Now he's known simply as "The Kid" - there's not an ounce of fat on his 6-foot-4, 204-pound frame - and if you know what's good for you, you won't mess with him. The last guy who tried that took a swift kick to the head and landed on his keister.

It's not that Copeland, who grew up in the Archdale-Trinity area and now lives in Greensboro, isn't a nice guy, because he is. He's friendly, personable, clean-cut and soft-spoken, with a good sense of humor. He's 31, he sells insurance for a living, and he has a young, pretty wife he married last October.

Put him in a boxing ring, though, and Ronnie Copeland the mild-mannered insurance salesman becomes Ronnie "The Kid" Copeland, a world-champion professional kickboxer who unleashes a ferocious flurry of flying fists and feet. On the way to a 22-5 record as a pro, he has broken several fighters' noses, one guy's ribs, and he's knocked out 17 of his opponents.

"It's not that I'm violent or like to hit people - and I sure don't like getting hit - but it's the feeling of accomplishment after you win," says Copeland, who will defend his world title this weekend.

The road Copeland followed from "the fat kid" to "The Kid" was not a smooth one.

Already chubby by age 7, he took karate lessons but quickly lost interest. When he was 11, he got picked on because he was too fat to wear the cool clothes all the other kids were wearing. When he had a crush on a cute girl and tried to talk to her, the other kids taunted him and jiggled his belly, saying he was too fat for the girl to like him.

"I said, 'All right, I'm tired of this crap,'" Copeland says. "I started taking kung fu. I started running and changed my diet, and within three months, I had lost 25-30 pounds."

About a year later, a boy on the school bus hit Copeland in the head with a pencil, and he stood to defend himself.

"What are you gonna do?" the boy taunted. "I remember you - you're that fat boy. You can't fight."

He lunged at Copeland, who promptly delivered a solid kick to the boy's head.

"He fell into the seat and was looking up at me in shock," Copeland recalls.

No one else ever dared to pick on Copeland, he says.

Meanwhile, his martial-arts skills continued to improve dramatically, and by 14 he had earned his black belt. He switched from kung fu and point karate to kickboxing, fighting his first match at 16. That match was a draw - and he lost his second match - but then he began winning fights left and right.

After winning the state amateur heavyweight title in 1993, he turned pro. The next year, at age 20, he won his first world heavyweight title from the Professional Kickboxing Federation. More titles would follow, including the Karate International Council of Kickboxing's world heavyweight title, which he won in 2003 and will defend Saturday against a Scottish fighter named John Fleming.

"I think he's probably gonna be real aggressive and wild," he says. "I've just got to keep moving and keep him from getting close to me."

Copeland has also spent a few years in pro boxing - which he says improved his punching ability - but kicking is still his strength.

"If I kick somebody, it stings them," he says. "I kick hard and fast, and I'm known as one of the best kickers in the heavyweight division."

Copeland says his success didn't come without sacrifice.

In addition to countless hours of running, lifting weights and sparring, he's had to watch his eating habits. At one point during high school, when Copeland's friends were feasting on pizza and cheeseburgers, his trainer had him on a diet of pinto beans and vegetables to get his weight down; he did that for six months.

He's also had his share of kickboxing injuries: A broken nose - at least seven times. A broken jaw. A fractured orbit. Two busted eardrums. Cracked ribs. Broken feet.

"Sometimes," Copeland says with a laugh, "I think, 'Why am I doing this? I need to take up something safe like knitting or tennis. I could knit and never get hit again.'"

But before he goes out and buys those knitting needles, Copeland wants to own all three major world titles simultaneously - the Karate International Council of Kickboxing title he already has, plus the titles of the International Kickboxing Federation and the U.S. Kickboxing Association.

He also plans to compete in the World Combat League, a new team-oriented event being spearheaded by actor Chuck Norris.

Then, Copeland says, he'll consider retiring from the kickboxing arena.

"I've got a few more good years," he says. "I want to do this while I'm still young. When I'm old, I don't want to look back and wonder if I could've done more."

WANT TO GO?

"Kombat in the Carolinas," featuring world-championship kickboxing, will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at The Venue, 2401 Randleman Road, Greensboro.

Among the matches will be Ronnie "The Kid" Copeland vs. John Fleming, a bout for the Karate International Council of Kickboxing's world heavyweight title.

Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. For ringside seats, tickets are $25 in advance, $35 at the door. Call (336) 254-2648.

jtomlin@hpe.com | 888-3579