At the present time, earning a title shot against middleweight champion Alex Pereira looks like a mixed blessing.
The Brazilian has been on destructive form since winning the title in October 2017 - five KO’s from six wins, one of them at light-heavyweight - and nobody seems in a hurry to challenge him.
Nobody, that is, except the #2-ranked Yousri Belgaroui (26-6, 13 KO’s).
Despite two losses to Pereira, the Dutch-Tunisian contender is keen to get a third crack at the belt and the man who currently wears it. And if he can’t get Pereira, he wants to chance to avenge a loss to the #1-ranked Donovan Wisse.
First though he must get past Jakob Styben (16-2, 7 KO’s, ranked #5) at next weekend’s GLORY 75 event.
“It’s very important that I beat Styben in a spectacular way because right now I am ranked second. I know that Wisse is a title contender but he has said himself that he is not ready for Pereira yet. I don’t know if that’s changed, but if not then I am ready to go against Pereira,” he says.
“He’s doing very good, he’s grown a lot but also people give him the opportunity because they come without gameplans or they get in the ring scared. Both of those things aren’t going to work against a man like Pereira.
“People are scared of him, people think he’s unbeatable, but I know I will beat him sooner rather than later. First of all, I never come in scared. Second, I will come with a gameplan, which I have been lacking in the last fights.
“So if Wisse doesn’t want to step up then I will. And if that’s not an option then I will go for Wisse, because I have something to settle there as well. That’s my hit list. Those two. It doesn’t matter which of them comes first, those are the two I want to fight and beat.”
GLORY 75 UTRECHT takes place Saturday, February 29 at Central Studios, Utrecht, Netherlands and is headlined by Petchpanomrung defending the featherweight championship against former champion Serhii Adamchuk.
Tickets for GLORY 75 UTRECHT are available here.
