Petrosyan (left) and El Boustati (photo via Ben Pontier / GLORY)

By GLORY (via press release)

Milan, Italy (April 19, 2013) – Giorgio Petrosyan (77-1-1, 35 KO’s) and Hafid El Boustati (67-7-3, 19 KO’s) came face to face at today’s official GLORY 7 MILAN weigh-ins, which saw all the fighters make weight at the first attempt.

Words have gone back and forth between the two in recent weeks, with the normally unflappable Petrosyan taking great offence at El Boustati describing him as “a rabbit who is scared of the fight.”

“I don’t know where he got this from,” snapped Petrosyan. “We will see on Saturday night who is running like a rabbit. He will eat his words.”

The staredown between co-main event fighters Robin van Roosmalen (28-5-0, 19 KO’s) and Murthel Groenhart (53-14-3, 29 KO’s) was intense, with neither wanting to break away first. GLORY officials separated them today but on Saturday night they will be let off the leash.

The two top lightweights headline Saturday night’s event in Milan, Italy with Petrosyan defending his world number one ranking and El Boustati looking to make a huge impact on his official GLORY debut.

Tense silence surrounded the staredown between heavyweight prospects Rico Verhoeven (38-9-0, 10 KO’s) and Jhonata Diniz (7-3-0, 4 KO’s), who had an outstanding performance against Daniel Ghita in the 2012 Heavyweight Grand Slam. With both being proven knockout artists and hotly tipped for big things in the future, this fight is unlikely to go the distance.

GLORY 7 MILAN will air in 162 countries and will be available to over 861 million television households around the world. The high-definition live stream is also available to every internet-connected device in the world via GloryWorldSeries.com, priced at just $20 USD.

The official weigh-in results for GLORY 7 MILAN are as follows:

Lightweight (70kg/154lbs)

Giorgio Petrosyan (69.8kg/153.9lbs) vs.Hafid El Boustati (70.4kg/155.2 lbs)

Lightweight (70kg/154lbs)

Murthel Groenhart (70.4kg/155.2lbs) vs Robin Van Roosmalen (70.1kg/154.5lbs)

Lightweight (70kg/154lbs)

Yuri Bessmertny (70.4kg/155.2lbs) vs Davit Kiria (69.6kg/153.4lbs)

Heavyweight (+95kg/209lbs)

Jhonata Diniz (107.8kg/237.7lbs) vs Rico Verhoeven (117.9kg/260lbs)

Middleweight (85kg /187lbs)

Sahak Parparyan (85kg/187.3lbs) vs Artem Levin (84.2kg/185.6lbs)

Light-Heavyweight (95kg/209lbs)

Michael Duut (94.2kg/207.6lbs) vs Steve McKinnon (94.2kg/207lbs)

Lightweight (70kg/154lbs)

Chingiz Alazov (70kg/154lbs) vs Marat Gregorian (70kg/154lbs)

Featherweight (65kg/143lbs)

Sergio Wielzen (64.6kg/142.4lbs) vs Kaopon Lek (65.1kg/143.5lbs)

Welterweight (77kgs/170lbs)

Karapet Karapetyan (77.1kg/169.9lbs) vs Roberto Cocco (76.9kg/169.5lbs)