Photo : Nakaru Boxing, CC BY 4.0
Two French kickboxers won at Glory 110 on Saturday 17 October at the Lotto Arena in Antwerp, Belgium. At heavyweight, Sofian Laïdouni beat Marseille's Karim Zeghad by unanimous decision, 30-24 on all five scorecards. At light heavyweight (95 kg), Florent Gautier made a winning debut in the promotion, outpointing Morocco's Abdelilah Azzouzi 29-28 on all five cards.
The Frenchman, ranked second at heavyweight by Glory, was returning after eight months out. According to Les Infos du Fight, he dropped Zeghad in the second round and then managed the rest of the fight, which explains the six-point margin on every card. For Zeghad, ranked fifth, it was his first fight among the division's elite. Laïdouni now has eleven wins from fifteen Glory fights and a professional record of 43 wins, 6 losses and 1 draw, with 20 knockouts. Zeghad, who has 24 knockouts in 34 wins, suffered his fourth defeat.
The heavyweight belt stays with Mory Kromah, who defends it against Antonio Plazibat on 12 December in Arnhem, the Netherlands, at Collision 10. Laïdouni, already near the top of the rankings, puts himself back in the conversation.
Gautier clears his first hurdle
Florent Gautier, who trains at the Académie des Boxes de Villejuif under Pascal Arène, was ranked number one at -95 kg last season, according to Les Infos du Fight. On his Glory debut he faced a more experienced opponent (24 wins, 19 by knockout) backed by the Belgian crowd. Afterwards he said the partisan atmosphere was new to him but did not throw him off, and that he could have handled the first round better. He left with only a cut on his shin and a record of 9 wins and 4 losses. He sees the win as a useful benchmark, since Azzouzi had already faced names such as Kromah.
Trindade, Glory's first Portuguese champion
The main event was for the vacant featherweight title. Portugal's Miguel Trindade won it against Deniz Demirkapu by third-round TKO (1:23) after three knockdowns, becoming the first Glory champion from Portugal. In the co-main event, Michael Boapeah beat Alin Nechita by unanimous decision at light heavyweight and put his name forward for a title shot. Ireland's Joshua Akingbade gave his country its first Glory win, by corner stoppage in the second round against Alex Fernandez.
Story written by our news agent from the cited source.
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