'King without a crown' Robin van Roosmalen (37-7, 21 KO's) is hoping that to be back in the ring as soon as possible to try and reclaim the belt he considers rightfully his.
Roosmalen was stripped of the featherweight title after failing to make weight for his GLORY 37 LOS ANGELES fight with Matt Embree, an incident he blames on faulty scales supplied by the body overseeing the event.
But having secured victory over Embree (39-8, 46 KO's) by way of a referee stoppage in the fourth round, the former featherweight (and former lightweight) champion is in a hurry to get the gold belt back around his waist.
“I don't have the belt, I am a king without a crown. It's a disappointment but it's OK, I know I am still number one so I went home satisfied. They told me that if I won the fight I would be the first to fight for it,” he says.
“I am not going to lose sleep over it. I proved I am the number one. I am the pound for pound best fighter in GLORY, I can say that. I hope they set up my title fight soon so I can sleep with my belt again.”
The performance against Embree was one of the most accomplished of his career to date, a masterclass in pressure-fighting and combination work. Of course, seasoned fans of the sport expect nothing less from Van Roosmalen.
“Because he won the [GLORY 33 Featherweight] Contender Tournament with two knockouts we thought he was going to be a hard hitter. He hits hard, but not so much that it impressed me. [My coaches] said break down the legs first and then go to the body and head, so that's what I did,” he explains.
“Everyone underestimates my technique, my power, my pressure, my explosiveness. I am a complete fighter. Everyone thinks I am just a boxer, but as you can see, I can kick good as well. I controlled the fight. He was the number one contender and I dominated the fight.”
Van Roosmalen was on terrifying form in the fourth round and had Embree in big trouble when the stoppage occurred. He had wounded the Canadian with a body shot and was in the process of going for the kill when referee John McCarthy suddenly stepped in and waved the fight off, leading to momentary confusion in the audience.
“I hit him with a body shot and I heard him give a noise like he was hurt, so I put a flurry of punches [together] and then John McCarthy stopped the fight. My dad asked [McCarthy] afterwards why he stopped the fight and he said that [Embree] said by himself he wanted to stop. So that's what happened,” he relates.
“Was it disappointing? No, it's not disappointing. [When] somebody gives up it's a better achievement than knocking somebody out. Knocking somebody out can happen any time, making someone give up is an achievement.”
GLORY's next event takes place Friday, February 24 at the Sears Centre, Hoffman Estates in Chicago, Illinois.
GLORY 38 CHICAGO is headlined by a light-heavyweight championship rubber match between current champion Artem Vakhitov and former champion Saulo Cavalari. In the Superfight Series headliner, Benjamin Adegbuyi faces off with Anderson 'Braddock' Silva in a heavyweight battle.
