Minutes after winning the GLORY welterweight title, Marc De Bonte was already fielding questions about what his next fight would be.
The top end of the welterweight division is well stacked and closely matched; the #1-ranked Nieky Holzken and the #2-ranked ‘Bazooka’ Joe Valtellini are frontrunners for title shots.
Both were supposed to be on the GLORY 16 DENVER card on Saturday night. Holzken had to pull out with a shoulder injury and Valtellini had to turn down an offer to step in because he was also nursing an injury.
“I’ve been training and fighting since I was a small boy. This title is the result of eighteen years of hard work and I couldn’t be happier right now. It was one of the best nights of my life,” says De Bonte, now 87-11-1 in his career.
“The belt stayed in the bed with me on the night, I had it next to me. And from now on it doesn’t leave my side. I like this belt a lot and its not going anywhere, its staying with me.
“Anybody who wants to try and take it from me is more than welcome to try but I promise them, it is staying with me.”
Saturday’s win over Karapet Karapetyan (43-10-2, 4 KO’s), who got the shot after Holzken and Valtellini had to pass on it, was a close one. It was a also a very technical affair between two tricky and intelligent fighters who know each other well and knew how to close down their opponent’s routes of attack.
De Bonte does not consider it the most exciting fight of his career, though he does think the split-decision his way should have been a unanimous decision; he feels he “clearly won the first four rounds”.
“You have to fight a certain way against Karapetyan because of the way he fights. He’s really good with that push kick when you’re coming forward looking to box and throw punches,” he says.
“To deal with him you really have to get into your kicking game and sort of pick him apart. A fight with Holzken or Valtellini would look very different to this fight with Karapetyan.”
Holzken’s injury - lingering shoulder problems from a January car accident - looks set to keep him on the sidelines for at least two more months. That means Valtellini is likely to be the first fighter to face champion De Bonte for his title.
“Valtellini is a worthy challenger. He came second in the welterweight tournament and he is #2 in the world rankings so GLORY could give him a title shot. If he’s the first challenger yeah, I’m fine with that. Bring it on,” says De Bonte.
As for Holzken still being ranked #1 because of how many points he has accumulated, De Bonte doesn’t agree.
“No, I don’t think Holzken can be considered the absolute world #1. He hasn’t faced me yet. And if you look at our records, he’s got two losses to L'houcine Ouzgni and I stopped Ouzgni in the first round last year.
“So, you know, there’s an issue to be settled between us. We need to fight and then we will see who the number one is.”
GLORY’s next event takes place Saturday June 21 at The Forum in Los Angeles, California.
That day GLORY will present the most stacked card in the history of kickboxing, as world titles go on the line in the middleweight and heavyweight divisions and a featherweight contender tournament determines who is the rising star of that weight class.
