Former WBO Cruiserweight Champion, Krzysztof Głowacki, has become one of few boxers to make the switch to mixed martial arts and recorded a statement knockout victory on his first outing under Polish organisation, KSW.
Głowacki won the boxing world title back in 2015 when he defeated Marco Huck in the eleventh round despite being behind on the scorecards.
He made just one successful defence of his crown, defeating Steve Cunningham by unanimous decision, before being outpointed himself by the current unified heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk in 2016.
Since then, the 36-year-old challenged twice more for his former title, but was knocked out on both occasions, once by Mairis Briedis and again by Lawrence Okolie.
The Polish fighter’s most recent outing came in January, where he was stopped by Richard Riakporhe, prompting him to retire in March.
However, the southpaw has now made the transition into MMA under the KSW banner and struggled for the majority of the opening round in his debut against Patryk Tolkaczewski in Warsaw.
Głowacki found himself on his back, on the wrong side of a full-mount position, one of the least-desirable situations possible in the sport, but landed a devastating straight-left-hand to knock out his countryman in dramatic style and secure a first-round victory.
KNOCKED OUT from FULL MOUNT! 🤯
Former WBO cruiserweight champ 🇵🇱 Krzysztof Głowacki is dangerous from anywhere!!
XTB #KSWColosseum2pic.twitter.com/7pZI71yaPX
— KSW (@KSW_MMA) June 3, 2023
As a traditional boxer, his grappling was clearly seen as a weaker part of his game and inevitable flaw that well-rounded mixed martial artists will be keen to exploit. Although, the punch proved that the former champion packs power from any position and is a threat at all times in the cage.
There are rumours that Głowacki’s next outing in MMA could be against another former boxer, Artur Szpilka, who faced Deontay Wilder and Derek Chisora as a professional and also scored a knockout win on the same card as Głowacki at the weekend.