Rico Verhoeven wins again in kickboxing tournament

Rico Verhoeven feared he would not be victorious before the Glory Grand Prix for heavyweights. But after two easy victories over the Frenchman Sofian Laïdouni and Nabil Khachab, born in Amersfoort but representing Morocco, he defeated his compatriot Levi Rigters in the final within two rounds.

Therefore, the final victory and prize of 500,000 dollars went to Verhoeven as expected, who has been world champion for ten years without interruption. "I have already baked that cake," he said shortly after a spectacular final battle. "But now that icing can be topped. Fortunately, I did not sustain a nasty injury towards the final. That is possible in such a tournament."

Verhoeven seemed on his way to an easy victory over the 28-year-old Rigters, dubbed by many as the 'Prince of Kickboxing.' He knocked his opponent down twice in the first round. But in the second round, Verhoeven was suddenly dropped. He staggered for a moment but quickly recovered. Verhoeven knocked down Rigters twice after that, which was enough for the victory.

"My shins hurt so much in the final," Rigters said after he got back up. "I couldn't take it anymore. Does this final put me in place for a title fight with Verhoeven for the world title? I really hope so. But first, let's recover."

It was like old times in a well-filled Gelredome. At the request of many fans, Glory had finally decided to organize a tournament, following the excellent example of the K1 that had its heyday in Tokyo at the end of the last and beginning of this century. Eight heavyweights met in the quarter-finals, and the two kickboxers fought in the final.

The Grand Prix field had less quality than the K1, where Peter Aerts, Ernesto Hoost, Semmy Schilt, Remy Bonjasky, and a young Badr Hari fought against each other. A potential contender, Croatian Antonio Plazibat, had withdrawn, as did Jamal Ben Saddik. The Belgian Moroccan was present in Arnhem. He stood in Khachab's corner and tried to kick Verhoeven after his victory over the Dutch Moroccan.

Verhoeven wanted to fight his arch-rival, who had already spat in his face during a staredown in 2017. But security guards prevented that. "He kicked at me," the Brabander grumbled. "I clearly won. And then he comes back into the ring. This man should be banned from this sport. It's unacceptable."

Rigters had a tough test in his semi-final against Bahram Rajabzadeh from Azerbaijan. "I still felt that match in the final," he said.