Reid hungry for gold

NICHOLAI REID, 32, knocked at the International Sports Kickboxing Association Amateur Members Association (ISKA AMA) World Championships annually until striking gold last year in Vienna, Austria, signalling a second successful season after winning his first individual US Open gold in 2023.

Reid was forced to fight as a light heavyweight in Germany 2023 after winning the middleweight title at the US Open. However, he did his best to win silver in points-sparring and bronze in continuous sparring.

In light-heavyweight continuous-sparring, Reid beat Germany’s Nuc Dam Nguyen in the first round, but went down in the second round to eventual silver-medallist, a French fighter, who teammate Nicholas Dusard toppled in the final.

ISKA light heavyweight fighters tend to reach almost six feet tall. Reid, a natural middleweight, often finds it tough against taller and bigger opponents, especially Europeans.

However, bulking up for Vienna 2024, a bigger Reid won points-sparring gold, a form he carried into the 2025 US Open, but suffered a shock loss in clash-sparring to England’s Scott Brewer after appearing to be in cruise mode against the Englishman. Aiming at a possible double gold in Brisbane, Reid said his appetite for more ISKA AMA gold medals has grown bigger after Vienna 2024.

“For the past couple of weeks, the training I have experienced has been challenging, physically and mentally. However, I will let my results speak for themselves,” he said.

Reid, Dusard and Adrian Moore could possibly face each other in the same weight division, depending on scheduling of points, clash and continuous sparring at the October 15-19 event.