A Pioneer Who Helped Bring Professional Martial Arts to a Bigger Stage
Black Belt Magazine mourns the passing and celebrates the life of Hilary J. Sandoval III, a pioneering martial arts promoter, entrepreneur and academy owner whose work helped shape the growth of professional kickboxing and martial arts promotion during the 1980s and 1990s.
Sandoval’s story began in extraordinary fashion.
Just months out of high school, at only 18 years old, Hilary promoted his first professional kickboxing event alongside his younger brother and business partner, Tony Sandoval, who was just 12 at the time.
Together, the Sandoval brothers became two of the youngest promoters in professional martial arts, beginning an extraordinary journey that would place them alongside world champions, legendary martial artists and some of the most influential figures in combat sports.
From their home base in El Paso, Texas, Hilary and Tony produced events that helped introduce professional kickboxing to a much wider audience. In 1980, Hilary promoted the first nationally televised World Kickboxing Championship held in the state of Texas.
Tragedy would strike the Sandoval family only a year later. Tony Sandoval, just 19 years old, and World Champion Demetrius Havanas, 32, were killed in a plane crash while traveling to a world title fight involving the Sandovals’ fighter, Cliff Thomas.
In the face of unimaginable loss, Hilary and Thomas made the difficult decision to carry on and promote the fight—a testament to the resilience and commitment that would come to define Hilary’s career.
Hilary continued the work he and his brother had begun together, expanding his promotional reach beyond El Paso to events in Phoenix, Dallas, Midland and Houston. Over the course of his career, he personally worked with or promoted 21 world champions, leaving an enduring mark on professional kickboxing and the martial arts community.
His events were also known for bringing martial arts together with mainstream sports and entertainment. Special guests over the years included Chuck Norris, Ernie Reyes Jr., Cynthia Rothrock, Randall “Tex” Cobb, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and Rudy Ruettiger, whose life story inspired the motion picture Rudy.
But Hilary Sandoval's contribution went far beyond individual events.
Alongside Scott Coker, who would later become one of combat sports' most prominent executives, and other leading promoters of the era, Sandoval was among the original founders of the International Sport Karate Association (ISKA). The organization would go on to play an important role in sanctioning and expanding kickboxing and sport karate competition internationally.
In 1988, Hilary expanded his commitment to martial arts by opening his first academy. With the support of George Chung, the Sandoval family would go on to establish ABK martial arts schools throughout El Paso, building upon a brand originally created in California by Chung and Cynthia Rothrock. What began with two remarkably young brothers promoting professional fights grew into a decades-long legacy of teaching, competition and service to the martial arts community.
Hilary Sandoval belonged to a generation of promoters who helped build professional martial arts before today's massive combat-sports platforms existed. They booked the arenas, found the fighters, attracted sponsors, worked with television and convinced audiences that martial artists deserved a professional stage.
And Hilary started doing it when he was barely old enough to have graduated from high school.
His story is not simply one of the events he promoted or the champions he worked with. It is the story of someone who believed in martial arts enough to help create opportunities for others—and who spent much of his life helping the sport grow.
Black Belt Magazine extends its deepest condolences to the Sandoval family, the ABK family, and the generations of martial artists, fighters and friends whose lives Hilary touched.
His contribution to martial arts will be remembered.
Rest in peace, Hilary J. Sandoval III.
— Black Belt Magazine
