It was probably the upset of the year in GLORY Kickboxing, if not in the entire world of kickboxing. We are talking about Angelo “The Fox” Volpe and his victory at GLORY 94 over superstar Youssef Boughanem, a former WMC, WBC, ISKA, WKN, WAKO, Thai Fight, MAX Muay Thai, IBF, Lumpinee, and Rajadamnern Stadium champion. Boughanem is a fighter who entered the ring with a record of 168 wins, 120 of which were by knockout. Despite all of this, the young Italian Volpe not only showed no signs of deference, but, on the contrary, set the pace of the fight from the very beginning in a strategy that proved to be successful.
“We studied him a lot,” Angelo told Guido Colombo. “We decided to base our strategy on cardio, aiming to maintain a high pace, because he is a specialist in Muay Thai, and that choice paid off as we expected.”
Volpe is 25 years old and fights out Cerignola, an Apulian town of just 57,000 people, but the third-largest land area of any municipality in Italy after Only Rome and Ravenna. The Fox started kickboxing at 15 years old under Coaches Domenico Colucci and Savino Dibisceglia.
“I started by chance and out of curiosity,” said Volpe. “With a group of friends, we were undecided between kickboxing and fitness. After the first training session, I was already enthusiastic. My other friends gave up right away, but, I, after just two months, had my first light-contact bout.”
In Italy, the full-contact fights are allowed from the age of 16, and Volpe soon made his debut as an amateur. Now, after his GLORY Kickboxing victorious debut, he has a professional record of 36–5-1 with 12 knockouts, and, when including his amateur career, he boasts about 100 matches. Throughout his career, he has won the Italian pro titles in WTKA and KL, in addition to the European, Intercontinental, and World AFSO titles.
“Now I want to go on in my path in GLORY,” Volpe said. Because, it is the top kickboxing promotion in the world with the best fighters, and you can be sure that I am keen to reach the top of the world stage.”
When asked what type of fighter he is, Volpe explained, “I am someone who works much more with my head than with strength and instinct. I study my opponents a lot and try to put them difficult positions by exploiting their weaknesses. If we talk about the techniques I prefer, they are straight punches and jumping knees, which I know how to deliver with real power.”
Volpe also understands that it has been several years, since Giorgio Petrosyan, that an Italian has been in GLORY. He also has his own take on the status of kickboxing in Italy.
“I believe that Italy has no shortage of talent. I think of people like Lorenzo Di Vara or Alessio Malatesta, for example. We are showing that Italy is present in the world. The only problem is that unfortunately, there is no money, and sponsors are lacking, so Italian fighters are forced to go abroad to compete. We all – especially us athletes – need to work hard to change this situation and make combat sports more visible.”