Tarık Solak

Tarık Solak (English: Tarik Solak; 1964 – 24 October 2020) was a Turkish-Australian kickboxing promoter.

Tarık Solak
Born	1964 Ankara, Turkey
Died	24 October 2020(2020-10-24) (aged 56) Ankara
Resting place	Karşıyaka Cemetery, Ankara
Citizenship	Turkish, Australian
Occupation	Kickboxing promoter
Known for	A1 World Combat Cup
Spouse	1 ​ ​ (m. 1983; div. 2005)​
Children	1 (Arif Solak; born 1982)

Personal life

Solak was born in Ankara to a working class family with 5 children, hailing from Yozgat.^[1] His family emigrated to Australia when he was five and Solak grew up in the Northern Melbourne suburb of Brunswick among the Turkish community and in a crowded family.^[1][2] He started his martial arts training in taekwondo under Jemal Hasan and achieved the rank of 4th dan.^[2] He later pursued a career in kickboxing and became a gym manager.^[2]

After a long fight with cancer, he died in October 2020, in Australia.^[3][4] His funeral took place in Karşıyaka Cemetery, Ankara, on 24 October 2020.^[5] Solak was married between 1983 and 2005,^[6] and had one son, born 1983,^[6] named Arif.^[7]

Career

Solak started his career as a kickboxing promoter in 1993 with an event where Turkish fighters trained by Jemal Hasan such as Tibet Hamza, Gerald Ilhan, Recep Saka, and Gürkan Özkan were featured.^[8] In the following year, Solak staged another show where Tibet Hamza vs. Gürkan Özkan bout was the main event.^[2] Major Australian sports broadcaster Fox Sports began covering Solak's promotions and by 1998, as he organised a major event at the Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex.^[2][8]

In 1999, Solak met K-1 founder Kazuyoshi Ishii in Japan.^[8][9] After becoming the CEO for K-1's Oceania region, Solak promoted the first K-1 World Grand Prix event in Melbourne in 2001. Later K-1 fighters Mike Zambidis and Mark Hunt got their opportunities at K-1 events promoted by Solak.^[2][8]

In 2003, Solak left K-1 and, by 2004, founded his new promotion A-1 World Combat Cup.^[10][11] A-1 was created with a show business concept that blended kickboxing with various spectacles.^[8][12] After several events in Australia, in 2005, A-1 held its first event in Istanbul^[9] and Solak bolstered his ties with the European kickboxing scene through his partnership with French co-promoter Kader Marouf.^[13] A-1 was well received by the Turkish public in following years and events promoted by Solak had serious representation in Turkish media.^[1] By 2006 and later, the show business aspect of A-1 was even furthered by Solak with the tournament A-1 Model Boxing that featured female fashion models.^[14][15] Turkish edition of Forbes magazine asserted in 2008 that the success of A-1 in Turkey resulted in a 'kickboxing economy' with very significant dimensions.^[9]

In 2007, Solak was featured with a supporting role, named "Arif Boz", in Turkish TV series titled "Pusat", lasted 13 episodes, directed by Osman Sınav.^[16]

Filmography and television

TV series

Year	Channel	Series	Role	Notes
2007	Show TV	Pusat	Arif Boz	Supporting actor (13 episodes)
2018	Kanal D	Yüreğin Kadar	Himself	Promoter (1 episode)

Guest appearances

Year	Channel	Program	Notes
2006	TGRT	Hülya Avşar Show	Guest[17]
2013	CNN Turk	Burada Laf Çok	Guest
2016	Akit TV	Spor Aktüel	Guest