Andy Hug

Phenomenal Swiss full contact karate champion who secured numerous European, Japanese & World full contact titles before suddenly succumbing to leukemia. He was born on September 7th, 1964 and was placed up for adoption as a baby and raised in an orphanage until the age of three, when his grandmother took over his care. Bullied as a child, the young Hug commenced karate tuition at age 10, and by the age of 19 he was competing at the 1983 Kyokushin World Open Tournament. Over the next few years, Hug left the opposition in his wake as his dynamic strength, agility and speed saw him win fight after fight, generating a very keen following by his Swiss country men. In 1993, the super fit Hug commenced his career in the world's most formidable martial arts tournament, the K-1 in Japan, and after several hard fought years, he won the 1996 K-1 title against a stellar field of highly talented martial artists. Hug was now hugely popular both in Swizterland and Asia, where he was nicknamed "Typhoon" and "Samurai" ! His last K-1 fight was on July 7th 2000 against Nobu Hayashi in the K-1 "Spirits 2000" Tournament, which Hug won by KO in the second round. Sadly, Andy Hug passed away suddenly on August 24th, 2000 at only 35 years of age.