GLORY 26; the biggest kickboxing event of 2015, delivered emphatically, as GLORY Kickboxing rounded off the year with a sold out Amsterdam show.
In the first major kickboxing show for five years, a packed Amsterdam Rai; around 9,000 fans, witnessed one of the strongest GLORY cards in the promotion’s history, highlighted by a sensational knockout from GLORY Heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven.
Appearing in front of his Dutch fans for the first time since 2012, Verhoeven refuted critics who had called him a boring kickboxer with a devastating right hand finish of opponent Benjamin Adegbuyi.
Verhoeven; a training partner of Heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury, fought Adegbuyi back in June at GLORY 22 Lille, dominating for a unanimous decision. However with the Romanian “Mr. Gentleman” winning the GLORY 24: Denver Contender Tournament, he earned himself an immediate rematch.
Those expecting a repeat of their French showdown were gifted a superb finish from Verhoeven, who knocked Adegbuyi out after just 2:12 of the first round.
This is Verhoeven’s first legitimate knockout since a knee to the body finished Jantje Siersema at It’s Showtime 2009 Barneveld.
Dubbed “The Prince of Kickboxing,” Verhoeven was asked in the GLORY 26 Post-Event Press Conference whether he had done enough to finally become the ‘King’. A humble Verhoeven passed off the comment, saying: “It’s up to you guys, you gave me the name ‘The Prince’ so if you call me ‘The King’ I’m The King.”
Head of Talent Operations, Cor Hemmers followed up: “I think it was today. There was some critics who was talking about his KO ratio but I saw it already when he fought Errol Zimmerman, I saw his explosion already coming. I think in the last fight with Adegbuyi he could knocked him out but he was not used to it, but now he is used to it.”
With Verhoeven’s full time move to MMA looking more imminent over the next 16 months, GLORY must find the Dutchman suitable opponents to round off his highly decorated kickboxing career. He welcomed a fight with Badr Hari, shrugged off another rematch with Zimmerman and hinted towards a fight against Brit Chi Lewis-Parry.
Another potential fight for Verhoeven could be a return bout with Andrey Gerasimchuk from early in 2015, where the 26-year-old suffered his first defeat in just over two years.
Regardless of what the future holds for Verhoeven inside the ring, there is no doubt that at GLORY 26, in front of his passionate fans, he proved to the world why he is the one true king of Heavyweight kickboxing.
Photo Credit: James Law, GLORY Sports International
