When I originally did this interview with 'Duke', we had talked with each other quite a few years. We had the same goals and visions for the sport of Kickboxing and Muay Thai. I also like the fact that he was very humble, which at times in this sport can be a bit of a rarity. He has gone on to run a very successful Muay Thai gym and fight promotions company. It is nice to see the ones who deserve to be successful become successful. Congratulations to Duke. MIKE MILES
Mike Miles: When did you first start training in the Martial Arts?
Jeff Roufus: In 1974 at the age of 4.
Mike Miles: Obviously you are now known for Kickboxing and have trained in Muay Thai, what other styles have you trained in?
Jeff Roufus: American Karate. It was a hybrid of Kempo and Tae Kwon Do. My father first did Tae Kwon Do. When he entered open tournaments he got his butt kicked real bad. At the time Tracy's Kempo was real popular and they had a popular team from our area. He joined them because they had a little more aggressive style and it incorporated a lot of American boxing techniques. He then taught this to me.
Mike Miles: When did you have your first fight?
Jeff Roufus: August 1988 against Phil Rancer. It was my first and last amateur fight. It was a Full Contact fight. It was a 3 round unanimous decision for me. At the time the guy was the ISKA National Champion. It was a good fight for me and a good win. I was 18 years old at the time.
Mike Miles: Your Brother (Rick) boxed competitively, did you ever box?
Jeff Roufus: Never professionally, but I am thinking about it right now. I fought as an amateur and was the state golden glove champion. I had 16 fights as an amateur.
Mike Miles: What is your Kickboxing fight record?
Jeff Roufus: 26 wins and 1 loss.
Mike Miles: What are the titles you have won?
Jeff Roufus: The WKA North American Heavyweight Title. I just won the WAKO World Heavyweight Title. Both of these titles are Kickboxing Titles which allow leg kicks.
Mike Miles: Which of your fights do you feel was the most noteworthy?
Jeff Roufus: Obviously the Stan Longinidis fight was. That was the most important. It really turned my career around.
Mike Miles: I understand during that fight he threw a left hook at you in the first round and you ducked underneath and came over with a right cross. I have been told that he was out for 5 minutes.
Jeff Roufus: Yes. He was hurt pretty bad. He had a lot of weaknesses that people never capitalized on. Maurice (Smith) did a good job by keeping his right glove up all through his encounter with Stan. He never took his glove down. Stan's big asset is his left hook.
Mike Miles: Who was the toughest opponent in the ring?
Jeff Roufus: I fought a few Russians that were tough. Not so much technically tough but just tough as in the guy could take a beating and not go down. I had to expend a lot of energy to finally knock them out. All of the European fighters are tough! No particular person or name really stands out. I feel that every guy who enters the ring and if they are there to do what they are getting paid for, it is going to be a tough fight.
Mike Miles: Who is your fight loss to?
Jeff Roufus: Andy Hug. He kicked me in the rib cage. I was nursing an injury there. No excuses though, he was the best man on that night. I feel if we fought 9 or 10 rounds I could beat him. I got greedy having just fought 2 weeks earlier. The lure of money when you are young is a stupid thing. I have a photo of me on the mat from this fight in the gym. Everyday I walk into the gym, I see this photo and this is what motivates me everyday.
Mike Miles: Lets take a look at the heavyweight division. I will give you a few names and you give me your opinions on these fighters. Lets take a look at Full Contact World Champion Dennis Alexio. What do you think of him?
Jeff Roufus: He is a strong fighter. He is a buddy of mine and I spar with him occasionally. When it comes to Full Contact he is a complete fighter. The Full Contact division is more of a boxing division than a kicking division. Those who box will dominate this sport.
Mike Miles: Deviating for a second, what did you think of the outcome of the bout between Alexio and Longinidis?
Jeff Roufus: I think Stan broke his leg. No disrespect to Dennis.
Mike Miles: Alexio is really disappearing from sight now.
Jeff Roufus: Definitely. He is supposed to fight in July but I do not think a lot of the big name promoters are taking him seriously now.
