Glory Kickboxing Postpones Glory 78 ‘Badr vs. Benny’ on June 20

Continuing COVID-19 containment measures prompt postponement of GLORY 78: BADR vs BENNY event in Rotterdam.

Press release: https://t.co/PuROzVyLUl pic.twitter.com/0936SYRICs

— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) April 17, 2020

The coronavirus has claimed another combat sports event, this time for Glory Kickboxing’s June card will no longer take place as scheduled.

The kickboxing league announced via press release on Friday that the June 20 event in Rotterdam, Netherlands, has been postponed. Glory 78 was to be headlined by a heavyweight rumble between Badr Hari and Benjamin Adegbuyi. The cancellation follows the organization’s previous actions halting the Glory 76: Antwerp event on March 28 as well as Glory 77: Miami on May 30, both due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Glory CEO Marshal Zelaznik explained, “The measures in place are essential in combating the spread of COVID-19 and the health and safety of our fans, athletes, staff and the wider public remains our primary concern. We look forward to bringing fans back to the excitement of Glory as soon as circumstances permit.”

According to the promotion, all tickets purchased for the event will be valid for the rescheduled card in the future. Glory may be looking to book another show at the Ahoy Arena in the Netherlands later this year, and will consult with local officials going forward.

Hari was looking to return to the win column after an unfortunate three-fight stretch dating back to 2016. “Bad Boy” made his Glory debut against heavyweight king Rico Verhoeven, and suffered an arm injury in the second frame that ended the bout. He went on to face Hesdy Gerges and initially captured a decision win, but both men tested positive for banned substances so the result was overturned to a no-contest. A rematch with Verhoeven also went awry when after a thrilling battle, Hari went for a spinning heel kick and injured his knee. The Dutch-Moroccan heavyweight has not won a match since 2015.

A multiple-time Glory heavyweight title challenger as well, Adegbuyi has also dropped two bouts to Verhoeven, although with less controversial results. “Mister Gentleman” rebounded from a knockout loss to Jamal Ben Saddik by taking a decision over D’Angelo Marshall in November. Throughout his Glory career, Adegbuyi has come out the victor of three separate heavyweight tournaments. Additionally, the Romanian has made recent transitions to boxing, sporting a perfect 4-0 record with three first-round knockouts to date.