Karapet Karapetyan (42-9-2, 4 KO’s) has fought hard to get where he is today.
Netherlands-raised but Armenian born, Karapetyan came through some hard times to simultaneously become a qualified lawyer and one of the world’s top welterweight kickboxers.
The highlight of his career came in December when he qualified for the GLORY 13 TOKYO Welterweight Tournament, though he was eliminated by tournament winner Nieky Holzken (84-11, 44 KO’s) in the semi-finals.
Despite that disappointment, Karapetyan is proud of what he has achieved thus far and he intends to rise even further. So this week, when he saw comments made by his GLORY SUPERFIGHT SERIES 14 opponent, Artur Kyshenko (56-11-1, 29 KO’s), in an online interview andhe was not impressed.
Kyshenko, a longtime lightweight standout who has now moved up to welterweight, declared himself better than Karapetyan in all areas, and confidently asserted that he would be the GLORY Welterweight Champion in 2014.
“I’ve seen him fight. He did a good job in the lightweight division - he’s a good fighter, he’s complete,” says Karapetyan.
“But he has a big mouth. When we meet on March 8 in Zagreb I will show him that I am a better fighter than he is. And in general I think he is going to have himself a hard time in this division.”
Losing to Holzken in the December tournament was a big disappointment for Karapetyan and was also one of the very rare occasions where an opponent was seen to hurt him.
Usually Karapetyan is an impassive, cold-faced fighter with a relentless, almost mechanical, style of constant attack.
“Holzken was on good form in Japan,” he shrugs. “But I made a very big mistake at the beginning of the fight. I wasn’t able to come back from it and that cost me the fight and a place in the final.
“I thought the Grand Final between Holzken and [Canada’s ‘Bazooka’ Joe] Valtellini was a good one, especially when you consider that Valtellini doesn’t really have that much experience at this level.
“It was also good to see a fighter from Canada in the final. GLORY brings fighters in from around the world, a lot of new countries are represented, and that means the competitive level is very high. GLORY is the best of the best.”
Currently training hard in his home city of Nijmagen, Netherlands, the usually taciturn Karapetyan closes out with a final counter to Kyshenko’s recent comments.
“He says he’s going to be the GLORY Welterweight Champion?” he smiles. “No - I am going for the welterweight belt, and I will take it this year!”
GLORY SUPERFIGHT SERIES 14 takes place Saturday, March 8 in Zagreb, Croatia and features six superfights between some of GLORY’s top names as they seek to earn the ranking points which will propel them towards title shots and tournament spots.
GLORY 14 ZAGREB takes place immediately after the conclusion of the SUPERFIGHT SERIES card and airs in the USA on SPIKE TV at 9pm ET/PT and in over 150 territories around the world - check local listings for details.
