New York, NY – GLORY, the world’s premier kickboxing league, today announced the headline bout for its next pure striking event, as Magness Arena in Denver plays host to GLORY 24 and the highly anticipated third fight of a championship trilogy on Oct. 9.
Looking to settle the score in this rubber match, reigning GLORY Middleweight World Champion Artem “The Lion” Levin (50-4-2, 33 KO) will defend kickboxing’s most prestigious title against bitter rival and #2-ranked contender Joe “Stitch ‘Em Up” Schilling (19-6, 11 KO).
“This is a trilogy fight we needed to make happen; the fans demanded it. Levin and Schilling both lay claim to being the world’s best middleweight and this third fight will definitively show everyone who is right.” said GLORY CEO Jon Franklin. “On top of that, they’ve split the first two fights and there’s no love lost between them, giving us the makings of an instant classic. Two elite strikers in their primes are going to give it all for GLORY gold and the bragging rights of putting the other in second place forever.”
The pair previously met in the final round of a grueling one-night, eight-man tournament at GLORY: Last Man Standing in June of 2014, where Levin defeated Schilling via unanimous decision to capture his middleweight title.
Before that, in September of 2013, Schilling earned his own unanimous decision over Levin in the thrilling extension round of yet another tournament final, a one-night, four-man affair at GLORY 10.
Additional bouts for GLORY 24, including the participants in GLORY’s one-night, four-man Heavyweight Contender Tournament, will be announced at a later date. The tournament winner will earn the next shot at GLORY Heavyweight World Champion Rico Verhoeven.
