One of the greatest karatekas and kickboxing fighters of all time – Salvatore “Sam” Greco took us on a trip down memory lane. The five-time Australian Kyokushin Karate Heavyweight Champion needs no introduction to combat sports old school fans who grew up watching fighters like him, Peter Aerts, Ernesto Hoost, Semmy Schilt, Branko Cikatic, the late great Andy Hug and many more.
Greco published beautiful story, heading “The day that changed my life!” on Instagram:
“One of the greatest moments of my martial career was fighting in The Mas Oyama Cup in Singapore. Obviously the highlight was fighting in front of the man, the legend and founder of Kyokushin Karate “Mas Oyama”. This was a very special day for me, not because of my fight but because I had the opportunity to speak to Oyama in a private meeting about moving forward to turn into a full-time professional fighter. It obviously meant possibly my departure from the Kyokushin organization and a transition to Seidokaikan/K-1.”
“It wasn’t the easiest of meetings let me tell you, but I got the opportunity to put my point across as to why I was doing it. At the end of my lengthy meeting, he was disappointed but somewhat understanding as to why I wanted to turn completely professional. It was purely because I needed to earn dollars to support my family through a sport I absolutely loved. Therefore the move was critical.”
“Even though I did make the move, I was so glad and honored I had the opportunity to discuss it with him personally and that alone will be something I’ll treasure for the rest of my life. In a written letter from Oyama to myself he wished me all the very best and still left the door open for me to return if someday I ever wanted too.”
