Zack Mwekassa (14-3-0) overcame his most experienced opponent to date when he faced Zinedine Hameur-Lain (54-13-0) in the main event of the SUPERFIGHT SERIES card at GLORY 29 COPENHAGEN.
As usual “The Black Warrior” showcased his ferocious power-punching but he also gave us a look at some new elements he has added to his game. From being a pure boxer when he first joined GLORY, he is now developing a more rounded game and making his legs as dangerous as his hands.
Hameur-Lain has more than five times as many kickboxing matches to his name as Mwekassa does, a significant experience gap for the Congolese fighter to overcome. And that experience showed in his tactics: having watched tape on Mwekassa he determined that cardio could be an issue, so he resolved to let him burn some gas.
Round one saw Hameur-Lain do little but stay mobile behind an air-tight close guard which didn't let Mwekassa's bombs through. That did leave his body open, and Mwekassa took full advantage, but clearly Hameur-Lain felt that preferable to taking those same punches to the head.
Being purely defensive in the first round meant he had no chance of winning it. In the second round he opened up much more and made more of a fight of it, letting kicks go to the head and body. Mwekassa did indeed slow towards the end of the second and Hameur-Lain was able to get some flurries of his own going.
One of them, right at the end of the round, ended with Mwekassa on the canvas, but the referee ruled it a slip and warned Hameur-Lain not to hit the back of the head. The third round was similar, Hameur-Lain edging into the fight thanks to Mwekassa's pace slowing a little, but still it was all Mwekassa stalking Hameur-Lain around the ring and looking to land that killer left hand.
In the end Mwekassa couldn't find the opening and had to content himself with a unanimous decision. It wasn't the result he wanted or expected, but he can take pride in the more developed game he displayed. A win is a win and Mwekassa moves up the rankings and back towards that title shot territory he wants to find himself in.
