NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with the "Fight Professor", Stephen Quadros.

He will be a television commentator for the Glory 9 kickboxing card, which takes place this Saturday, June 22, at the Hammerstein Ballroom at 311 West 34th Street in Manhattan. The main card will be televised on tape delay in the U.S. on the CBS Sports Network, and also televised in other countries, and live as an online pay-per-view on the Glory web site at http://gloryworldseries.com/en/events/live.

There will be an eight-man, light heavyweight tournament featuring Tyrone Spong of Suriname and the best light heavyweights in Glory, several superfights including Daniel Ghita of Romania facing Brice Guidon of France in a heavyweight fight, and numerous other bouts.

We spoke with Stephen Quadros by phone Tuesday about this card and its significance for kickboxing in the U.S.

Many people are calling this the best kickboxing card ever scheduled to take place in the U.S. The depth of talent is the main reason.

Tyrone Spong is coming off knockout wins over veterans Peter Aerts and Remy Bonjasky at heavyweight, and is ranked number four in the world at heavyweight in Glory, only behind the legendary Semmy Schilt, Gokhan Saki, and Daniel Ghita. But he is actually considered to be a smaller heavyweight, and should easily make the 209-pound/95kg light heavyweight limit for this tournament.

"Tyrone Spong is nothing short of a phenom in the kickboxing world," said Stephen Quadros in this interview. "He's got to be considered one of the favorites in the tournament."

But he is not being given as easy task, as the top five light heavyweights in Glory will also be in this tournament: top-ranked Danyo "Dibuba" Ilunga of the Congo and Germany, Filip Verlinden of Belgium, Mourad Bouzidi of Tunisia and the Netherlands, Michael Duut of the Netherlands, and Steve McKinnon of Australia.

We also discussed more on the tournament and the superfights on this card, the appeal of the one-night tournament structure, why kickboxing is such a popular sport worldwide, how the time may be right for kickboxing to take off as a spectator sport in the U.S., and much more.

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Labels: Eddie Goldman, Fight Professor, Glory 9, kickboxing, New York, No Holds Barred, Stephen Quadros, Tyrone Spong