

“Maybe if I wouldn’t have had such a bad start, I would have been a bit more in it,” Gosden said.

Fight Promoter Bobby Anderson added, “I don’t think he fully recovered from that kick.”

Anderson said Fonnest had a great fight and he fought 12 rounds like it was his first.

“Mr. Heath Fonnest is on fire and he came to win a world title ... now he is a world champion,” he said. “I am so excited to be associated with him.”

A CHAMPION'S SCHEDULE

Fonnest’s training schedule is certainly of the caliber you would expect from a world champion.

Fonnest won the U.S. Kickboxing Light Welterweight Title in April by beating Chicago fighter Mark Streator. Since April, he was hyper-focused on becoming the world champion.

A typical day for Fonnest included starting his construction job around 6:30 a.m. During his lunch break he would workout for an hour and then head back to work until 4:30. After work, he would train again and then teach classes at his studio in North Branch.

Finally, he would workout for the third time around 8 p.m., go to bed, and then repeat that program the following day.

“He’s in the best shape of his life, he looks great – the man is an artist,” Anderson said.

“Once you get tired, you not only get beat on, you will get knocked out,” Fonnest said.

Saturday night’s fight was the pinnacle of Fonnest’s kickboxing career. The 31-year-old Forest Lake High School graduate has always been athletic and has been kickboxing for the past 23 years.

“Ever since I started ... I have always had the goal to become a World Champion in my sport,” he said.

The home crowd may have played a factor in the fight as his fans chanted his name several times during the night.

“To be fighting for a world title and be so close to home is unreal,” Fonnest said “When the opportunity came up to actually fight in basically my back yard, it was an easy decision to make.”

He said there may have been 600 to 700 people at the fight who knew him.

But all things considered, the man from England may want another shot at the top dog.

“You never know, maybe we can have a rematch somewhere down the line,” Gosden said.

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