Artem Levin Retains Glory Middleweight Title via Majority Draw with Simon Marcus

Glory middleweight champion Artem Levin was looking to not only retain his title, but do so by exacting revenge against rival Simon Marcus. When the dust settled inside the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, he only got the first part right.

The main event of Glory 21 was mired in controversy as Levin was able to retain his belt via a majority draw. The Siberian kickboxer, regarded as one of the best in the world, looked sluggish at times throughout the contest and continually clinched Marcus whenever they got close. Levin was warned several times by veteran Marcos Rosales about the excessive clinching until he finally deducted a point in the third round.

Related » Glory 21 Round-by-Round

Still, the point deduction wasn’t enough for the challenger to wrest the championship away. Marcus landed dozens of pesky jabs, several impactful kicks to the legs and ribs, and also nailed the champ with a front kicks to the face. Marcus seemed to be in control of the action throughout the second half of the contest and was the sharper, more active striker. But in the end, it wasn’t enough.

While one judge saw the Toronto-based veteran winning 48-46 (as did Sherdog), that score was offset by a pair of 47-47 tallies.

Levin was pleased with the decision, which allowed him to officially stand at 50-4-1 with 33 KOs. While speaking to Stephen Quadros following the majority draw, Levin tried giving his opinion of the fight and Rosales’ penalty. But Marcus and his team were steaming with anger and yelled profanities at Levin before leaving the ring. Marcus, now 42-2-2 with 24 KOs, repeatedly called the verdict “bulls**t.”

Vigney Wins Heavyweight Qualification Tourney

In the heavyweight qualification tournament final, Xavier Vigney was way too much for Chi Lewis-Parry to handle as he stopped him in the second round. After mowing down Maurice Jackson in 92 seconds an hour or so earlier in the night, “X-Man” landed a plethora of punches and kicks, forcing Lewis-Parry to crumble into the ropes before “Big” John McCarthy stepped in.

Vigney’s right hand to the face was the key as he cracked his foe repeatedly with it. Finally, one too many landed and the out-spoken Brit stumbled into a corner. After a flurry -- punctuated a left to the body -- had Lewis-Parry with nowhere to go, the mugging finally ended. The official time of the TKO came at 1:50 of the second, allowing Vigney to win the tournament. “Chopper” destroyed Demoreo Dennis with a flurry of punches in just 100 seconds earlier in the night.

Daniels’ Liver Kick Ends Baesman’s Night Early

Hard-kicking local welterweight Raymond Daniels showed once again that he is the “Real Deal” by torching Justin Baesman in just 51 seconds. Daniels landed a glancing spinning back kick to the chin of his foe early, and then followed that up moments later with a crippling kick to the liver. “Raw Deal” backed away once it landed, but as soon as the delayed reaction set in, he was finished. Baesman collapsed in a heap where he was counted out trying to stand back up. It was another highlight-real knockout for one of the sport’s most exciting fighters.