Mike Miles: He has not been fighting a lot of quality competition. He claims to be the best but he will not enter Japan's K-1 Grand Prix. Jeff Roufus: That is Dennis personal opinion. I do not like the tournament itself but in this sport we do not have a lot of choices. If you want to be the best you have to go out there and fight the best. If you are going to talk the talk then you better walk the walk. I think that is the best way to get yourself established worldwide.
Mike Miles: Do you like to fight Full Contact? Jeff Roufus: : No. I never really liked it. I really changed my opinion after I saw my brother (Rick) fight Thailand's Chuengpuek. I did an interview after the fight and put the leg kicks down and said that they did not require much skill. I went to a few seminars that used leg kicks and it changed my mind very quickly. I now would like to retract the statement (from the interview following Rick's loss to Thailand's Chuengpuek Kiatsongrit) and tell the world I respect and enjoy leg kicking. If you really want to Kickbox, you can not do it in the Full Contact by throwing the 8 token kicks and then boxing. In Muay Thai and Kickboxing if you want to see the kicking and the action, these are the best forms of the sport to watch.
Mike Miles: Getting back to Alexio, if you were to fight him under kickboxing rules what would the outcome be? Jeff Roufus: I would do wonderfully. I am a very big heavyweight. I am not a blown up Thai who has fought at heavier weight classes, I have been a heavyweight most of my career. I like this weight. I box well and have a strong punch. I also have a very strong kick too. I am a good leg kicker but none of my fights have gone long enough recently to show that. Like Maurice Smith I have 35 inch thighs and 17 1/2 inch calves. Not sounding cocky but my job as a fighter is to be able to beat everyone. I want to be a World Champion. I have confidence and I train hard that I can beat anyone, Alexio, Smith, Aerts... I believe right now that there are so many talented heavyweights in our sport anybody can beat anybody on a given night.
Mike Miles: Lets talk about Maurice Smith. I think he is getting old and not as hungry as he used to be. I think he is reaching the end of his career. Jeff Roufus: We might be fighting in Thailand. Songchai (Rattatansuban) is talking about promoting a Heavyweight Muay Thai in Bangkok. It would be the first of its type. Instead of having ISKA, WKA, etc., they want all the World Muay Thai belts to come back to Thailand. I would love to fight Maurice. He is one of my idols while I was growing up. He really got me into leg kicking.
Mike Miles: How about Peter Aerts? Jeff Roufus: I would love to fight him too. I think we have contrasting styles because he is tall and lanky. He is a strong guy but I have a big punch too. It all depends on what happens on that given night. If I train right and prepare well I think I can beat any of these guys.
Mike Miles: Since the fight with Longinidis, has there been any talk about a rematch? Jeff Roufus: He keeps calling and wanting a rematch bad. He got suspended for one year from the commission there (where Jeff and Stan had their encounter) because he was not supposed to train for 30 days after being knocked out. Stan did not listen to this ruling and he went and trained for the K-1 in Japan, which he fought in last week and was knocked out again. I would love to fight him again and I would still do the same thing to him again. He is a fighter who is tailer made for me.
Mike Miles: When it comes to Kickboxing (allowing leg kicks) and Muay Thai, Europe is years ahead of North America when it comes to fighting. We presently do not have any real fighters that stand out. Who do you think is good and stands out in North America? Jeff Roufus: Maurice Smith. Pete Cunningham was good but he never really went out and fought with all the best around the world. He has never really went head to head with the European's who are really strong. Anybody in North America who is any good is out there fighting overseas and putting their ass on the line. If you are good you have the confidence to travel overseas and fight. The alternative is to stay home and promote your back room, bar room type of World Champion of California or Wisconsin. You know what I mean.
Mike Miles: The Americans are really concerned about fighting with elbows. They do not want to see them. What do you think about this? Jeff Roufus: I think the use of the elbow is great in Thailand, but everywhere in the rest of the world the fighters cut real easy from being struck by the elbows. I just think the rest of the world is not ready for elbows, the Thais are wonderful with their defense. I do not mind kneeing to the head, but no elbows.
