Warren Stevelmans

Warren "Chaka Zulu" Stevelmans (born 16 May 1983) is a South African kickboxer, fighting out of Vos Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

He began his career at C-Class level in 2001 and through 2001 to 2005 won a number of C and B-Class fights, culminating in winning his A-Class debut against Arian Vatniki in Maastricht, Netherlands.

Stevelmans lost his next fight against Chris Ngimbi but then went on a winning streak throughout the rest of 2006 and in to the later stages of 2007 where he won his first title, defeating William Diender to claim the N.K.B.B. national title at 70 kg.

He is the K-1 MAX Netherlands 2008 tournament champion.

Despite being born in South Africa, Stevelmans has spent the bulk of his career fighting in the Netherlands.

Stevelmans performances at domestic level gave him the chance to take his talents on to the world stage as he was invited by K-1 to participate in one of their regional qualifying tournaments at the K-1 MAX Netherlands 2008 held in Utrecht.

Stevelmans was the victor at a very competitive tournament, defeating two time SuperLeague champion Alviar Lima in the quarter-finals, gaining revenge on Chris Ngimbi in the semis via TKO and beating Marco Piqué in the final to book his place at the K-1 Final 16 event.

Stevelmans won his elimination fight in Hiroshima, Japan and advanced to the quarter-final stage at the K-1 World MAX Final 8.

Unfortunately for Stevelmans he was paired up against two time K-1 MAX world champion Andy Souwer who proved too strong for him over three rounds.

After his exit from the 2008 K-1 World MAX Stevelmans has been inconsistent.

He picked up a good victory against Alviar Lima but has struggled against world class opposition, losing fights to the likes of Giorgio Petrosyan, Albert Kraus and Mike Zambidis.

! style=background:white colspan=9 |Qualifies for K-1 World MAX 2008 Final 8.

! style=background:white colspan=9 |Qualifies for K-1 World MAX 2008 Final 16.

! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins N.K.B.B. Dutch title −70 kg.

At the start of 2011, Stevelmans returned to K-1 MAX entering the K-1 MAX Madrid 2011 tournament.

He beat two Spanish opponents en route to the final but was unable to win the title, losing to his third Spanish opponent on the night in Rafi Zouheir, via decision over three rounds.

! style=background:white colspan=9 |Fight was for K-1 MAX Madrid 2011 tournament title −70 kg. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins Lima's W.F.C.A. Thai-boxing middleweight world title −72.5 kg. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Fails to qualify for K-1 MAX 2008 Final.

He defeated Hinata Watanabe via unanimous decision (30-28, 28–27 and 29–28) at Shootboxing 2012 – Act 4 on 17 September 2012 in Tokyo, Japan to qualify for the 2012 S-Cup.

He was expected to compete in the 2012 Thai Fight 70 kg tournament, fighting in the quarter-finals on 23 October 2012 in Bangkok.

However, this did not happen for unknown reasons.

Replacing Yoshihiro Sato on short notice, he defeated Dzhabar Askerov via unanimous decision in a tournament reserve fight at Glory 3: Rome - 2012 Middleweight Slam Final 8 in Rome, Italy on 3 November 2012.

He was expected to compete at the Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2012 in Tokyo, Japan on 17 November 2012.

However, he was unable to compete due to the tournament coming so soon after his bout with Askerov.

He beat Thai brawler Bovy Sor Udomson by way of majority decision at Shootboxing 2013 – Act 1 in Tokyo on 22 February 2013.

Stevelmans was scheduled to fight Johann Fauveau at Glory 5: London on 23 March 2013 in London, England.

However, when Andy Ristie was unable to fight in the event's co-main event against Albert Kraus, Stevelmans took his place and lost by unanimous decision.

He was soundly beaten by Aikpracha Meenayothin, losing on points at MAX Muay Thai 2 in Pattaya, Thailand on 29 June 2013.

He lost to Chingiz Allazov by unanimous decision at Legend 2: Invasion in Moscow, Russia on 8 November 2013.

Replacing Shemsi Beqiri on short notice, Stevelmans lost to Ky Hollenbeck by unanimous decision in an ugly fight in the tournament reserve match at Glory 12: New York - Lightweight World Championship Tournament in New York City, New York on 23 November 2013.

He lost to Yuri Bessmertny by UD at Thai Boxe Mania in Turin, Italy on 25 January 2014.

He lost to Josh Jauncey via UD at Glory 16: Denver in Broomfield, Colorado, US on 3 April 2014.

! style=background:white colspan=9 |70kg Qualifying Tournament Group 12 – Semifinal B. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Qualification tournament for 70 kg 16 man Tournament Group E Semi-final.

! style=background:white colspan=9 |Lightweight World Championship Tournament, Reserve Match.

! style=background:white colspan=9 |Fight was for WMC World Junior Middleweight title (−70kg).