GERGES STUNS SLOWINSKI

HESDY GERGES continued his rise through the world heavyweight kickboxing ranks with a hard-fought unanimous points win over Paul Slowinski in the main event of Ring Sensation Championship Uprising 12.

The Dutch-Egyptian prospect sprang a huge upset in October when he gave established K-1 fighter Ruslan Karaev a one-sided beating on the way to an emphatic unanimous points verdict.

And the 25-year-old proved the result was no fluke with another fine display in Utrecht.

Gerges came out shooting hard left liver kicks and tenderised tough Slowinski's right leg, mixing in hard punches to surge into the lead.

Australian-Pole Slowinski is never a pushover however and kept going strong to the finish, with the 2007 K-1 European champion launching a third round rally to bloody Gerges before coming up short on the scorecards.

Gerges' win was his fourth on the spin since living up to his Fightersheart nickname in a late notice K-1 debut against Semmy Schilt last March, climbing off the floor to go the distance with the man mountain four-time champion.

The hot Chakuriki Gym prospect tangles with unorthodox veteran Ashwin Balrak next on February 27 before facing another exciting new generation fighter in Romania's Daniel Ghita, also in Amsterdam, in May.

Slowinski's form has been up and down since he won the Europe GP under Ernesto Hoost's tutelage and the defeat was his second in succession after seeing off Patrice Quarteron and Ben Edwards inside the distance.

Mourad Bouzidi warmed up for his challenge to It's Showtime super heavyweight champion Badr Hari in Prague next month with a morale-boosting points win over Erhan Deniz.

Bouzidi has been on a mini slump of late after back-to-back defeats but was the more technical of the two with his kicks and knees, although the man from The Hague did not have it all his own way as he ended with a swollen left eye from Deniz's powerful hooks.

While Gerges' star continues to rise and Bouzidi recorded a timely victory, Chahid Oulad El Hadj saw his rough patch stretch to just one win in six after being outscored by Hafid el Boustati in what was reportedly the best bout of the night.

Tipped for a quick sprint to the top of K-1 Max just a year ago, Chahid paid for a slow start in his last fight against Chris Ngimbi and made the same mistake again, with a flurry of punches at the end of the third round proving too little, too late.

At 77 kilos, Sem Braan piled up points from all angles to outscore hard-hitting and fast-finishing Amir Zeyada in a close call.

Braan's It's Showtime stablemate and K-1 Max hopeful Harut Grigorian outpointed Edson Fortes but had to ride out a furious fightback from a cut eye by his opponent, whose determination made for another epic encounter.

Former Braan victim Imro Main was not so fortunate in one of the other most significant bouts on the show as the Amsterdam brawler was stopped by Henry Akdeniz after receiving three counts.

Known for his balletic kicking game, Hassan el Hamzaoui provided the finish of the night when he knocked out Robert van Nimwegen in the first round after a series of big punches.