Interim GLORY light heavyweight champion to be crowned in New York
DENVER – GLORY, the world’s premier kickboxing league, today announced increased stakes for the GLORY 43 SuperFight Series headline bout, airing live from The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Friday, July 14.
The pivotal battle between former light heavyweight champion Saulo “Cassius Clay” Cavalari (60-5, 49 KO, fighting out of Brazil) and No. 2-ranked powerhouse Pavel “The Caiman” Zhuravlev (70-11, 26 KO, fighting out of Ukraine) will now play out over five rounds, with the bout winner leaving New York City as interim GLORY light heavyweight champion.
The new interim title holder will compete in a unification bout against reigning GLORY light heavyweight champion Artem Vakhitov at a later date.
“With what is sure to be an incredible fight between two top-three light heavyweights [in Cavalari and Zhuravlev], we wanted to create stakes fitting of their ranking and the prestige of Madison Square Garden,” said GLORY Matchmaker and Managing Director Sports Cor Hemmers. “Our champion Vakhitov injured his hand following GLORY 38 Chicago and is working hard toward returning later this year. In the meantime, Cavalari or Zhuravlev will be established as interim champion.”
Currently ranked No. 3 in the division, Brazil’s Cavalari has compiled a 7-3 record since joining the organization in 2013. Zhuravlev returns to the GLORY ring following a first round knockout of Zinedine Hameur-Lain at GLORY 35 Nice in November and holds a victory over Cavalari, earning a unanimous decision victory against the Brazilian knockout artist in 2012.
The complete six-fight card for GLORY 43 SuperFight Series can be found below:
GLORY 43 SuperFight Series
Interim Light Heavyweight Title Headline Bout: Pavel Zhuravlev vs. Saulo Cavalari
Featherweight Bout: Arthur Sorsor vs. Bailey Sugden
Middleweight Bout: Ariel Sepulveda vs. Joe Taylor
Super Bantamweight Bout: Anissa Meksen vs. Jady Menezes
Lightweight Bout: Itay Gershon vs. Rafal Dudek
Featherweight Bout: Mo Abdurahman vs. Chenchen Li
GLORY 43 SuperFight Series streams live and exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT on Friday, July 14.
Tickets for priced between $55 – $350, are on sale now. Tickets are available for online purchase at theateratmsg.com and at the Madison Square Garden box office.
GLORY will be working locally with promoter Lou Neglia and with Justin Blair’s Friday Night Fights to bring New York this exciting evening of stand-up striking.
For more information about GLORY, visit glorykickboxing.com.
Follow Ryan Sprague and MyMMANews.com with all events and interviews leading up to Glory NYC.
