MAN Magazine Winter 2019

SPORT
PART
TIME
CHAMP
Starting Karate at the age of five and with
11 years of kickboxing experience under
his belt, vice European Champion and
German National Middleweight Champion
Kickboxer, Angelo Zoppo, talks injuries,
diet and what it takes to win (and lose).
sevenstarmedia.co.uk
C
almly confident and not
a flexing muscle, bruise
or tattoo in sight, aside
from the fresh plaster cast
on his left arm, Angelo may not be the
kickboxing cliché you’d expect. Nursing
a broken radius, from defending a
knee-kick to the head “it’s not ideal”
explains, Angelo, of his first injury in over
eleven years of the sport, “I thought I
saw what was coming and reacted too
quickly, he caught my wrist instead of my
elbow, so I ended up worse off, but it’s a
clean break” – the rematch is scheduled
for as soon as the plates have realigned
the bone, “there’s no way I’m not getting
back into that ring. Next time I’ll be
stronger. I noticed quickly and stayed
down so my opponent didn’t make a meal
of it. The medic checked me out and I got
an earful at A&E about how violent the
sport is. Now it’s just a matter of waiting”.
It’s not the first time he’s taken
an unexpected blow, “it’s violent at
times but to be honest, the strategy and
technique is what I love about the sport,
it’s what most people don’t see. It’s 90%
technique.” Like a game of chess, “but
chess doesn’t hurt quite as much!”. And
you are up against yourself, “when you
get into the ring, you’re on your own – no
defenders to keep up the back end, no
one in mid-field to pick up the slack. It
tests you on a different level. If you get
caught out, you have to think fast and
focus. This time my opponent managed
to trick me into thinking he was coming
at me from a different angle, so I paid the
price. I’ll learn from it and be better next
time.” Kickboxing is certainly not
reputed for being a light sport.
“People do say it’s brutal – it can be. Like
any sport, football, rugby, you sustain
injuries – maybe more on the football
pitch in fact. But if you maintain
a sensible training routine and
a good level of fitness you’ll
recover quickly enough and be
back to your best”. Training is a
major part of life, “and takes priority
alongside my day job (plumber). It takes
discipline to keep fit, and stay fit and train
between matches. I do want to be the
best I can be, in any situation – whether
it’s repairing the boiler, making dinner
or fighting in the ring, I have this drive
that makes me want to be better all the
time. Bit of a perfectionist. Some fighters
– really good ones, just don’t get back
into the ring after a defeat, they can’t
face the chance of it happening again,
but I suppose it’s just a character thing.
I’m ambitious and I want to test my ability
and improve fight on fight”. Preparing for
a fight “I used to check my opponent’s
stats, make sure I knew what was coming.
That’s changed though. At this level I’m
always going to face a tough challenge”,
MAN MAGAZINE WINTER 2019
41