NEWTON — Josh Jauncey didn’t really get to prepare for either of his opponents in the lightweight contender tournament at GLORY 22, held earlier this month in Lille, France.
For weeks, the London-born, Surrey-raised kickboxer trained to face Niclas Larsen in the first bout, only for the hard-hitting Dane to bow out after suffering a severe infection in his foot. Crice Boussoukou, a French fighter with a Muay Thai style, was pencilled in, but issues with his blood test forced him to relinquish the spot to reserve fighter Djimé Coulibaly.
“I had 24 hours to prepare for him, so I watched a few of his fights,” said Jauncey, 22. “We knew to watch out for his right hook, and his kicks were pretty good.
“I stayed relaxed and just picked him off for the rest of the fight. He wasn’t blocking low kicks very good, so I just smashed his legs.”
Jauncey won by TKO after knocking down Coulibaly twice in the last round and advanced to the final to face Sittichai Sitsongpeenong, an experienced Thai southpaw who manhandled ex-lightweight champ Davit Kiria earlier that night.
While Jauncey entered the final 4-0 in the promotion, his undefeated streak was in jeopardy as he fended off attacks from Sitsongpeenong. Within two minutes of the first round, he endured a cut near his right eye, but maintained a strong defense throughout the entire bout.
Ultimately, he received his first loss in GLORY by unanimous decision, with judges scoring all three rounds 30-27 in favour of his opponent.
“After the fight, I thought it went really badly,” said Jauncey. “I was really upset, I thought I got smashed.”
“Josh never looked in trouble with him,” said his father, Vincent, a former British, Hong Kong and Macau kickboxing champion. “It used to be a few years ago, most of the westerners didn’t last the distance with the Thai fighters. Josh did very well with him.”
Jauncey held his own, but he didn’t see it that way in the heat of the moment. He took to Facebook hours after the fight to voice his frustrations, writing:
I don’t believe in being proud about losing or in having fun while losing. Losing is not fun and it is nothing to be proud about. You should always win. Today I didn't do enough to win both fights, but I could’ve. So next time I will.
“I was a bit emotional when I wrote it, but I stand by it,” he said. “If you’re not angry about losing, then you can’t be that happy about winning either. If you’re OK with losing, you haven’t got the fighter’s heart.”
Despite the loss, Josh moved up in GLORY’s lightweight rankings to fourth, establishing himself as a serious challenger for the strap. He’s looking ahead to his next fight, and while he may not appear at GLORY 23 in Las Vegas in August, he said he wants to continue fighting for the promotion.
“I think I impressed quite a few people with my last two fights, so maybe I’ll be getting more calls,” he said.
I know a lot of people criticize Rico for not knocking dudes out like every other heavyweight on the planet, but the guy is just so technical when he wants to be. Some brilliant combos almost always ending with brilliant inside leg kicks to the inside and out. And the guy just doesn’t fade. Still needs to rematch Andrey Gerasimchuk.
As for Benjamin, I like him moving forward. Only has 3 1/2 years of pro kickboxing under his belt. Interested in what he can do with some more experience.
Anyone find it funny the top guys at HW in MMA and kickboxing’s best qualities are that they can keep a good pace for 5 rounds?
