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ETIENNE KEInterview
with Jeff “Duke” Roufus!
By: Mike Sloan
I had the chance of chatting over the phone a few days back with
kickboxing veteran Duke Roufus. Duke has had a tremendously successful
career, scoring major kickboxing titles in the WKA, WAKO, WKBA, KICK and
IKF, as well as being a participant in several K-1 tournaments. We
discussed his career, his future, mixed martial arts, Jean-Claude Van
Damme and why kickboxing isn’t anywhere near as popular as it should be.
As of today, Duke still doesn’t know who he is going to be facing in the
K-1 North American tournament on May 3 at the Mirage in Las Vegas. Here is
he had to say:
Hey Duke, how is training going?
It’s great. I love training at Master Toddy’s camp here in Vegas. The
weather’s great. We’re located here at Sunrise Mountain. It’s great for
training, altitude, running. We do training sessions twice a day and it’s
really cool because this is the first time I’ve been in camp with my
brother in a long time. It’s cool because training with him is real
motivational, as well as a real good training staff here at Master Toddy’s
camp. We’re working a lot of boxing as well as Muay Thai this year.
What all do you do in your training program?
We wake up every day at 6:00 AM and get running by 6:30. We run up Sunrise
Mountain, sometimes for speed, sometimes for intervals, to sometimes
simulating a fight. On Saturdays, we run for distance and stamina. We run
up through the hills of the mountain and across the base of Sunrise
Mountain. Training-wise, a lot of shadow boxing, stretching, heavy Thai
pad work, you know, plenty of boxing, kickboxing, kneeing. And two to
three days a week, we spar to duplicate that. Bag work in the morning, bag
work at night, you know, drills. It changes every day, but we train two
hours in the morning and three hours at night.
How many days a week is it?
Six days. On Saturdays, right now, we’re just doing a hard run, but in two
weeks, we’ll pick it up to a training session in the afternoon, too.
Besides your brother and Master Toddy, who all are you training with?
There’s another fellow by the name of John Wayne Parr.
Oh yeah, the Australian kid.
Yeah, he’s a young kickboxer. When you think about the movie (Kickboxer,
starring Jean Claude Van Damme) it should have been about him because he
went to Thailand and lived and trained there for four years. He’s also an
Australian kickboxing champion, a world Muay Thai champion. Just a good
dude to train with. He’s a lot of fun to train with, real motivational.
I’m looking to do some sparring over at Nevada Partners, too, to get me
working with some top boxing people.
How brutal is your training?
Brutal? Um, we’re going at everything 100%, but brutal in what sense?
As in grueling.
Oh, it’s very grueling. But that’s the best part of it; living the
lifestyle here at camp, you know? You come here but Rick’s engaged and
I’ve had a girlfriend for 5 ½ years so you’re away from your family,
you’re away from your environment. We live in a dormitory-type situation
with bunk beds. We all live together, sleep and train together and it’s
like being in a little paramilitary group. It’s demanding, but that’s what
makes you win, you know? It makes you hard and it makes you strong because
I think 90% of it, most of the time, is mental. You can train as hard as
you want, but it’s having that mental fortitude to go the extra step and
commitment in the fight game. But the training is grueling. We come home
and we’re sleeping and resting all the time. We eat, sleep, rest and
train, you know? But that’s what it takes to do the biggest stand-up
martial arts fighting. If you want to win, you gotta make the sacrifices.
Are you on a strict diet?
I don’t eat any junk food, but right now because of the heat here, I’m
taking in a lot of calories in a well-balanced diet of carbohydrates,
proteins, fruits and vegetables. Early in the day I eat the carbs to
recover from the workout and try and get ready for the second workout.
Later in the evening, I eat chicken or fish or like a spinach salad or
Caesar salad with a lot of fruits, recovering and re-hydrating, or I eat a
lot of soup. I’m eating about five to six small meals a day. Where we come
from, it’s so much colder and we have to adjust to the heat out here.