Mike Miles: Have you ever fought using elbows? Jeff Roufus: No, but if Maurice and I fight in Thailand we will be using elbows. This bout is still only talk though. It will be like a dream come true for me if this bout happens.
Mike Miles: What are your favourite fight techniques? Jeff Roufus: I have a very strong left kick and the high kick is good also. The right low kick, I mean I think I am a very versatile fighter. I love to clinch with the knee, I like to box, I like to do it all. As a Thai Boxer or as an International rules fighter, if you are going to fight under those rules, you have to train all three diligently. Check or evade their kicks real good. Every strategy is different for each opponent.
Mike Miles: What technique are you known for? Jeff Roufus: Believe it or not I think I am a better kicker but lately I have been getting a lot of punch knockouts. I have a real good boxing coach. He trains Gerald McClellan (former WBC World Middleweight Champion) so I am around a lot of good boxers.
Mike Miles: You had mentioned to me that your brother is going to be taken over by some big boxing names. Who is it exactly? Jeff Roufus: Rick will be taken over by Peppy Carerra. There is a group called Pyramid and it is a dual contract, his agent and Peppy Carerra's camp, Sugar Ray Leonard's...he is doing a lot of training at the Holyfield Arena in Atlanta.
Mike Miles: Who's is your favourite fighter/s? Jeff Roufus: My favorite fighters are Kaman and Dekker. Unfortunately, I think they fight a little too much. In the Full Contact fighting, obviously my brother Rick (Roufus) . He has really dominated the Full Contact. He has a real interesting style. He comes out to knock people out. I think a lot of guys are not in the Full Contact fighting to knock people out. I like Samart (Payakarun) a lot also. I love his head movement. I like Ernesto Hoost's style. I like a lot of other fighters like Maurice Smith...but Kaman and Dekker are the best. Mostly Kaman. It was tough watching a guy I idolized get beaten by my brother.
Mike Miles: I read an article in Europe that say Rick will be fighting Kaman with leg kicks. Is this true? Jeff Roufus: No. He (Kaman) is really pushing that he would like to do a double contract. Rick is fighting June 17th boxing at the MGM Grand. He is trying to break the top ten in the Cruiserweight division. I think if successful Rick will quit Full Contact and once he is gone, Full Contact is gone with him.
Mike Miles: Who has been the most influential person in your life? Jeff Roufus: My father because he was the one who got us started in the Martial Arts. He owns 8 clubs here in Milwaukee. He sought out knowledge for us to learn while we were growing up. At the time Thai Boxing was not in the US yet, I remember the first Kickboxing fight I saw in 1975. It had Benny 'the Jet' Urquidez and Blinky Rodriguez fight in Milwaukee. That was big thing to watch Bill Wallace, Joe Lewis, and Jeff Smith fight on television. As the times change so do I. In growing up my dad was a Martial Arts buff and he was really into Kickboxing. In fact my dad judged the Bill Wallace retirement fight. He was really into the PKA for awhile. He just couldn't take the people, too corrupt or the politics. A famous coach that my dad likes to quote is Vince Lombardi. He says "Winning is not everything, it is the only thing". This is the same attitude of my dad. So you train like that.
Mike Miles: What is your opinion on kickboxing (with kicks to the legs)? Jeff Roufus: I only promote leg kicks in my area. It is the only way to go.
Mike Miles: Does your brother have anything to say about that? Jeff Roufus: He thinks Kaman and all of those fighters are great fighters. He was just never trained in these techniques and that style. Pudparnoi comes to Atlanta to visit and train Rick in the Thai kick using the shin into the pads. Rick uses the Thai pads to train with and the belly pad.
Mike Miles: After the Kiatsongrit encounter he definitely changed his kicking style. He quit flip kicking and started using his hips. Jeff Roufus: He learned how to smash using the shin. He has a lot of head kick knockouts from this training.
Mike Miles: There has been rumours of a rematch with Jean Yves Theriault. Jeff Roufus: I do not think it is going to happen. Jean Yves really wants a lot of money to fight. I think Rick fought ok against him. Rick fought Kaman 6 weeks earlier and Mike Macdonald 8 weeks earlier. Rick fought 3 times in 60 days. He was greedy but he made a lot of money. That is a problem that too many Kickboxers fight too often. Their biorhythms are off. You can not get up for every fight. It is not like playing in the NBA. If you do not score enough baskets in our sport, you will be laying on the canvas.
