Hesdy Gerges (50-18-1, 23 KO's) was matched with Chi Lewis-Parry at GLORY 39 BRUSSELS but the fight was called off about an hour before it was due to take place, apparently due to Lewis-Parry suffering from illness and being declared unable to compete.
The two fighters squared off angrily in the arena shortly after the cancellation was announced and a real animosity subsequently developed between them. Their fight was rescheduled for GLORY 41 HOLLAND but Lewis-Parry was forced to withdraw a week out, due to a hand injury.
Gerges had harsh words for him, saying that “Chicken Lewis-Parry should never fight in GLORY again”. This time the bout was not rescheduled; Gerges stayed on the card and a replacement was sought. It came in the form of Tomas 'The Rattlesnake' Hron (81-18-3, 30 KO's) of the Czech Republic.
Hron has been trying to get a spot in GLORY for a long time and his record features wins over numerous current and former GLORY fighters, including Errol Zimmerman, Andrei Stoica and Catalin Morosanu. Facing Gerges on a week's notice is not ideal for any heavyweight but the offer represented a huge opportunity for Hron and so he jumped at it.
The two actually used to be training partners several years ago and are on friendly terms but Gerges said there would be “no mercy” shown to Hron as he himself was setting out to snap an unwanted four-fight losing streak in GLORY. (To be fair to Gerges, at least one of those losses was the result of terrible judging, but that knowledge doesn't make him feel any better about it.)
Hron had been told in the past that he was not being signed to GLORY due to having what the matchmakers perceived as an overly defensive, conservative style which did not produce crowd-pleasing fights. But having opened up in his more recent fights and being willing to step up to face Gerges, he got his chance at last.
At first it seemed he had taken the matchmaker's comments to heart as he went straight to work, throwing hand combinations followed by low kicks in a clean kickboxing style, Gerges firing right back with low kicks and hard punches of his own.
Barely a minute into the fight though and a short shot from Gerges put Hron down for a knockdown. Hron said it was a slip but the knockdown call stood. Hron got back into the fight but thirty seconds later Gerges herded him into a corner and scored another knockdown.
That second knockdown changed Hron's approach. He became defensive and in the second half of the round he repeatedly closed distance with Gerges only to clinch up and wait for the referee's intervention. Referee Paul Nicholls was quick to warn him about leading with his head as he came in for these clinches.
Hron's corner had stern words with him in the interval and the second round started with the same meaty exchanges that the first round had started with. But soon enough Hron returned to looking for clinches. Nicholls issued more warnings for leading with the head but these went unheeded and it wasn't long before he stepped in to take Hron to the center of the ring and deduct him one point.
The third round saw Gerges' frustration become evident; Hron refrained from leading with the head but he still clinched much more than Gerges – or referee Nicholls – thought was reasonable. When the action was clean it was fast-paced and impressive; Gerges just didn't get as many of these opportunities as he wanted.
Late in the round, Gerges and Hron were clinched up in a corner. Referee Nicholls stepped into break them and as he did so Hron let got a late right hand on the break. Nicholls was in the process of stepping in to break them and the punch landed on him instead of Gerges.
He took it well and it drew a big laugh from the crowd. To say it was Hron's best punch of the fight would be unfair but it was certainly one of his most cleanly-landed blows.
Still, it must be borne in mind that Hron was taking the fight on a week's notice. Gerges made sure to mention that in his post fight speech after accepting the unanimous decision win.
He saluted Hron's bravery in stepping up to face a high-level opponent and had a few more hard words for Chi Lewis-Parry. Unfortunately we will probably never get to see that fight but Gerges can take satisfaction in at last seeing that losing streak snapped. Having taken little damage in the fight he should be clear to return to competition very soon.
Hesdy Gerges def. Tomas Hron, Unanimous Decision, R5 (30-24, 30-24, 30-24, 30-24, 30-24)
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