Are you in the K-1 Grand Prix or a super fight?
I’m in the Grand Prix tournament in Las Vegas and Rick is in the super
fight.
Do you know your opponent yet?
No we don’t. They haven’t made the pairings yet for either one of us. It’s
a little over a month out and we should find out any day now. I don’t care
who they put in front of me. The price of training- I took a few years off
and came back last year and fought well, but I had a tough break. It was a
bad decision and they called a knockdown in the fight when it shouldn’t
have been, but hey, that’s what happens in the fight game, you know? I
learned a lot from my K-1 experience in the past and last year, and I’ve
been working out with my trainer on a style that will fight anyone. The
trick to winning is knowing the rules of the game and what they’re looking
for to win and the points, scoring the right points, the right attack that
is going to win, and that’s what we’ve been working on in training camp
this year.
Going in, how do you compare this K-1 to the others you’ve been in?
The toughest for me was in 1996 in Japan in the semi-finals of the World
Grand Prix. That was tough, then I fought in the August one at the
Bellagio in the World Grand Prix. That’s a whole different level when you
go outside the North American talent, but I think this is one of the
toughest North American Grand Prixs ever. There are a lot of good,
talented guys, a lot of young guns coming in and talking loud and, you
know, talk’s cheap until the bell rings. There are a lot of tough guys,
some old, crafty veterans in there like myself, Jean Claude Leuyer, Mike
McDonald who did real well last year and I thought he beat Mo Smith. And
then he went on to knockout Mirco CroCop in Australia later in the year
and beat some bigger names in K-1. Then there’s a lot of new guys coming
up, so it’s going to be a wild tournament. Anything happens in the
tournament. K-1 tournaments are skill, perseverance and a little luck and
anything can happen in the tournament, so that’s what we’re getting
prepared for.
How long ago did you know that you were going to be in this K-1?
How long did I know? Since last year. They asked me to come back right
away. I think I’m a guy who when I fight, I never give a bad fight. I’ve
never been in a bad fight and you never have to look for me because I’ll
be in there fighting. They wanted me to come back because win, lose or
draw, you can count on me being in an entertaining fight.
Out of all the different kickboxing events that you’ve participated in
over the years, do you feel that K-1 is the best by far?
Oh yeah, absolutely. I think, and I’ve done Muay Thai and different
disciplines of kickboxing, and I’ve been all over the world with my
brother with all the events that he’s done. But the biggest and the best
and right now, what the sport needs, is K-1. It’s taking all the
disciplines and putting them under one roof and finding out who the best
is. Look at what they’ve done in the mixed martial arts scene. To me,
right now with martial arts, theres only three names and that’s K-1, Pride
and the UFC. If you’re not with any of those three, you’re not in the big
leagues of martial arts. Those are the big three in martial arts right
now, you know?
You’ve accomplished a lot as a fighter, such as the WKA North American
heavyweight champion, the WAKO champ, the WKBA, etc. Out of all of your
accomplishments, what are you the most proud of?
Um (some pondering)… You know, I’d have to say the fight with- not
proudest, but the fight that stands out the most is one with a man by the
name of Stan “The Man” Longinidis, who I fought for the WAKO title.
Everyone was telling me how he was going to kick my butt and do this and
do that, but I knew his style. I watched his tapes and I knew I had him
down to a science. It’s just some fighters have some guys’ numbers and we
never had a rematch since then, but he’s a guy who just fits right into my
style. At that time when I beat him, he had beaten Branco Citivic, had an
epic battle with Maurice Smith, he had beaten some of the biggest names
and was probably the hottest kickboxer. He had broken Dennis Alexio’s leg
with a low kick. For me, that was one of my tastiest victories because 1.)
