GLORY’s Featherweight Title has a new home as Miguel Trindade defeated Deniz Demirkapu to take the belt back home to Portugal, after it was vacated by previous champion Petchpanomrung.
A fight between these two men was only ever going to be in fast forward, while Trindade showed off his full repertoire of skills, Demirkapu primarily focused on his boxing where he landed several power shots.
Fighting in a phone booth is where both men are most comfortable, every inch of space is the difference between adding to their own highlight reel or becoming a feature in the others.
The difference proved to be an early investment in leg kicks by Miguel Trindade, as he chopped away at Demirkapu throughout the opening two frames and by the third he pounced on his grimacing opponent, dropping him three times in one round to end the contest by TKO.
After being crowned champion and thanking everyone who helped him get there, Trindade called for GLORY to come to Lisbon, where the new king of the Featherweights could have a homecoming in front of his adoring subjects.
Michael Boapeah defeats Alin Nechita by Unanimous Decision
Michael Boapeah put himself in the driving seat for a title shot at Light-Heavyweight as he defeated Romanian young gun Alin Nechita by unanimous decision.
Boapeah entered this bout looking to bounce back from a loss to Donovan Wisse at GLORY Collision 9 last time out, and he looked as good as ever whipping uppercuts and knees at Nechita on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Outlanding his opponent by a ratio of close to 3 to 1, Boapeah’s output is a huge feather in his cap as he can walk down an opponent all night and tattoo them with strikes without ever seeming to get tired.
Nechita was value for money in defeat, never shying away from Boapeah’s power as he walked him down all night and swung heavy leather that could have ended the fight in an instant.
If you hit Alin Nechita with a car he would drop his hands and tell you to do it again, a fearless man with a head made from concrete, even in defeat he showed he is a very real threat at LHW.
Nidal Bchiri defeats Nordine Mahieddine by KO Round 1
Heavyweight power is a frightening thing. Nidal Bchiri gave Nordine Mahieddine a pre-Halloween scare by stopping him with one second to go in the first round.
It was Mahieddine who started the stronger, mixing up attacks and using his pace to land successfully on an opponent who outweighed him by over 20lbs, but Bchiri was unfazed by the Algerians power as he continued to find his range and land to the body.
With one swing of his right leg, Bchiri smashed into Mahieddine’s body and the big man hit the canvas, his heart was still in the fight but unfortunately his body failed him, and he failed to meet the count.
December will see Mory Kromah take on Antonio Plazibat for the Heavyweight title, with the title picture beyond that being somewhat unclear, a knockout victory like that could have just put Nidal Bchiri right in the mix at the top of the division.
Berjan Peposhi defeats Jeremi Monteiro by Unanimous Decision
Albanian action junkie Berjan Peposhi once again showed why he was christened “Mr Fight of the Night” by Joseph Valtillini, as he battled past impressive debutant Jeremi Monteiro to keep himself in the mix at the top of the Featherweight division.
Peposhi and Monteiro met in the centre of the ring and were within spitting distance of each other for the rest of the fight, for every low kick there was a punch to follow it and Peposhi’s combinations to the body and head were simply sublime.
It takes two to tango and Monteiro was an engaged dance partner throughout, with big hooks catching the attention of the Albanian more than once, but a perfectly timed head kick in round two sent Monteiro to the canvas and back to his corner on wobbly legs.
Both warriors gave everything they had in the third round and never slowed down for a second, Monteiro may have lost the decision, but he showed himself as a valuable addition to the Featherweight ranks.
Berjan Peposhi called his shot for a title fight in his post-fight interview, and a rematch with Miguel Trindade sounds like another opportunity for “Mr Fight of the Night” to live up to his name.
Joshua Akingbade defeats Alex Fernandez by TKO Round 2
On a day of debutants, it was Ireland’s Joshua Akingbade who was most impressive, as he stopped Alex Fernandez, as the Spaniard failed to answer the bell for round 3.
Coming off an impressive tournament win at SENSHI 32 where he stopped two opponents, including former GLORY title challenger Ulric Bokeme, Akingbade fought full of confidence in his debut with his combination of boxing and faints giving Fernandez trouble all night.
Pressure from Akingbade forced Fernandez to the ropes in the second round, and after a scissor knee fell short a picture-perfect left hook sent him down hard with less than a minute to go.
The finishing blow came moments before the end of the second round, with venom in his eyes Akingbade landed a left hook to right hand combination that proved too much for the Spaniard, who despite bravely getting to his feet was in no condition to continue.
A dominant performance from Joshua Akingbade, who will see himself skyrocket to the top of the Middleweight division and near the top of the shortlist for Chico Kwasi’s future opponents.
Other Results
In the Heavyweight division Nabil Khachab grinded out another victory this time over Ionut Iancu, Sofian Laidouni returned to spoil the debut of Karim Zeghad, and Bouziane Kaddani knocked out Asdren Gashi with a lightening fast left hook that had all his 327lbs behind it.
At Middleweight Boban Ilioski needed just 69 seconds to knockout Aimane Latifi with a four punch combination, our two Welterweight contests saw wins for Shefit Qose and Hamza Bouhani, and debut victories also came for Florent Gautier and Noah Ibrahimi at Light-Heavyweight and Featherweight.
GLORY 110 RESULTS
Miguel Trindade def. Deniz Demirkapu — TKO, R3
Michael Boapeah def. Alin Nechita — UD
Nidal Bchiri def. Nordine Mahieddine — KO, R1
Berjan Peposhi def. Jeremie Monteiro — UD
Joshua Akingbade def. Alex Fernandez — TKO, R2
Nabil Khachab def. Ionut Iancu — UD
Boban Ilioski def. Aimane Latifi — UD
Sofian Laidounis def. Karim Zeghad — UD
GLORY 110 Prelims
Bouziane Kaddani def. Asdren Gashi — KO, R3
Shefit Qose def. Valentino Valente — UD
Florent Gautier def. Abdelilah Azzouzi — UD
Hamza Bouhani def. Kenny Moukpwo — MD
Noah Ibrahimi def. Amine El Boujadaini — UD
