With Saulo Cavalari’s title defence against Gokhan Saki potentially off, the Brazilian turns his attention to GLORY Heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven.
Dubbed ‘Saulo Clay’ after Cassius Clay, Cavalari was scheduled to face the returning Saki on March 28; the event was rumoured to take place in Paris, France although nothing was confirmed.
However, one of Cavalari’s coaches, Thomas Harinck, broke the news on Twitter, Sunday night, that 32-year-old Saki was injured and out of the fight with the Brazilian.
Helaas hoor net dat Saki niet kan vechten tegen mijn jongen Saulo Cavalari wegens een blessure in Parijs. pic.twitter.com/IiOknmCdvd
— Thom Harinck (@chakurikikancho) January 24, 2016
MMA PLUS have reached out to GLORY Kickboxing for a comment on Saki’s rumoured injury.
Speaking to Bruno Massami, Cavalari declared his disappointment that he would not be facing Saki; after waiting two years to fight ‘The Rebel’ due to contract disputes with GLORY Kickboxing.
“It’s a huge disappointment. I waited for this guy for two years, dedicating a precious time in my career,” said Cavalari. “Now, I [will] not wait for him. I know he may be injured and this things happened in this sport, but I want to see him make a public statement about that because he need to explain what happened to his fans.”
Not one to wait around, Cavalari has already eyed up his next challenge, and called for a champion vs. champion match-up against Heavyweight title holder Rico Verhoeven.
The newly crowned “King of Kickboxing” recently scored a huge knockout of Benjamin Adegbuyi at GLORY 26 Amsterdam in December.
“I fought for many years in the Heavyweight division. I do not want see my career stopped by [this] anchor, I want to take the next step and Rico Verhoeven is that. It’s a awesome fight to fans and I am confident [that I] can be make history in GLORY and kickboxing community.
“I was scheduled to fight in March and Rico fought in December. I think is a perfect date to do that, two young guys fighting for the title, I know GLORY is a amazing event and have a smart people around. They knows this fight can be a war and the fans can appreciate it too.”
Verhoeven responded via his Twitter account and refuted claims that the fight could happen anytime soon.
@BrMassami @GLORY_WS if he is really talking about that he should defend his title a few times before stepping to the “undisputed”
— Rico Verhoeven (@RicoVerhoeven) January 25, 2016
Interview conducted by Bruno Massami of Gazeta Esportiva.