Everybody told me I couldn’t do it and 2.) At that time, he was considered
one of the best. It’s so nice to beat a guy who is so high in his career
and for me, that’s what kind of got things rolling in my career , like
bigger pay days and bigger press for each fight. That’s probably the one
fight that stands out the sweetest in my career. And then the next one
will be when I win the K-1 North American tournament. That’s the only
thing that’s focusing me right now. That’s the only reason why I came back
to fighting, to win K-1.
You’ve also won a lot of awards as a coach, too. What are some the most
satisfying things you’ve accomplished as a coach?
You know, it’s weird. With coaching, every time you see-… To me, the
awards mean nothing; it’s the personal feeling you get, that connection
you get with an athlete and the students you coach. Whether they win their
first fight or if their goal is to just get in the ring and seeing them do
that, it’s that feeling you give that people of accomplishment of reaching
their goals. To me, that’s my favorite feeling. The awards, they’re more
like a good icing on the cake, so to speak. To me, it’s day in, day out
and even in the gym, having people reach goals that they never thought
they could do, that’s what it’s all about for me.
Is it a better feeling for you to accomplish those goals as a coach or
as a fighter?
They’re both great, you know? I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to
experience victory inside the ring and outside the ring. I think I’ll
always be coaching even after I’m done fighting, like a guy like Pat
Miletich. He’s had great success on both sides of the sport and even Mo
Smith can do that, too. They’re both fulfilling in certain aspects, you
know? One’s not better than the other.
You’ve also been through a number of different countries throughout
your career. Which country do you enjoy visiting the most?
To me, my second home is Thailand. I love Thailand. Even though I haven’t
fought there, I’ve done some training there. I love Thailand and I love
going to the heart of the sport. Muay Thai is really my background and
that’s what really got me going in fighting in a lot of different martial
arts, but my calling was definitely Muay Thai. I love going there and
seeing these young, tough, hard kids fight and train. It’s great and it’s
just a cool country, it’s laid back. As tough as they are in the ring,
they are just as mellow outside the ring. It’s great and I love the
culture. I love going to Japan, too, because the fans there are just
awesome. They’re fight crazy. So Japan and Thailand have to be the two
best places which I like going to.
What got you into kickboxing in the first place?
Well, my dad got us started in martial arts when we were very young. I
started when I was 4 years old and I started fighting when I was 18. My
dad used to be an official in the PKA way back when and he promoted a
couple of fights on ESPN. My brother had been real successful before me
and he had started fighting in 1984. So I followed in my dad and my
brother’s footsteps. I played a lot of football and I broke my elbow
playing football, but at the same time, my sister died of crib death. I
found her dead when I was 15 years old and it took me a few years to get
over that. I’ve done martial arts all of my life, so me picking up
kickboxing and fighting was a good way to get over the pain and anguish
and to get that out. It’s something I haven’t talked about for years. In
fact, this is the first interview I’ve ever talked about it in. One of the
reasons I got into to it, too, was I was carrying a lot of hurt and I was
the one who found her dead. It’s just something that stayed with me a long
time throughout my teen years. Getting involved with kickboxing and
training helped me get that frustration out. It was one way that it
helped. Then I started doing well, you know, and the rest is history. It
was a good feeling and it’s been good to me. I started travelling overseas
when I was 21. I never went to college or anything like that. I feel like
I got a degree from kickboxing and travelling and learning from other
people and other cultures. The old saying is When you’re in Rome, do as
the Romans do, so I believe that I graduated Cum Laude with a degree in
international travel from kickboxing and martial arts.
Why did you choose to have a career in kickboxing and not just boxing?
I had some background in boxing, but-…You know, sometimes people don’t
give the respect to these boxers that they deserve. I mean great champions
like your Tysons, Lennox Lewises, your Oscar de la Hoyas, your Vargases,
your Holyfields. These guys have been doing boxing just as long as my
brother and I have been doing martial arts and let’s turn the tables.
