Interview with Carole Flury By Nikos Andreakos

I started Martial Arts about 13 years ago (then I was 17 years old) with Judo and jiu-jitsu. I practiced Judo and Jiu-Jitsu for 6 years. I never had fights, I just practiced it for fun. After this 6 years I had to interrupt my martial arts-career. I had a herniated disc, because I trained with too heavy people. Because I wasn’t allowed to carry heavy weights anymore I started with Thaiboxing. I friend of mine took me to the training. I was very impressed and I loved this sport from the first moment. After three months of training I had my first fight in France against a French girl. I got this fight by coincidence, because one girl cancelled the fight and the promoter was looking for another girl. So I just entered into. I won the fight and it was such a great feeling, because everyone was respecting me and gave me so much honor, that I had to go on with this sport and of course fighting.

I was doing sports actually for my whole life. I started with athletics when I was about 5 or 6 years old and practiced it for about 6 years. I particularly did high and far jumping, sprints, hurdles and shot-put (I never liked distance events). Afterwards I changed to handball and tennis (but tennis I played only for about 2 years). I played handball till I changed to judo and jiu-jitsu. And of course I do Snowboarding and Skiing, that’s a must in Switzerland. I love to ride in a powder snow, that’s an amazing feeling.

Actually I didn’t made the decision, it just happened step by step. I don’t know the exact moment or date, when I turned pro.

On one side my family is very proud of me. They come to watch a lot of fights, when the fights are not too far away. On the other side, my father is somehow a little afraid, that something could happen to me. Well, I think that’s normal and is somehow very cute. My friends are also very proud and always want to know everything, what happened, my records, if I did well etc. Also my employer is very proud and makes a lot of advertisement with me. Once he also invited the whole company to an event, when I was fighting.

When I’m honest, I really don’t remember the fight anymore. I was so nervous, that I started punching and kicking from the first moment that I nearly forgot to take breath. I don’t remember what actions I did, but I remember the feeling especially after the fight, when they announced, that I have won the fight. I was very happy and a lot of spectators came to me and congratulated me to my fight. It was an amazing feeling and is very difficult to explain. But I think everyone who ever entered a ring, understands what I’m speaking of.

My toughest opponent was Kalliopi Yeitsidou on the 22^nd of September 2006 and I won the fight. It was a great feeling to beat the girl that won against all notable fighters like Windy Tomomi, Ilonka Elmont, Noriko etc. She fought the best of the best and I was able to defeat her.

(7) Which style (e.g. kick or thai-box,with or without elbows) do you prefer and why ?

I prefer thai- to kickboxing, because it is more complete. I like to use my knees. I actually do not have a lot experience with elbows. I just had one fight with elbows in Thailand. That’s actually why I prefer thaiboxing without elbows.

Before I started training with Rohy I was only training about a half a year with someone else. Therefore I’m training actually on Rohy’s side since I started thaiboxing.

Rohy Batliwala is the best trainer you can ever wish. He has a lot of experience and brought up a lot of famous and good fighters. He knows how he has to push me, when I’m down. He knows how to calm me, when I’m very nervous. And for nearly every opponent he can show me a way how I can beat her. During the fight he gives me the best advices and I know what I have to do. He knows me very well and I have lot of confidence to him.

(10) What do you think of the fact that there are many organizations, each with a different title ?

I think, that’s a real problem. There are such a lot of World champions and European Champions in the world. Of course it would be better to have just one association, but it’s not possible. But there are a few notable and big associations and I think the best way is, just to look at the big and famous ones. In my opinion you should never evaluate a fighter because of his titles. You should evaluate because of his record and because of the opponents he/she had.

In the Ladies League the best girls in each weight category get the possibility to fight against each other, like K-1 for heavy weight fighters or S-1 for the much lower weights. It is a tournament with ko-system. With this system the best fighter will win. Of course you can have bad luck and you have to fight the strongest opponent in the first round. Maybe you get injured and even if you won the first fight you cannot go on with the tournament. But you’ll get a next chance in the next tournament. That’s bad luck! The ladies league is therefore a good thing, where the world titles are not important anymore and at the end you have a champion of the tournament.

(12) Would you prefer a system like the K-1 (tournament-wise) or like the one in professional boxing, so as to be determined who the best fighters in each weight category are ?

I cannot say what system I prefer, because I never had a tournament like this before. But I’m looking forward to the 19^th of November in Amsterdam.

I think it was a very good and hard fight, but also with a clear result. Lots of the spectators meant afterwards that it was one of the best fight of the evening, because of the non-stop action and the good technique.

(14) Do you prefer fighting at home territory (or Switzerland, in general) or travelling and fighting abroad ?

It’s nice to fight abroad to see different countries and mentalities. I would love to fight in Japan once. But somehow it’s also nice to fight on home territory, because you have all your fans around you. The fans do not come with me, when I have to fight far away and then of course I have less support under the public.

(15) Which other places have you been to and what are your impressions from them ?

I have been to France, Italy, Greece, Germany and Thailand. I never had a bad experience.

(16) Are the money of women’s boxing or MMA tournaments similar to kickboxing and, if not, would you consider competing in such events ?$

Boxing I just practice as an amateur, but there you hardly get any money. In thaiboxing the money is ok, but you never could live from it. Not like the famous K-1 fighter or the professional boxers in Germany and the USA. It would be nice to get so much money, of course, but I don’t do the sport because of the money. I work 100% besides the sport, that’s the way how I finance my life.

(18) What is your main profession and how do you combine training as a pro with the professional life ?

I’m working as an auditor that means I go to the big companies and check their financial statements if they are in a true and fair view, if there are any misstatements that have to be corrected. Or I give them some advices how they can save money with the taxes and so on. Well, when I have no important fight I just train every evening. When I have an important fight I train in the morning (or go jogging), then I go to work, when I come back from working I go training again.

(20) Is there a place that you’ve never been to and that you would like to visit ?

When I have finished my studies I would like to go to Argentina for about two months or so.

I don’t think so. I think I’ll not stop training, when I stop fighting. And with my work I think I have enough to do.

I do not set my plans to far in the future. I would like to fight against the best girls as long as I have to motivation and then I will put my energy in my work and maybe family. Who knows…

Thank you !!!

Thanks to our Greek Correspondent, Nikos Andreakos for this interview and also for the fight report
of Flury vs Yeitsidou.

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