MUAY THAI: TROY JONES JR. WINS GLORY DEBUT

Troy “Trouble” Jones (1-0) won his Glory Kickboxing debut last Saturday night in Los Angeles, California. Jones was sharp across the board while defeating Paul “The Reaper” Banasiak (5-3) at Glory 52, winning unanimously on all three judges scorecards. Jones appeared to be the smaller of the two fighters but that didn’t slow him in beating Banasiak continuously to the punch (and kick) over three rounds of action.

Jones will be back in action on May 12, 2018, at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota. His opponent that night at Mecca XII will be Florida’s Kit Ruddock in a featured middleweight bout.

He was 6’4 and I’m 6’1 so he had a reach advantage. I just wanted to be more aggressive than him” said Jones when asked to describe his fight against Banasiak. “I knew going in that he had a good left kick. The game plan was to time those kicks, and that’s what I did. I didn’t really have to change much in the fight. I caught him clean a few times and give him credit for being so tough. The whole experience (fighting for Glory) was surreal. It was an organic happiness and I just wanted to stay in the moment and have fun. Four and a half years ago, I envisioned myself being there and now it’s happened.”

“I will be fighting Kit Ruddock next on May 12th. As of now, that’s the scheduled fight. Hopefully he signed his contract. I’m not going to stop training. I’m in the gym right now, two days after my fight with Glory. I hope everyone comes out because this is a fight you don’t want to miss. I don’t think Minnesota fighters get the respect they deserve, especially people from my gym. I’m going to do my part in putting us on the map.”