Tad Coffen

Tad S. Coffen Ph.D. currently is retitred from pro-kickboxing. He teaches at a small karate school in a rural town in Wisconsin. He is a direct desendant of Levi Coffin, one of the major factors in the Civil Wars, "Underground Railroad. Tad has ben active in the martial arts for 30 years. He is considered as a martial arts pioneer. He owns Modern martail Arts, LLC and feels the advancement of the martial arts is a life long passion. He is quoted as saying, "Never accept change, knowing the difference, never adapt and die naked cold and alone".

Tad S. Coffen PhD

Born March 12, 1953

Milwaukee, WI

Full Contact, Jeet Kune Do, Kempo, Taekwondo

A retired American kickboxer with a record of 28-2, with 19 wins by KO/TKO. His professional boxing record was 5-1 with 3 wins by KO/TKO.

Tad at one time was the undisputed World Cruiser Weight Kickboxing Champion holding titles for all the major kickboxing associations IKF, ISKA, KICK, WKA, and FFKA.

Tad won his IKF Pro Full Contact Rules Heavyweight World Title when he defeated Barrington Patterson of Coventry, England by TKO at the end of the 5th round In Hawaii, USA on May 31st, 1989.

His First Defense of this title was in May 1990 in Sacramento, California, USA when he Defeated Achille Roger of France by TKO in 5th round.

Tad's World Title was retired by the IKF on November 24th, 2003. The reason was because the IKF Organization had been trying to contact Dr. Coffen since June 2003, to discuss what his future plans for the sport were, such as a title defense, or a retirement of his title. However they never received any return phone call.

Tad had two losses. His first was to another former IKF World Champion, Don "The Dragon" Wilson in a light heavyweight match for the World Kickboxing Association's (WKA) world title. The fight was televised on NBC Sports World and some of Tad's fans dispute the fairness of the result. Shortly after this match Tad moved up in weight to fight and win world titles at the Cruiser and Heavyweight divisions.

His second loss was against Stan "The Man" Longinidis in Australia in a "Leg Kick" rules bout. In the bout, Longinidis won on a first round TKO after Tad's leg was broken (spiral fracture) following a leg kick from Longinidis. Tad disputed the fight and said the fracture was caused by twisting his leg on the depression in the ring floor. Others maintain the loss was due to Tad's unfamiliarity with Muay Thai techniques, which differed greatly from Western kickboxing of the time. Thai techniques stress the ability to kick and check to the leg; Western kickboxing in Tad's career usually involved boxing with kicks above the waist only. Tad had a number of fights under International kickboxing rules which permit leg kicks, but he wasn't experienced with Muay Thai. A rematch between Longinidis and Tad was discussed but a promoter with enough money was never secured. Tad was one of the most dominant fighters to ever enter the kickboxing ring. He mixed hands and feet effortlessy and had incredible endurance. He knocked out several opponents with his powerful spinning back kick to the mid-section. PKA.com list Tad Coffen as one of the best Kickboxers ever. IKF.com (International Kickboxing Federation) lists him in the Hall of fame for pro kickboxers.

Since his retirement there has been no news of Tad training for or appearing at any kickboxing event and has since disappeared altogether.

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