Earlier this week GLORY officially confirmed that young Canadian lightweight prospect Josh Jauncey (23-5, 12 KOâs) will face Giorgio âThe Doctorâ Petrosyan (78-2-1, 35 KOâs) at GLORY 25 MILAN on Friday, November 6.
It is a huge fight for Jauncey, the biggest of his fledgling career. Petrosyan was the undisputed #1 in the world for many years and he is always included in conversations about which kickboxer is the greatest of all time.
At GLORY 12 NEW YORK, Petrosyan was expected to cruise through the tournament in his usual untroubled fashion and take the win. Andy Ristie shocked the world by stopping him in the semi-finals, the first time Petrosyan was ever knocked out and one of only two losses in his career.
On top of that, Petrosyan badly injured his hand during the fight and took a long time off for surgery and recovery. He returned to the ring at the start of 2015 and has fought three times with three wins. But all those fights were outside GLORY - the Milan show in November will be Petrosyanâs first GLORY fight since that loss in New York. Can he regain his former status?
Jauncey is young and has nothing like the experience Petrosyan has, but he is an exciting new talent and very ambitious. He is a good match-up with Petrosyan. Obviously Petrosyan is more experienced and is the favorite but he has much more to lose. Jauncey is a young, hungry fighter and Petrosyan has been out of the game for a while.
I am happy that we have Petrosyan back, I like to watch him, I like his movement and his technical skills. He is not a fighter who knocks a lot of people out but in terms of skills and the way he can analyze an opponent, he is completely unique. He fights with a lot of intelligence. I see a lot of intelligence in Jauncey as well and that is what makes this fight interesting for me.
Petrosyan has won three fights since he came back, but Jauncey is a higher level than those three opponents. Some people are saying that it is maybe a little harsh to match Jauncey with Petrosyan right now as Jauncey is coming off a loss to Sitthichai at GLORY 22 FRANCE, but really this fight is a win-win for him. He has nothing to lose and he was very keen to take the fight.
I think it says a lot about him that he wanted the fight and also that he is willing to travel to Milan to fight Petrosyan in his own back yard in front of a home-town crowd. I really see Jauncey as one of the big names in the future for our sport, he is going to be around for a long time and he is going to go far.
From Petrosyanâs side, he has slid down the rankings since the loss to Andy Ristie at GLORY 12 and he wants to work his way back up to a title shot and to take the belt. If he wants to do that, Josh Jauncey is one of the guys he will have to beat.
Robin van Roosmalen also wants a rematch and of course Sitthichai is in the #1 contender slot. So there are a lot of people âThe Doctorâ will need to beat if he wants to re-establish himself as the best in the division.
GLORY 25 MILAN takes place Friday, November 6 at the PalaIper arena in Monza, Milan, Italy.
GLORYâs next event takes place Friday, October 9 at the Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado. GLORY 24 DENVER is headlined by Joe âStitch Em Upâ Schilling and Jason Wilnis in a battle of middleweight contenders and also features a four-man Heavyweight Contender Tournament.