Let’s just say the big money sport was kickboxing and let’s have these
boxers try and pick up our sport. There are a lot of subtleties that are
different from the two sports and the punching styles. Even though you can
punch well in the boxing ring or the kickboxing or mixed martial arts ring
doesn’t mean you’re a boxer. My brother has done real well in the boxing
arena. I’ve had a few a few pro boxing fights and a big offer for a
contract being, you know, a white heavyweight, but I just chose not to do
it. I have the utmost respect for boxing. The guy who trained Rick and I
also trained the (former) WBC champion Gerald McClellan and he did real
well. We’ve trained with a lot of different boxers and I got a lot of
respect. A lot of people don’t realize how much of a beating you take in
boxing. You gotta be a tough guy. Not to say you don’t have to be tough in
anything else, I just like to use my legs and my footwork are my tricks of
the trade. I just have a love for the game. Sometimes, too, on why I
didn’t get involved is the background. There are a lot of shady people in
boxing and it’s just not me.
Did you ever consider doing mixed martial arts?
In 1995 I was offered a fight in the UFC to fight Ken Shamrock. I was
too busy with my fight schedule and they made me a very generous offer,
but again, I respect mixed martial artists, too. At that time, it was just
something that didn’t cross my mind. I have had a lot of hand problems
that have held me back in the kickboxing and the K-1 field. So with those
little gloves- and my strength is striking- I just feel that with those
little gloves, if I entered in the UFC or Pride, I’d end up breaking my
hands. I wouldn’t be able to do what I am able to do. What I’m thinking
about doing after I’m done fighting, we have a jiu jitsu program at our
club, I think I’m going to go home and roll for fun, but nothing serious.
I think I’m too old to switch to that field.
Why do you think kickboxing doesn’t get the same huge exposure as
boxing does here in the States?
Not sounding negative, but there are too many federations and too many
champions. That’s why I’m involved with K-1. You gotta be a bad dude to
win the K-1. Everyone knows who the K-1 champion is. But there’s this
federation, this alphabet soup, this world champion, that world champion,
blah, blah, blah. That’s the problem why we can’t grow and that’s why
we’re not getting respect like boxing because there’s too many champions
and too many little federations. K-1 is K-1. Everyone knows it’s one set
of rules, one federation and that’s what it’s all about for me. That’s why
we can’t get the respect and that’s it’s always like, “Who really is the
champion?” There’s so many upstart organizations and it’s like having
three different Major League Baseballs or four different NBAs.
Obviously, that’s the flaw. You’ve gotta have one association in order
to make it a super sport.
True, but in boxing, there are also a ton of different champions and
organizations, too, like the NABO, NABF, WBO, WBC, IBF, USBO, etc.
And that’s what’s killing boxing right now. That’s why boxing has taken
kind of a crapper right now. Originally in boxing, there were only eight
weight classes and it started out with the WBA, then the WBC. But now,
there’s just so many different organizations. It’s terrible what they did
to Bernard Hopkins. He wins the undisputed, the WBC, WBA and IBF,
middleweight championship. The WBA calls him a super champion and then
they sanction a fight for the WBA middleweight title for a guy he beats.
It’s all about sanctioning fees and money. That’s it. And the fans are
getting sick of it.
And William Joppy, now, is the champion again.
I know and it’s wrong. It’s just wrong. That’s stealing the thunder of
Bernard Hopkins for what he did and what he accomplished. It’s terrible.
And Joppy knows it, too. But you can’t blame Joppy because he wants to be
champ again, but it’s just ridiculous.
And another problem, too, is rival promoters. It’s like he’s a Don King
fighter and he’s a Bob Arum fighter or he’s a Cedric Kushner fighter, so
we can’t put a deal together. Come on! Let’s make a fight! It’s like the
Packers playing the Patriots in the Super Bowl, but the Packers go, “No,
we got a better offer to go play a European football team. We’re going to
go play them instead of playing in the Super Bowl.” It’s terrible, you
know? They don’t realize what they’re doing. They’re just killin’ the fans
right now.
If you could go back in your career, what would you go back and change?
