After the title, Hron celebrated “retired” at the end of the year. It also continues because of vanity
He joined in Prague’s Lucerna, which is a symbolic place for him. Twenty years ago, he fastened his first belt to the professional European champion WKN. “The lantern is a special place for me. When I started, I wanted to fight a lot there and I succeeded. Each hall has its own charm, but the Lantern is different. It’s an old building, boxing matches were there in the thirties. It makes me happy to wrestle there, a lot of people came, so great, “Hron described.
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During the Gala Evening of Professional Boxing and K-1, he defeated Gabriel Ojdanič from Croatia to twenty years younger. “I expected him to fall in the third round, but it was clear that he had a hard school. After the match, I talked to him and said that he was training at the famous Dutch Mike’s Gym, where great names such as Badr Hari were being prepared. The opponent lasted longer than I expected, but there was also a difference between us for twenty years, “said Hron, 40.
The very next day, on Thursday, he was already standing at the cage in Brno, where he was coaching his charge, Matěj Peňáz, who knocked out Cheick Kone from Côte d’Ivoire in the third round during the Octagon 30 event. “It was definitely a longer match than we expected. The opponent was tougher, but Matěj managed it well. He is still learning, he is a newcomer to MMA, he has been doing it for sixteen months. He looked after a lot of things, but he also tried to buy something. It is not good that he collected the blows, on the other hand, he gained the experience that he could deal with it when he collected and withstood it. He returned to the match, he did great and he has his fifth victory, “said Hron.
After two demanding evenings, however, the wrestler and coach did not have the strength for a stormy New Year’s Eve celebration. “I slept for half a day, and if it wasn’t for me that I wouldn’t hang out with my girlfriend, I wouldn’t even last until midnight. After two days, I was tired, I was not in the mood for people, so we were at home and had a retirement break, “he laughed.
IT IS NOT INTENDING TO END
He often has to face questions about how long he will continue his career. He is already one of the Czech legends of martial arts, but he does not intend to end it. “Probably vanity also plays a role in that, I want to prove that I am good and I have it. As long as it works out for me, I’ll do it. I reckon I’ll last another year and a half. I really want to end up winning, not losing four matches, and thinking it’s worthless. I hope I can’t get to that stage. “I hope that someone will stop me and say that it was enough,” he said.
He still has a penchant for the title of the prestigious Asian organization One Championship. He won the qualifying pyramid in Prague in April, but the coronavirus pandemic has postponed the peak in Singapore. “It would be a beautiful point in my career if I wrestled in Singapore and won the title. I would be better off, but I probably wouldn’t retire anyway, it would kick me further, “he admitted. “Two tournaments are still missing in the series. I hope that in 2022 the final will come out, “he added.
The world is full of quality fighters who continue their careers after forty. “I am looking at the UFC, where the champion Glover Teixeir is forty-two and is to go with the title of Jirka Procházek. Such people motivate me and for example I am a similar motivation for young wrestlers as the older ones for me, “said a native of Brno.
Now, however, Hron is taking his well-deserved leave, he has no specific duel agreed. “I’ll have a lighter month, my girlfriend and I are flying to Mexico for a fortnight. I hope to see a rattlesnake there. The girlfriend said that she wanted to look for snakes in nature on holiday, so instead of lying on the beach, we would go to the jungle. Maybe we won’t break up there, “said Hron in exaggeration, whose hobbies include breeding venomous snakes. He is also nicknamed the Rattlesnake.
PHOTO: Hron and Peňáz are motivated in training, they avoided Christmas gluttony
Of course, he needs to heal the scars that martial arts bring. “Something still hurts in training, shoulder, knee, something always happens in a match. I’m older and when you’re pounding for twenty years, injuries appear, “confirmed a graduate of the Faculty of Sports Studies at Masaryk University in Brno.
He does not make resolutions for the new year, but the wish is obvious. “What can one wish for more than health for oneself and one’s loved ones? There is no need for more, we have to deal with the rest and in the final it is fun when the body works, “Hron remarked.