Thank you to our lions Redžović and Poturak, they spread the glory of Bosnia and Herzegovina around the world!

Written by: Muamer Bandić

“My comrades are fierce guys with big hearts, whether fighting, loving, or shooting”

In the company of our once most successful heavyweight boxer Enes Peštek, on Saturday I attended the K-1 World Grand Prix spectacle, organized in Skenderija by one of the best BH fighters in K-1 sport, Dževad Poturak. At the same time, it was also a farewell to the fighting career of our “King of the Colosseum” Adnan Redžović.



Everything reminded me of 2002 and the spectacle when Adnan won the “King of the Colosseum” tournament in a packed Skenderija. So on Saturday, Ado ended his rich sports career where it all began. That Skenderija is symbolic for Adnan and his career, but also for all of us who were involved in sports and followed the development of martial arts, both in Bosnia and Herzegovina and on the world stage.

Few athletes experience such a night in their careers!



In 2002, the first K-1 tournament was held in Skenderija, featuring the best fighters from the region such as Rudan, Marhol, Vlahović, Ostojić, Jovanović, and our Jasmin Sejdinović from Banovići, and these already established names in the K-1 ring were met by Sarajevo fighters Adnan Redžović and Dževad Poturak. Skenderija was full of us who support, love, and cheer for Ado and Džeki. The announced K-1 spectacle did not disappoint the numerous audience at all. In the first match, Ado fights against Slovenian fighter Marhol. In his recognizable style, he enters a series of punches and with hooks knocks down his opponent several times. Skenderija is on its feet and applauds his perfect technique! Then Džeki performs against Jovanović from Belgrade. It was a real war in the ring. Dževad wins, but at the cost of a serious head injury. In the second round, Ado fights against Ostojić and through two additional rounds, in which he showed all the richness of his boxing techniques, precise and strong punches, he wins another victory, bringing the atmosphere in Skenderija to a boiling point. In his second match of the evening, Poturak fights against Rudan, in whose corner stands the winner of the first K-1 tournament, Branko Cikatić. Although Dževad enters the match with a serious head injury, his brave heart does not think of giving up. All of us who follow martial arts know that Dževad would not be Dževad if he did not go out and give his all in the ring. Unfortunately, due to the seriousness of Dževad's injury, a huge hematoma on his head, the referee stops the match. This caused great disappointment in the hall because Poturak is one of the most courageous athletes, and the people of Sarajevo love such guys.


In the final match, Redžović and Rudan fight. Our fighter is already quite worn out due to the 5-6 rounds he boxed in the previous two matches, while his opponent is relatively fresh. At the very beginning, Rudan knocks down Ado with some strange straight punch, while silence and great disappointment fall over the hall. Then Redžović, as if on a movie screen, like Rocky, gets up and both fighters enter a series of terrible punches. Rudan falls and the referee counts him out while Skenderija is on fire, and the hall echoes: Ado, Ado, Ado Ado... Adnan Redžović defeated Ivan Rudan and deservedly won the title of “King of the Colosseum” on a night to remember for all of us who follow and love martial arts.

Ado achieved a true feat and made our city proud. All of us, that war generation that was involved in martial arts, had a desire to become famous fighters and show our skills outside besieged Sarajevo. These two lions succeeded in that and made us all proud. Hats off to these true greats of Sarajevo sports!



I have known Adnan Redžović for a long time and have followed his career since his matches in amateur boxing with Almedin Fetahović, Kukić, and many other fighters. Even then, he was a top athlete and certainly one of our best fighters in amateur boxing.

He also had a brilliant career in professional boxing. I remember his match for the European heavyweight title against Arnold Gjergjaj, one of the best boxing technicians in the world and a long-time sparring partner of world champion Vladimir Klitschko.

Dževad Poturak is my neighbor and he is an exceptionally brave, courageous fighter and top athlete. Dževad inherited that courage and bravery from his uncle Edib Halilović, a hero and gazija from our neighborhood, who gave his life for the foundations of our only homeland, Bosnia and Herzegovina.



I also remember when Džeki said he would fight in Japan, and he indeed went and fought at the most prestigious world fighting tournaments in Japan. There is an anecdote that when Alistair Overeem was at his peak and promoters couldn't find him an opponent, they called Poturak, who accepted the match without hesitation. I never asked him if that was true, but knowing Dževad, I believe it is. Many prestigious and famous names in martial arts fell to the punches of our Dževad Poturak, such as Alexey Ignashov, Melvin Manhoef, Jorgen Kruth, etc.

The duo Redžović and Poturak are pioneers of this sport in our country and have built top world careers in kickboxing. They were the best ambassadors of our country, and the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina flew in many countries of the world thanks to their sporting achievements. It is a pity that these guys did not start their careers in a more organized state, because they would certainly have been at the very top of the world in this sport. Unfortunately, they spent their entire careers lacking basic resources for quality training, solely due to the disorganization of the state system, which should take care of top athletes and provide them with at least a quality training process.

It is especially sad today that these now sports retirees, due to the disorganization of the system, do not have a systematically resolved status, so that they could at least as coaches successfully raise and prepare new generations of BH athletes. After such careers and sporting achievements, the least they deserved from the state is to be ensured at least a sports pension.

I am endlessly proud to know Ado and Džeki, and to have spent part of my life training and socializing with them. They are true lions of our time. Genuine athletes who do not engage in match-fixing. They always fight with their hearts, whether winning or losing, but they do not engage in unsportsmanlike and dirty things. If anyone wants to watch a top match, they should look for their fights, because every fight of theirs is their life and there is no lying there. Our lions, thank you for everything you have done for sports, for our city, and for our country! Your life and your careers are a lesson to all of us, lasting now for more than 30 years!