‘Chopper’ Chi Lewis-Parry is a man of many talents. From basketball, to mixed martial arts, to his new found success in kickboxing.
The 31 year-old plans to take over the GLORY heavyweight division, starting with Pat Barry at GLORY 23, culminating in a title shot on home soil against Rico Verhoeven early 2016.
Lewis-Parry burst onto the GLORY scene back in April at GLORY 20: Dubai, dispatching of Park Yong-Su in 25 seconds, and ever since his charismatic enigma has propelled him to the forefront of the heavyweight rankings.
GLORY 21: San Diego was set to be his coming out party, however it wasn’t meant to be, despite beating Demoreo Dennis, he failed to beat rival Xavier Vigney in the finals of the Heavyweight Qualification Tournament.
The outspoken Lewis-Parry revealed there were no excuses for his loss, and he was beaten by the better man, however admitted fighting two fights in one night was just part of the obstacles he had to overcome before fighting in San Diego.
“Me and Danny; my coach, we’d spent a week in Amsterdam beforehand waiting for this Visa, and then we were told that we weren’t going to go,” said Lewis-Parry.
“We got denied, then they [customs] kept my passport and we were stuck in Amsterdam, so we weren’t training or nothing because we were told ‘you’re not fighting.’
“I went to go pick up the passport on the Monday so I could go home and it had the Visa in it. So I’d just wasted a week. And then the long arse flight, we got there on the Tuesday, I didn’t really have much of a chance to adjust.”
As for the night, ‘Chopper’ admitted one of Dennis’s inside leg kicks injured him in his semi-final fight, and the agony almost lead to him withdrawing from the tournament final.
“It was a rough week that is all it was. It all caught up with me. If me and Vigney fought in one fight, I’d smash him. That’s why I said the rematch straight away, but I wasn’t bothered by the decision. I was so tired and I didn’t have any good mobility in my lead leg because of my ankle.
“Fighting twice in the night, I’ve never done that before, it was a new experience. There is no excuse, I lost that’s it, I’m still alive, and everybody still loves me, I only won.”
The undefeated ONE FC heavyweight tends not to ponder in the past, and is now looking to get back to winning ways, starting at GLORY 23: Las Vegas, August 7 against Pat “Hype or Die” Barry, whom ‘Chopper’ was incredibly vocal about.
“He’s going to sell tickets. I think he’s good, he can fight, but everybody can fight. ‘Fat Barry’, he needs to lose some pounds from his belly before he fights me, because I will make him look like a little fat dumpling. He’s the Pillsbury Doughboy, he looks like Morph.”
With Lewis-Parry sitting at number eight in the rankings, a close competitor Barry ranks number ten, ahead of fighters such as: Jamal Ben Saddik and Jahfar Wilnis.
Despite this, the Brit feels Barry is well ranked within GLORY and that in-ring performance is just one factor in the heavyweight chess game.
“He’s ranked above those guys, but maybe that’s because of what he brings. He’s a personality, he’s definitely a personality, he’s a likeable guy, and he’s got the UFC fan base he brings with him. I don’t care, he could be ranked number 20, and I’d still want to fight him. He’s Pat Barry, Fat Barry.”
Alongside his insults for the former UFC heavyweight fighter, ‘Chopper Chi’ issued Barry with a warning should the pair collide in Las Vegas: “Fat Barry, people are starting to not care who he is, so for five minutes that will include his entrance and the time it takes me to finish his arse, he will be known again. Ultimately he will be known as the latest victim of Chopper Chi.
“He’s publically said he’s cleared by his doctors, so you should take that fight mate. And it’s some good motivation for him to lose some pounds from that fat belly.”
Despite the potential clash with Barry, Lewis-Parry describes it as part of the bigger picture. That being a GLORY world title fight in his home of London.
With GLORY CEO Jon Franklin recently stating the promotion intend to focus an event around Lewis-Parry ‘first quarter 2016’, the big Brit believes he can sell out the O2 Arena, whilst captivating the UK market to rally in his support.
“It’s already happening, it’s already set, but the cement is still wet that’s all, but that is going to be stone real soon. It makes sense, how exciting would that be to bring GLORY back to London and have a home grown guy fight for the title?
“To be able to bring that to the UK and I want to fill that up, I want to be a media personality, where people who don’t even watch kickboxing want to come and see me. I want to take it to another level where people buy into it and see it as a big deal, it’s huge, the O2 Arena.”
If one thing is certain, Lewis-Parry is certain of his assignment, ‘Operation Chopper Chi’ as he looks to solidify his spot in the heavyweight division, and believes his ‘all or nothing’ attitude will help him fulfil his mission.
“I need to put my next opponent asleep, I can’t be winning no decisions, no tough close fight, that’s what people want to see, that’s exciting, that’s a promise. If they see me put Pat Barry to sleep in a devastating fashion then GLORY will be on board, there is no way they wouldn’t.
“The thing with me is you know what you’re going to get, either me finishing my guy, or my guy finishing me, I’m not going to go there and try and play it safe. It’s all or nothing. You have to leave an impression on people.
“My personality is greater than my ability as a fighter. So, I don’t get hung up on a loss, I just make sure it doesn’t happen again, and it won’t.”
