Rico Verhoeven from Halsteren is in the semi-final battle of the Glory Grand Prix for heavyweights. The kickboxing world champion defeated Sofian Laïdouni in the quarter-finals in a well-filled Gelredome. The Frenchman remained upright for three rounds, but was unanimously declared the loser.
The 34-year-old Verhoeven meets Nabil Khachab in the semi-final. The 23-year-old kickboxer, born in Amersfoort and playing for Morocco, eliminated the Romanian Benjamin Adegbuyi over three rounds. Adegbuyi is a training partner of Verhoeven. He broke through at the end of 2020 with a victory over Badr Hari.
The other semi-final is between Levi Rigters and Bahram Rajabzadeh from Azerbaijan.
500,000 euros in prize money
The Glory Grand Prix for heavyweights has the same format as the K1, a tournament that had its heyday in Tokyo at the end of the last and beginning of this century. The winner will receive $500,000. The fights last a maximum of three rounds of three minutes.
The winners of the two semi-finals will meet in the final, which will probably start around 11 p.m.
Verhoeven’s world title is not at stake, it has been in Verhoeven’s possession for almost ten years.