Two last-minute changes have been forced on the GLORY 22 FRANCE card.
French heavyweight Freddy Kemayo has been suffering from illness all week and saw a doctor two days ago. On Thursday night he was sick several times and was again attended by a doctor, who has determined that he is too ill to compete on Friday evening.
His place against Jamal Ben Saddik in the headline fight of the Superfight Series card will be taken by Mamoudou Keta. Originally from French Guiana, he is based in Amsterdam and is a regular sparring partner of the GLORY heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven.
Thursday also saw French lightweight Crice Boussoukou removed from the card by officials from the French athletic commission overseeing the event.
Confidentiality requirements meant that the details behind Boussoukouâs removal from the card were not revealed; the officials said only that he was unable to compete on Fridayâs card and would have to be replaced.
Local lightweight Djime Coulibaly has thus been moved up from his lightweight tournament reserve bout with Marat Grigorian and will replace Boussoukou in the tournament proper. He faces Canadian prospect Josh Jauncey in the semi-finals.
Grigorian now faces a late stand-in opponent in the form of Sergey Adamchuk. Originally from Ukraine but based in Amsterdam and fighting out of Mikeâs Gym, Adamchuk has a well-deserved reputation for fearlessness.
GLORY 22 FRANCE takes place today, Friday, June 5, at the Stade Pierre Mouroy in Lille, France. The event is headlined by Rico Verhoeven defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Benjamin Adegbuyi and airs LIVE in the US at 4pm ET.
