Though he fell to a unanimous decision loss that evening, no one held it against him, as their five-round firefight was a feast for all to see.
Takeru will step into his second promotional outing this weekend when he meets Thant Zin in a flyweight kickboxing duel at ONE Friday Fights 81: Superbon vs. Nattawut on Friday, 27th September, at Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium, and he wants to make himself known in the talent-laden striking ranks.
“This is my comeback fight and my second ONE fight, so I really want my first win in ONE,” Takeru said.
“Regardless of who the opponent is, I just need to win so I can get back to the position to fight Superlek or (ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion) Rodtang (Jitmuangnon).”
The ride to this Friday’s showdown hasn’t been the smoothest sailing for the multiple-time kickboxing world champion, as he was originally slated to face Black Panther until the Thai star was forced to withdraw due to injury.
Myanmar’s Thant Zin stepped in as a result, and “The Natural Born Crusher” believes the teen talent will offer some interesting challenges he’ll have to overcome.
“He’s a young fighter, so he’ll have momentum,” Takeru acknowledged.
“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.”
When the Japanese megastar signed on the dotted line with the world’s largest martial arts organization, the hype that followed him was unrivalled.
And though many fans were thrilled with his inaugural showing, Takeru took the defeat to heart. He believes he’s amongst the very best, alongside Superlek and Rodtang, and wants to show why.
With that in mind, when he steps inside the iconic Lumpinee Stadium this Friday, Tokyo’s favourite son’s mind is set to all-or-nothing.
“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,” Takeru said.
“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. I need to win in a way that’s worthy of that goal.”
