Petchpanomung Kiatmookao (156-36-2, 25 KO's) faced Robin van Roosmalen (38-7, 21 KO's) in the co-headline bout of GLORY 41 HOLLAND last weekend with the vacant world featherweight championship on the line.
After a close, hard fight which in many ways mirrored Van Roosmalen's wars with his other Thai rival, Sitthichai, it was Van Roosmalen who won a unanimous decision and reclaimed the belt.
Some debate ensued online as fans once again argued how to score body kicks landed versus head punches landed. Van Roosmalen wore some purple welts on his right side from Petchpanomrung's left kick, while Petchpanomrung had a welt on his upper left forehead and some bruising to the inside of his right leg.
“I am a bit disheartened with the result but I gave 100 percent and I hope people are proud of me. I feel like I did a good job and I made a stamp on the featherweight division,” he said via his cornerman.
“Inside my right leg is a bit sore, from the inside kicks. They weren't heavy, but there were a lot of them. But I got some good shots in. At one point I hit him with a knee and I saw the wind come out of him, he had to back up, but he managed to recover from it.”
“Anywhere, any time, any place!” he laughed when asked when he would like to fight again or rematch Van Roosmalen.
“In a rematch with Robin, I would stick to the same gameplan but I would let my hands go a lot more, I feel hands are more important than kicks for scoring in this sport [of kickboxing].”
GLORY's next event takes place Saturday, June 10 at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris, France.
The GLORY 42 PARIS card is headlined by welterweight champion Cedric Doumbé defending his title against former champion Nieky Holzken in a bad-blood rematch. Also on the card is a welterweight contender eliminator battle between Murthel Groenhart and Harut Grigorian.
