Taranaki seeking ‘holy grail’ inside the ropes
Kiwi fighter Quade Taranaki is after kickboxing’s ‘‘holy grail’’ in Glory, the sport’s equivalent of UFC.
‘The magician’ from Hamilton won his first amateur world title at Knees of Fury 63 in his hometown in March, but has since turned professional and fought nine times in China and Australia.
Six months on from becoming the welterweight K1 world champion, Taranaki suddenly finds himself facing the elite of professional kickboxing at Glory 46 in the sport’s premier global tournament.
Taranaki, 22, will become just the second Kiwi to fight in Glory after Nigerian born-New Zealand fighter Israel Adesanya, who has fought at events in Turkey, China, the United States and Brazil.
Glory 46 takes place in Guangzhou, China, on October 14, and Taranaki must first defeat experienced Chinese fighter Chenglong Zhang to progress through the four-man featherweight tournament, with the best from that quartet getting a crack at world champion Robin van Roosmalen of Holland.
This is by far Taranaki’s biggest fight of his career because he’s just three victories away from becoming Glory’s featherweight champion.
Glory was founded in 2012 and Taranaki’s coach Ethan Shepp said it’s the ‘‘UFC of kickboxing’’.
UFC, the American mixed martial arts organisation, has become a multibillion-dollar industry in the 21st century and one of the most powerful sports organisations in the world.
Taranaki doesn’t know too much about Zhang or the other two fighters - China’s Chenchen Li and Japan’s Masaya Kubo - in the four-man Glory tournament that’s classed as featherweight (65kg).
But he said they’re the best in his weight division and should he get past Zhang and one of Li and Kubo, Holland’s van Roosmalen would be next for a shot at winning one of kickboxing’s most prestigious titles.
‘‘It’s not just any title; it’s the holy grail,’’ Taranaki’s coach Shepp said. ‘‘It’s a bit of jump from amateur to professional in any sport but he’s fast-forwarded himself pretty fast to have a crack at the professional world title.’’
Taranaki is now based in China throughout the year and ‘‘it feels more like another home’’ after moving to Shenzhen on the border of Hong Kong.
His professional record so far is won five, lost four after winning Commonwealth and world titles as an amateur in New Zealand.
But Glory takes Taranaki’s career to new heights in China and it could potentially lead to more professional global events in Europe, the United States and beyond.
Shepp said Taranaki’s rapid rise to facing top fighters in the professional ranks was ‘‘pretty special’’.
‘‘Quade is jumping straight into the holy grail within six months since he won the amateur world title,’’ he said. ‘‘Even if he doesn’t get it now, he’s getting a shot way before his time.’’
Taranaki will be in China when Hamilton’s next Knees of Fury show takes places in October but another of Shepp’s star fighters, lightweight Alexi Serepisos, is preparing for it.
Serepisos was forced to withdraw from fighting in Sydney this month after one headbutt ‘‘split his head open’’ during his Lethwei world title fight in Myanmar in August.
Shepp pulled Serepisos out in the second round of his maiden bout in Lethwei, the full combat sport known as the ‘The Art of Nine Limbs’ that is widely considered the most brutal in the world.