Cameroonian kick boxer ‘The Panther’ fights for super heavyweight title

One day at school in his native Cameroon, Alain Ngalani was bullied by fellow students. He went home crying to his mother, who first told him to stand up for himself and, shortly thereafter, introduced him to martial arts.

Ngalani hasn't been bullied since.

"My mom taught me a few moves and said, 'You have to learn how to defend yourself,' " Ngalani recalled. "She said, 'You're a man now, son, so you have to go back there and you fight. You punch, you kick, you bite, you do anything. But you have to defend yourself.'

"That lesson never left me."

Ngalani (26-7-1, 23 knockouts), nicknamed "The Panther," will put his skills to the test today against Dzevad Poturak (47-16-1, 30 KOs) when they meet for the International Kickboxing Association super heavyweight championship in the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel. The card starts at 7:30 p.m.

Ngalani, a chiseled 5-foot-11-inch, 244-pound former two-time Muay Thai world champion, is considered one of the world's fastest heavyweights. Despite his heavily muscled physique, his signature move is the "Panther High Kick," which he unleashes suddenly at close range.

"That's one of my favorite kicks, and it always comes out," he said. "Nobody expects me to have a high kick that close, but because of my flexibility I can pull it out.

"It's quick, and it's quite surprising."

A one-time bodyguard for politicians and other prominent people in the former Ivory Coast, Ngalani won his world titles in Thailand and has lived and fought out of Hong Kong since 2001.

Ngalani, making his first visit to Las Vegas, last fought in June 2010 against Ramazan Ramazanov in a bout that ended in a no-contest and became a minor YouTube hit.

After the kick boxers exchanged several illegal blows in the match in Hong Kong, a brawl broke out between their camps inside the ring.

Ngalani said it was a misunderstanding and that he has since smoothed things over with Ramazanov.

"I got injured during the fight and thought my opponent did it intentionally, and I got angry and replied in the same way," he said. "I shouldn't have, and he shouldn't have, and after it all we all understood what happened and apologized."

A rematch was scheduled for February but was canceled when Ngalani fell ill with a hyperactive thyroid.

Fully recovered, the 36-year-old said he's still the world's fastest heavyweight kick boxer. He credits a relentless training regimen for keeping him as fit and flexible as possible.

"It's all about training," he said. "I do a lot of brutal circuit training until I feel like I'm going to faint or I feel dizzy or I feel I'm going to puke or something. That's what makes the difference."

■ NOTES -- The eight-bout card also features a fight between Edwin "El Tigre" Aguilar (22-16, 20 KOs), the top-rated heavyweight from Mexico, and Las Vegan Chidi "Chidi Bang Bang" Njokuani (9-1, six KOs). Las Vegan Shawn Yarborough (13-3-1, 11 KOs) and Kim Couture protege Sofie Bagherdai (5-1, three KOs) also are scheduled to compete.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.