GLORY 13 TOKYO is one of the most stacked cards in kickboxing history, with a line-up of living legends, world-beating talent and rising stars.
Peter Aerts headlines the event in his retirement match. The 43-year-old is still dangerous and he is taking a tough fight to go out on. Opposite him will be Rico Verhoeven, the 24-year-old winner of the GLORY 11 CHICAGO Heavyweight Championship Tournament.
Let’s take a look at the matchmaking and what we can expect from the fights:
Peter Aerts (103-30-1, 78 KO's) vs. Rico Verhoeven (42-9-0, 10 KO's)
Heavyweight
“Peter Aerts is a big star, one of the greatest kickboxers ever. He is the old generation and Rico is the new generation. We thought it was a great idea to let the old generation fight the new generation and look towards the future.
“Rico is the favorite but Peter Aerts is still up there - look at what happened with Jamal Ben Saddik at GLORY 8. You can never count him out.”
The Welterweight Championship Tournament
“In the reserve match you have Alexander Stetsurenko (48-8-0, 24 KO's) and Karim Ghajji (93-9-1, 49 KO's). They were both very highly ranked initially but they have been surpassed by other fighters in the rankings, which is why they are in the reserve slot.
“One of them is going to win and get back on track. Neither can afford to lose so this will be a dynamic match for sure.”
The Semi-Finals:
Nieky Holzken (82-11-0, 43 KO's) vs. Karapet Karapetyan (42-8-2, 4 KO's)
“Holzken has knockout power and very good timing whereas Karapetyan is like a machine. It is a tough fight for Holzken, having a guy who constantly attacks like that. Karapetyan is so busy that if the fight goes to decision, the result probably favors him.
“On the other hand Holzken has the power in this fight, he has gone 3-0 in GLORY with stoppages in each fight and he can end the fight with one punch. It’s a machine against an explosive knockout fighter.
‘Bazooka’ Joe Valtellini (10-1-0, 9 KO's) vs. Raymond ‘Real Deal’ Daniels (24-0. 10 KO’s)
“I think ‘Bazooka’ Joe Valtellini is the best kickboxer out of these two fighters, because Raymond Daniels’ style is just something completely different. He is a world champion in karate multiple times, he has kicks from everywhere.
“He can knock anybody out at any time with an unusual kick that kickboxing stylists like Valtellini aren’t used to. For Valtellini, he really needs to try and trap Daniels against the ropes and take those kicks away.
“The final will be interesting. Karapetyan could win a decision or, if he loses, he probably loses a decision and gives Holzken a really tough fight along the way. They will hurt each other. Valtellini probably either wins by stoppage or gets stopped.
“We will have to see what happens but there is a good chance that a North American fighter can win this tournament, which is really interesting.”
Errol Zimmerman (101-10-1, 42 KO's) vs. Daniel Ghita (49-10-0, 38 KO's)
Heavyweight
“This is a big rematch, a big opportunity for Errol to prove that he is back on track. He lost some fights in the last year and has now returned to training at his old gym. He is back to his roots and we saw the benefits in the GLORY 11 fight against Hesdy Gerges, Errol knocked him out.
“Daniel Ghita is one of the top guys in GLORY. He was very close to winning the tournament. He had some losses this year but he is still highly-ranked and a very dangerous fighter. The losses have been to the #1 and #2 ranked fighters - Semmy Schilt and Gokhan Saki - then lost in the tournament final to Rico Verhoeven.”
Dustin Jacoby (4-2-0, 3 KO's) vs. Makoto Uehara (15-4-1, 9 KO's)
Light-Heavyweight
“Jacoby is a real fighter. He always comes to fight and looks to finish - look what he did in the first ‘Road To Glory’ tournament.
“Uehara is the more experienced fighter and is a domestic Japanese champion, he fought a lot of experienced guys in the past.
“Jacoby has been training hard though and he will go for the win. Uehara has advantages in terms of home country and pure kickboxing skills but Jacoby has big KO power and has fought on some big stages before.”
Jerome Le Banner (90-20-2, 70 KO's) vs. Sergey Kharitonov (4-3-0, 3 KO's)
Heavyweight
“Kharitonov is a two-sport fighter, MMA and kickboxing, but he has found kickboxing harder. He had a good fight last time in GLORY, beating the London, England heavyweight Daniel Sam with a dominating performance.
“Le Banner is a legend of course, like Bonjasky and Aerts, but he isn’t retiring yet. He has won his GLORY fights until now and he has a lot of experience, much more than Kharitonov. Both guys have big power, both have big hooks and crosses. So either man can win.”
Remy Bonjasky (98-11-0 (36 KO's) vs. Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva (36-10-1, 24 KO's)
“This is Bonjasky’s Japanese retirement fight and like Peter Aerts he is a legend of the old generation. He fought Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva at GLORY 2 BRUSSELS and won a decision but Silva’s fans have always complained that Bonjasky should not really have won the decision. So now he gets the chance to have a rematch.
“Anderson is another fighter who has suffered some losses this year but you have to look at who he has been fighting, he has only fought basically champions and former champions. We will see how he does against Bonjasky, if he does well then in 2014 he can start to work back up the rankings and we will see what he can do.
Yuta Kubo (40-4-1, 18 KO's) vs. Mosab ‘The Jaguar’ Amrani (50-8-4, 15 KO's)
Featherweight
“This fight could be for a world title, these are basically the two best fighters in this weight category. Amrani has been on top form since coming back from injury. He took a win over Liam Harrison at GLORY 5, although he was eliminated from the GLORY 8 featherweight tournament.
“Kubo won that tournament, he is a master technician and has knockout power as well, which is unusual for this weight. Amrani is similar - he has power, technique and aggression. I think if Amrani comes in on top form then we can expect a really beautiful fight.”
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