Japanese megastar Takeru Segawa is treating his next fight like his back is against the wall – because it just might be.
Takeru returns to the ONE Championship stage against Thant Zin in a three-round kickboxing bout at the stacked ONE Friday Fights 81 event on September 27 from inside the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Despite being one of the best kickboxers ONE has ever signed, the Japanese fighter saw his ascent derailed. He was punished by ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Champion
Superlek Kiatmoo9, with the Thai showing exactly why he’s called “The Kicking Machine” as he chopped Takeru’s legs like a heavy bag on a hard training day.
With that in mind, “The Natural Born Crusher” knows that he’s in a must-win situation.
“I joined ONE to aim for being the strongest in the world, so I really want this win. To fight at the top, I absolutely can’t lose two in a row after losing the last one,” he said.
“I need to keep showing that I’m worthy of being a ONE World Champion until I get there, so I will definitely win this next fight.”
He’s not taking his next opponent lightly though. Knowing that Thant has an in-your-face fighting style of lethwei and is looking to make a name for himself against the Japanese legend, Takeru must avoid being one of the biggest upsets in the division.
That said, he plans to utilize his opponent’s aggression to his advantage by catching him when he moves forward.
“He’s the type to throw full-swing punches with a lot of power in single shots. Being from lethwei, he has physical strength and throws each punch with a clenched fist, so I need to be cautious of that,” he said.
“He’s a young fighter, so he’ll have momentum. I’ll be careful of that while sticking to my own fighting style. Since he’s an aggressive type, I want to win by KO.”
With plans to test his skills against the charismatic and highly-popular ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Takeru knows that losing a second fight would set him back massively.
“There’s no next if I don’t win. That’s what I’ve always thought. I came to ONE to fight Rodtang and prove I’m the strongest in the world by beating him, so I need to win this fight to get there,” he said.
“I need to win in a way that’s worthy of that goal.”
