Jauncey: “I’m going to show my slickness against Baumert”

At just 21 years old, Josh Jauncey (21-4, 10 KO’s) is fast emerging as one of the most promising prospects in kickboxing today.

Born in England but raised in Vancouver, Canada, he was trained by his father almost as soon as he could walk and supplemented that as a teenager by spending his summer vacations training in Amsterdam with top lightweight Andy Souwer and his team.

Jauncey debuted in style at GLORY 16 DENVER in May last year. He faced a very challenging opponent in Warren Stevelmans (64-22-1, 20 KO’s), an experienced veteran, and survived a knockdown scare in the first round to come back strong and win the fight by unanimous decision.

In his second outing, at GLORY 18, he stopped the South Korean lightweight Jae Gil Noh (30-13, 13 KO’s) with brutal body and head shots.

Next week he will have his third fight for GLORY as he faces Max Baumert (13-4, 4 KO’s) of Germany. Baumert is a professional boxer as well as kickboxer. He fought Souwer in October last year and lost inside the distance. Jauncey’s association with Souwer gives him an interesting angle on the upcoming match.

“I think on paper we match up really well. He hasn’t got huge amounts of experience advantage over me like the first two guys I fought in GLORY, though he does have professional boxing experience as well,” he says.

“He’s got good hands and a good tight guard but I think it’s a good fight for me. I think I can display what I have got and show my slickness. The way that Andy beat him in October… I am nothing like Andy but still, I think we have got Max down.

Jauncey is also excited to find himself fighting on a card stacked with elite talent. He was obsessed with kickboxing from a young age and now finds himself part of lineups which include fighters he had previously only seen on television.

He is also part of a wave of Canadian talent - ‘Bazooka’ Joe Valtellini, Gabriel Varga, Simon Marcus - which is making its presence felt on the international kickboxing scene. MMA has exploded in popularity in recent years but in Canada there are still sizeable numbers of fighters who have no interest in anything but striking.

“I couldn’t ask for anything better. It has always been my dream to fight on the same stage as big names like Holzken and Zimmerman,” says Jauncey. “I have a friend, Bibiano Fernandez, who says he could get me into ONE FC pretty much right away and I think I could get to the UFC as well if I wanted to, but MMA just doesn’t really interest me. Kickboxing is what I love.

“I have toyed with the idea in the past because my stand-up would smash most MMA guys but of course as soon as they took me down I would be in trouble. So I would need probably at least a year of training on the ground and takedown defense."

GLORY is a big stage with big names performing on it. Some fighters experience nerves when they get a call-up from the regional leagues to make their debut with GLORY, but Jauncey was not one of them.

“Ever since turning professional I’ve been much more relaxed than I thought I would be. Maybe too relaxed - usually it takes me a hit or two to get into the fight. But as long as it doesn’t put me out, I just come back stronger,” he laughs.

“I think you saw that in the Stevelmans fight. I was moving around a lot and not quite catching my rhythm but then he knocked me down and after that I was switched on and it was game over for him. It took me a few rounds because he is a tough guy but I was able to break him down. Broke his rib as well in one of the rounds, that slowed him down.”

Jauncey looks set to be a long-term presence in the lightweight ranks. In 2015 he is looking to climb the ladder and while he is by no means looking past Baumert, but he has given thought to what kind of opponents the future may hold.

“It doesn’t matter to me who I face if I win this fight - everyone is scary so whoever it is next I’ll be sh---ing myself, ha! Ristie vs. Moxon has just been added to this card and I am surprised I haven’t been matched with Moxon yet so it wouldn’t be unexpected if that came up,” he says.

“And if you look at the young English fighter Reece McAllister, we are so similar in background and experience - he was trained by his father, like I was - that would make sense as well. It would be a tough fight but a good one I think.”

GLORY Superfight Series 19 takes place on Friday, February 6 immediately before the GLORY 19 card. Fans around the world can stream both the Superfight Series card and the GLORY 19 card live for just $15. Details will be announced shortly.