Zack Mwekassa (born 20 January 1984) is a

Congolese Congolese or Kongolese may refer to: African peoples * Congolese people (disambiguation) * Kongo people, a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola, primarily defined by ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

and

kickboxer Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and ...

who fights in GLORY. He is a former Interim Glory Light Heavyweight Champion. As of 1 October 2017, he is ranked the #4 light-heavyweight in the world by CombatPress.com.

Biography

Mwekassa is the son of a chemist and his two brothers are lawyers. In addition to his fighting career, he is trained as a computer network engineer. He and his family were displaced from their native

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

during the

Second Congo War The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War or the Great War of Africa, was a major conflict that began on 2 August 1998, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, just over a year after the First Congo War. The war initially erupted ...

that began in 1998.

Career

Boxing

Mwekassa began his professional boxing career at the age of 22 in 2006 in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. In the first 2 years of his career, he amassed an undefeated streak of 8-0 with all but one of the wins coming by way of TKO or KO. He experienced his first losses back-to-back in 2008 and 2009, before going on another 5-0 undefeated streak...

Kickboxing

Mwekassa began training in

in 2003 with elite kickboxers, including the late

Mike Bernardo Michael Shawn Bernardo (28 July 1969 – 14 February 2012) was a South African kickboxer and boxer from Cape Town. Bernardo was known as Beru-chan in Japan, where he has taken part in K-1 World GPs since 1994. He holds notable wins over ...

. His trainers intended him for the

K-1 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the worl ...

circuit but the opportunities were scarce, so he moved into professional boxing in 2006. In 2014, Mwekassa resurrected his interest in kickboxing. He saw GLORY on television and approached the company about fighting for them. He soon found himself scheduled to face popular MMA and kickboxing fighter Pat Barry at Glory 16: Denver. In what many considered a shocking upset, he knocked out Barry with an incredible uppercut in the first round. Mwekassa returned to the Glory ring on November 7, 2014 at Glory 18: Oklahoma. He was part of a four-man, one-night tournament to decide the next Light Heavyweight title contender. Mwekassa started in impressive fashion as he knocked out Brian Collette in the semifinals. In the finals, he faced

Saulo Cavalari Saulo Cavalari (born 23 May 1989) is a Brazilian light heavyweight kickboxer and mixed martial artist, fighting out of Thai Brasil team in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. He has competed in K-1 and is currently signed to GLORY, where he is a former ...

. After a competitive back-and-forth two rounds, Mwekassa lost in the third round due to a head kick. Mwekassa had a rematch with Cavalari for the vacant Glory Light Heavyweight Championship at Bellator MMA & Glory: Dynamite 1 on September 19, 2015. He lost the fight via majority decision. He fought

Mourad Bouzidi Mourad "The Silent Power" Bouzidi () (born November 23, 1984) is a Dutch– Tunisian heavyweight kickboxer, fighting out of Dojo Kamakura/Team Aerts in The Hague, Netherlands. He is the current Dutch Heavyweight W.F.C.A. kickboxing champion ...

for the interim Glory Light Heavyweight title. He defeated Bouzidi by a first round TKO. Mwekassa fought the reigning Glory champion

Artem Vakhitov Artem Olegovich Vakhitov (; born April 4, 1991) is a Russian kickboxer who competes in the Light heavyweight division of Glory. Having begun practicing Muay Thai at eleven years old, Vakhitov first came to prominence due to a ...

during Glory 35, losing by TKO in the third round.

Titles

*WBF International Cruiserweight Title *ABU all Africa heavyweight title *Interim Glory Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Professional boxing record

Kickboxing record (Incomplete)

, - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2016-11-05 , , Loss , , align=left,

, , Glory 35: Nice , ,

Nice, France Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million

, , TKO (3 knockdowns) , , 2 , , 2:23 , , 15–4–0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2016-06-25 , , Win , , align=left,

, , Glory 31: Amsterdam , ,

Amsterdam, Netherlands Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area. Located in the D ...

, , TKO (3 knockdowns) , , 1 , , 1:47 , , 15–3–0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2016-04-16 , , Win , , align=left,

Zinedine Hameur-Lain Zinedine Hameur-Lain (born May 26, 1986) is an Algerian - French kickboxeur, currently signed with Glory. He is the WBC Muay-thai World Champion. He has also fought in SUPERKOMBAT. He was ranked as a top five light heavyweight kickboxer in the ...

, , Glory 29: Copenhagen , ,

Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the Øresund strait. The Øres ...

, , Decision (unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , , 14–3–0 , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2015-09-19 , , Loss , , align=left,

, , Bellator MMA & Glory: Dynamite 1 , ,

San Jose, California, USA San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, , Decision (majority) , , 5 , , 3:00 , , 13–3–0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2015-06-05 , , Win , , align=left, Carlos Brooks , , Glory 22: Lille , ,

Lille, France Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, , KO (left hook) , , 1 , , 1:58 , , 13–2–0 , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 2014-11-07 , , Loss , , align=left,

, , Glory 18: Oklahoma, Final , , Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA , , KO (high kick) , , 3 , , 0:20 , , 12–2–0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2014-11-07 , , Win , , align=left, Brian Collette , , Glory 18: Oklahoma, Semi Finals , , Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA , , KO (left hook) , , 2 , , 0:45 , , 12–1–0 , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 2014-05-03 , , Win , , align=left, Pat Barry , , Glory 16: Denver, Reserve Match , , Broomfield, Colorado, USA , , KO (left uppercut) , , 1 , , 2:33 , , 11–1–0 , - , - , colspan=9 , ''Legend'':

References

External links

Profile
at GLORY
Boxing Record
at BoxRec *Michael Stets (2014-05-02) Volcanoes, snake bites and gun shot and gunshot wounds
A conversation with GLORY 16 heavyweight Zack Mwekessa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mwekassa, Zack 1984 births Living people Cruiserweight boxers Heavyweight boxers Democratic Republic of the Congo male boxers Southpaw boxers African Boxing Union champions Democratic Republic of the Congo male kickboxers Heavyweight kickboxers Glory kickboxers Martial artists from Kinshasa 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo sportsmen