What I would do and my advice to young fighters who are considering a
professional career in this sport is the losses that I’ve had were because
I’ve taken the fights on too short a notice. The fights where I prepared
properly over about six weeks of training and prepared like a professional
are the fights where I did well. A lot of the fights that I’ve lost, I’ve
taken on short notice like two weeks, three weeks. Big, tough guys, but
sometimes the money’s right. That’s another tough thing about this sport,
too, is that it’s a business. You want to get paid and you want to go out
there and do well. My advice, and if I could back and change but I can’t,
is to not take fights on short notice. Like last year in August, I got
called up in like three weeks’ notice to fight in the K-1 Bellagio against
Stefan Leko. I did great in the first round but when I got the middle of
the second round, I was like, “Oh my god!” I didn’t show it in my face
because I was fighting my balls off, but I was dead tired, you know?
That’s just one thing that I won’t do anymore. I’m just not going to do
it. I won’t take fights on short notice. I just can’t and that’s why I’m
out here training in Las Vegas in a six-week training camp, plus I was
training before I came out here. I will not take fights on short notice,
no matter how much the money is.
How much longer do you plan on fighting?
That’s a tough one. It’s not about money anymore for me. Not that I’ve
made so much money or anything like that but it has nothing to do with
money. It’s more like accomplishments. I’ve done a lot in martial arts,
Muay Thai and kickboxing, but my only quest right now is K-1. It’s a
personal goal. If I do well in K-1, that’s great, but if it stops being
fun and I don’t enjoy it, it’s time to hang ‘em up. If it becomes like a
real job, that’s kind of the whole reason why I started doing it was
because I loved the fact that it wasn’t like a real job. You’re enjoying
what you’re doing. Your job is what you love and not a lot of people can
say that. And if it becomes stressful and I don’t like it, then it’s time
to hang it up.
What else do you do besides fighting and training?
I run a gym in Milwaukee, Duke Roufus’ Gym. It’s going real well. We
teach Muay Thai, kickboxing, boxing and a friend of mine, Henry Matamoros
runs this Brazilian jiu jitsu program. He’s also fought a little for
Shooto in Japan and he’s a Hook ‘N Shoot champion. We have a nice gym in
Milwaukee. The technical adviser for the heavyweight Gladiators Kickboxing
Series is a partner in our gym and recently he hosted the K-1 in
Milwaukee. I help promote shows in Milwaukee and I run the gym. Recently,
I just had a big break. Last Saturday on Master Toddy’s Muay Thai show, I
was the commentator for Knockout Sports and that’s something I’m trying to
pursue right now and I’m having a blast doing that. I love movies and
music, too. That’s right up my alley. I have a satellite and I love
watching movies, I collect DVDs and I watch movies of all different
genres. That’s how I relax. I like to cook Thai food and Italian food when
I’m at home. Also, I’m all over the board with music, too. Anywhere from-
you name it, I listen to it. Huge DVD and CD collection. I’m from
Milwaukee and it gets very cold there during the year. I’m not an outdoors
kind of guy in the winter, but in the summer, there’s nothing like a
Wisconsin summer. I’m starting to get into the jet skis in the summer and
enjoying the beautiful lakes in Wisconsin. I mountain bike a little bit,
too.
What is your take on these kickboxing workout videos?
I’ll take anything that has the name ‘kickboxing’ or ‘martial arts’ or
anything that gets the word out there to the public. The people that are
buying those videos are never going to come into the schools anyway, you
know? I’ve had people come up to me and my brother and we were in the
store last night and this lady came up to us because she recognized us.
She goes to the fights because she does some cardio kickboxing. The reason
being is that she watched the cardio kickboxing tapes allowed her to go
and watch the fights in the arena. That’s a catalyst to get more fans in
the grass roots level. I think the kickboxing tapes and Billy Blanks, that
whole stuff, it’s great for the whole business. It doesn’t mater what
level people are kickboxing. They don’t have to be hardcore and kicking
bags with their shins and Thai bags, it’s great at all levels. Everyone
knows the top level of kickboxing is getting into the ring, but for the
people who train, have fun, get in shape or take it to a different level
of self defense, that’s great, too.
