Team Lakay’s Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly knows that he needs to dig deeper if he wants to bounce back from his disappointing loss to “The Stalker” Xie Bin of China.
The pair of featherweights electrified the crowd at the Mall Of Asia Arena in their three-round featherweight affair at ONE: DAWN OF HEROES in Manila last Friday, 2 August. Xie eked out a technical decision win over the hometown hero.
Having the big task to start the night right for his team and country, Kelly was all-out on his performance inside the ring with “The Stalker.” But his cardio was once again an issue, allowing his Chinese foe to take over the match.
“I had a great training camp. I was confident. But in the match, my mentality changed, I was overeager and I ran out of air,” Kelly explained.
“In my last match against Sung Jong Lee, it also happened. I was gassing out and that’s why I focused on it during training camp. Heading to this match I was confident but it happened once again.”
For Kelly, he was not surprised with the arsenal of Xie, who came into the match with a seven-bout winning streak. He was surprised with himself that he struggled despite coming in with a solid training camp.
“To be honest, I wasn’t surprised with him, that’s what I expected. I was surprised with myself. I had a great camp. I came in there totally ready but I felt like I wasn’t able to show what I prepared for.”
Now back to the drawing board. Kelly plans to deepen his training, believing that better days are still on the horizon.
“This match taught me a lot. There were a lot of openings in that match that I was not able to capitalize on because I was gassing out. That’s what I’ll try to work on in my game,” Kelly admitted.
“A change in mentality is what’s needed – maybe focus on reactions, proper management of energy, so I won’t be too eager and won’t lose cardio in the end.”
Tune in to watch ONE Championship’s next event, ONE: DREAMS OF GOLD, by downloading the ONE Super App. The action starts Friday, August 16, at 6:30 p.m. local time.