Rico Verhoeven took all Glory Heavyweight Grand Prix 2024 live from GelreDome in Arnhem, Netherlands on Saturday, March 9. The 34-year-old Dutch kickboxing champion earned three victories during one evening eliminating Sofian Laidoun, Nabil Khachab and Levi Rigters.
In the opening round, Verhoeven secured a unanimous decision against Sofian Laidouni of France. In the semi-final he similarly defeated Nabil Khachab of Morocco. The latter won his quarter-final by UD against Romania’s Benjamin Adegbuyi.
In the championship round Rico Verhoeven faced his Dutch-fellow Levi Rigters. On his way to the final Rigters KO’d Estonian Uku Jurjendal in the second round and scored a unanimous decision against Bahram Rajabzadeh of Azerbaijan.
The final bout between between Verhoeven and Rigters didn’t go the distance. In the first round Verhoeven twice sent Rigters to the canvas. In the second round the latter paid back flooring his opponent with spinning back fist.
Verhoeven managed to get back on his feet, beat the eight count and bounce back dropping Rigters two more times to win the fight and the tournament. The official time of TKO was 2 minutes and 59 seconds into the second round.
Among other event results, Tarik Khbabez of Morocco took a split decision against Donegi Abena of Suriname to become a new light heavyweight champion. Moroccan-Dutch Tyjani Beztati retained his lightweight title by unanimous decision against Enriko Kehl of Germany.
Plus, Ivan Galaz of Chile defeated Iliass Hammouche of Morocco by unanimous decision at middleweight. In addition, Poland’s Michal Blawdziewicz TKO’d Cihad Kepenek of Turkiye in the second round of their heavyweight Grand Prix reserve bout.