What about the Kickboxer movies with Van Damme?
You know, again, you’ve gotta take this as positive exposure. From
talking to Dennis Alexio, he told me that a lot of the scenes were cut out
of that movie. They did a lot more authentic, real Muay Thai scenes in
there. A lot of people found out about kickboxing and Muay Thai and
whenever I bring up Muay Thai, people bring up that movie. I don’t think
it’s been bad for the sport at all; I think it’s been positive. Anything
that exposes the general public to the sport is good, it’s great.
Do you think they should’ve gotten somebody else besides Van Damme?
Well, at the time, he was the right guy. He was hot. At the time, I
believe it was the late ‘80’s, and he was the hot guy. Today, if that
movie came out, you’d probably see Jet Li or Jackie Chan or Chow Yun Fat.
It’s who’s hot at the time. If the movie would’ve been in the early ‘80’s,
it would’ve been Chuck Norris doing the movie. You know how the movie
business is, it’s about timing. You can’t say that one guy’s better than
the other. I had the opportunity to go on Chuck Norris’ show last year. I
did a small part and it was a lot of fun. It was great. My work was a
little easy because I did a little ring fighting. But I got to watch the
people for a few days on the set acting and the whole craft of making a
television show. Man, it’s easier said than done, that’s for sure. I have
a lot of respect for that art.
Taking into consideration all these actors that are supposed fighters
like Jet Li, Van Damme, Steven Segal, all those guys, who do you think is
the best fighter out all of them, besides Chuck?
Yeah, he was the first guy I was going to say. I’m a big fan of Chuck
Norris and he’s done a lot of great things for martial arts. He’s not only
schooled in kickboxing, he’s trained with the Machados, jiu jitsu, he
likes it all. But personally, I can’t comment on Jean-Claude Van Damme’s
background because I don’t know. I can’t comment on Segal because I don’t
know. Let’s face it, though; they’re actors, not fighters. People aren’t
paying to watch them fight. Fighting and acting are two completely
different things. Like, we had to do take after take after take after take
on Chuck’s show to get it right. In the ring, it doesn’t work that way.
These guys are actors. Jackie Chan does some incredible things, but who
would really do that in a street fight? A phrase for them is that they’re
martial actors, not martial artists and I think that they’re great at what
they do. Again, it’s all about entertainment, you know? Look at wrestling.
It’s not real but you gotta respect what they do in the wrestling ring.
The moves they do is crazy what they do to their bodies. It’s not real,
but you gotta respect it. That’s my take on that. They don’t have to be
real fighters to be real actors. It’s like saying the guy who can bench
press the most should be the heavyweight champ of the world and that’s not
true. It’s an apples and oranges situation.
Where did your nickname, “Duke” come from?
The name, “Duke,” I actually got it as a baby. It is named after the
Wilson football, the Duke.
(Laughs) what?
My dad, when I was born, used to hold me like a football and the name
just kind of rung ever since. That’s how I got that name.
Do you have any words for your fans who have been behind you the whole
time?
I’m just thankful that people support me. It’s cool, you know? It’s
wild. I get emails all the time and when I go to the bigger fights and
people are happy to meet me. It’s funny because it’s so weird. I never
expected that. I was that dude when I was a little kid going up to all the
fighters when I was younger, getting autographs, so I thank all those who
support me and what I do and who are fans of me. I try to treat them the
way I like to be treated. I’m always going to give it 101%. I’m very
fortunate to be living the life that I’m living. I’m doing what I want and
having a ball. So, thanks again to all my fans.
Well, that’s all I have, Duke. Thanks for taking the time out to do
this interview.
Thank you. Take care.
Questions? Comments? Mike_infinity@hotmail.com
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