Local hero Fred 'The Piranha' Sikking (46-23-1) is a battle-scarred veteran of more than 70 professional fights and, at 35 years old, in the twilight period of his career as a competitive fighter. When GLORY came to Amsterdam, his large local following and time served in the game meant he was a natural choice for a slot on the Superfight Series card.
In his pre-fight interviews, he talked about his pride at being invited to fight in the GLORY ring and said he would be dedicating it to his father, who passed away several years ago. His father was his biggest fan and Sikking had always promised him he would one day reach the top level in his sport. âIt's a little late maybe, but he would be proud and I am glad I can live up to the promise I made him,â he said, emotion evident in his voice.
Sikking made his way to the ring with a heavily-strapped right shin. He had a bad injury but nothing would make him pull out of the fight. If he had to limp into it with one weapon less than his opponent, so be it. Standing opposite him was Zinedine Hameur-Lain (54-12-0), at 29 years old a veteran of a similar number of fights but six years younger than Sikking and not carrying any obvious injuries.
It quickly became apparent that Hameur-Lain's relative youth was a distinct advantage. He quickly edged ahead of Sikking in output and point-scoring and by the second round Sikking's gas tank was edging close to empty, a combination of injury limiting his training camp and Hameur-Lain's repeated landing of blows. But even with a compromised gas tank, Sikking's iron chin kept him in the fight.
Hameur-Lain scored knockdowns, Sikking took counts, but he kept getting right back up and right back into Hameur-Lain's face. He remained a threat also; in the third round he landed a flurry which looked like it came close to putting Hameur-Lain down for a count of his own, and several more big right hands in that round found a home and gave Sikking fighters something to cheer.
Hameur-Lain, a French debutant, looked frustrated at Sikking's unreal ability to absorb the kind of blows which had stopped other opponents of his. As the fight clock counted down it was obvious that Hameur-Lain would win a decision, but Sikking can at least take pride in having demonstrated incredible heart and toughness to the fans of his home city and beyond.
Zinedine Hameur-Lain def. Fred Sikking, Unanimous Decision, R3 (30-26, 30-26, 29-27)
