Sugarfoot Speaks Up

In a sports-mad country like NZ, how can one of its richest and most successful exponents be virtually unknown? Kickboxer Ray “Sugarfoot” Sefo has quietly earned more than $1 million from the sport and is a bona fide star in Japan and the US. He holds five world title belts and has just signed a US$10 million a year three-year deal with K-1, the kickboxing’s premiere fighting circuit. As is apparent in an interview with the Sunday Star Times, Sefo is keen to publicise himself and, more importantly, his sport of choice in his home country. He has established the Ray Sefo Academy in Auckland and is pleased with the growing recognition for the sport: “It makes me happy inside to see that, when for so long we have tried to push the sport and educate the public, and finally, it is recognised as what it is today – it’s awesome.”