Canadian welterweight prodigy ‘Bazooka Joe’ Valtellini has a message for world-ranked #1 Nieky ‘The Natural’ Holzken - “I’m coming for you.”
Valtellini stopped Karim ‘Gadjetboy’ Ghajji in the third round of a hard-fought co-headline fight at GLORY 11 on Saturday night. The fight aired live across the US on Spike TV, earning Valtellini droves of new fans and moving him up the rankings.
“I move to number two in the rankings now and I’ve booked my spot in the welterweight tournament taking place in Tokyo this November. I can’t wait for that,” says Valtellini, now the owner of a 10-1 record with 9 T/KO wins.
“I am coming for that number one spot that Nieky Holzken is in right now. I am going to be number one. I’ve always said it and now I am going to do it.”
The victory is the latest step on an incredible journey which has seen him commit acts of giant-killing ever since his debut as an unknown at GLORY 6 ISTANBUL. Valtellini has stopped all three of his world-class opponents in GLORY.
“Ghajii was really tough. He’s had over 100 fights and you could feel that in his quality and the way he responded to things,” says Valtellini.
“I hit him with some really hard shots, some big head kicks and I was like ‘How are you still standing up?’ It was one of the toughest fights of my career without a doubt.”
Not only was it one of the toughest, it was the most important of his career and also the most emotionally-charged. Valtellini’s family recognized the importance of the bout and responded accordingly.
“My father was in the audience that was very special for me. I have never in my life seen my father cry until tonight. He is usually hard as a rock but tonight he was crying his eyes out after I won,” Valtellini laughs.
“My sister came down from Toronto and I had a lot of friends there. And this was the first time my mom watched me fight live on TV. Usually she will only watch the fight on tape after she knows I won.
“Saturday night she watched it live; she called me afterwards and said “Every time you got hit, I felt it.” But she’s very proud. They all are.”