Mike Miles: How much longer do you hope to continue fighting? Jeff Roufus: As long as I stay healthy. I think once a fighter starts getting knocked out or where it is not healthy to fight, then you should not fight. If it is not financially feasible. I'll be honest, I love doing what I do but I wouldn't do it if I couldn't make money doing it. I can find a lot easier things to do to make money.
Mike Miles: How old are you now? Jeff Roufus: I just turned 25.
Mike Miles: What do you purse average right now? Jeff Roufus: They are into a respectable 5 figures.
Mike Miles: Who do you desire the most to fight? Jeff Roufus: It is so hard. Right now, I guess they call the best. That would probably be Peter Aerts because they call him the best. I would love to fight him. I want to be the best. It is all a game about power. To be the best you have to beat the best.
Mike Miles: Have you ever worked with him at all? Jeff Roufus: No. The Dutch guys are really nice people. One thing is that I have a different attitude than Rick, my brother is kind of the raging bull. He is real aggressive where I am real mellow. I do not bring any hate to the ring. I just bring a lot of passion to win. It is a little different, I am not there to hate, I am there to win. I hate losing.
Mike Miles: Are you happy with everything you have achieved so far in this sport? Jeff Roufus: Not happy enough. Everyone still tells me the outcome of the bout with Stan (Longinidis) was a lucky punch. I studied his tapes, I did my homework and I trained real hard. I was ready to go 12 rounds with no problem. It is respect, but you are always going to have your critics out there. They do not think you are worth your weight in gold.
Mike Miles: What do you think can be done to promote the art (Kickboxing, Muay Thai) better in North America? Jeff Roufus: Oh man. That is a long list. One thing boxing has done is that they have amateurs. Amateurs are the backbone of the professionals. It is the only way we can produce good fighters because in Thai boxing and Kickboxing we are so far behind the rest of the world. We need to have an amateur set of rules. They need to wear headgear and 10 or 12 oz. gloves when they fight.
Mike Miles: We do that up here in my part of Canada. Jeff Roufus: Yeah we do that here too. I have 17 and 18 year old kids who have been training now since they were 12 or 13. They went with me to Thailand to train and they are getting real good. I believe I might be able to produce some fighters that could be international calibre. Standardize rules and have one association. All these guys and their little penny ass rules who are making a little money here and a little money there, everyone should unite under one auspicious body. then we could all make a lot of money.
Mike Miles: Your last fight was the knockout of Stan Longinidis. When is your next fight scheduled? Jeff Roufus: June 24th in Paris, France. I do not know who I am fighting. We are about 7 weeks away right now. They have not named an opponent yet but it will be my first appearance in France. I am really looking forward to it. I will be fighting on the same show as Kaman, Dekker, Dida,...all of the household names in Europe.
Mike Miles: Do you have any other fights booked for 1995? Jeff Roufus: I will be back at the Foxwoods Casinos defending my WAKO Title in the third week of October. I would like to get back to Japan. I want to fight Satake...I want to fight this guy who is coming up, the next hottest thing out of Australia, Sam Greco. He is not too much on technique but he is a bruiser.
Mike Miles: Is there anything you would like to finish the interview with? Jeff Roufus: Just I wish more people would get involved with Thai Boxing. It is actually easier than regular Kickboxing. I think we need to unite, and get everything together. I do not think there will be a million dollar payday in my generation. Everyone who supports the sport needs to come together.
Mike Miles: The K-1 winner won $200,00.00 US. Jeff Roufus: Yeah there is a lot of money in Japan.
Mike Miles: Congratulations on becoming a WKA Representative. Jeff Roufus: Oh Thanks. I am really into it. I have so many amateur kids that train at our gym. Amateurs are everything. There is no future right now in American kickboxing. It is so sad. America does not seem to have a clue. Most the fights in Milwaukee are Full Contact. I am working on changing that.