Gianny De Leu is only 20 years old, but is already one of the best muaythai practitioners in his respective division in Europe. He has won many titles among youth, amateurs, and elite and now he wants to take the European title from the WMC in his own city at Gent Thainight on October the 1st. The young Gentenaar Gianny De Leu will compete against the Italian Guiseppe Gesuito.
In June of this year, De Leu became the elite world champion by beating Kazakh Shamil Yermagambetov and now the Gentenaar is in 1st place in the European ranking. For the European title, he has to compete against the number 3, Guiseppe Gesuito. Patrick Van Acker, chairman of the BKBMO, the Federation of Belgian Muay Thai, and trainer at Team Mahanakhon where De Leu also trains, explained how the Italian was chosen. “We don’t choose these fights ourselves. The choice is made by the international federation. They do that depending on the level of the fighters and see what is possible.”
Van Acker indicates that the European title would be very nice, but also serves as a stepping stone to greater success. However, there is no strict timetable. “Gianny is only 20 years old so he has enough time. First, he has to adjust his weight a bit, increase it a bit, also adjust his program a bit. Everything has to run together like this.”
The intention is therefore that De Leu wins his European title, climbs the world ranking, is challenged, defends his title, and thus makes a step forward to the world title. In the meantime, he is in full preparation for the fight on October 1st. “Gesuito is very a very strong technical boxer but we have a plan of action. However, it is difficult to put a percentage on the winning chances as so many things can happen in a fight.”