Superlek Kiatmoo9 has only competed under kickboxing rules four times, but the Thai has already established himself as the best fighter in the sport, according to Chatri Sityodtong.
The ONE Championship founder and CEO hailed Superlek in the aftermath of his win over Takeru Segawa at ONE 165 in Tokyo.
“Superlek showed he is the best in the world,” Chatri said. “Right now, Superlek is pound-for-pound the best kickboxer in the world.”
Superlek might be a relative newcomer, but he has taken kickboxing by storm, and in Japan last Sunday he successfully defended his flyweight title against an opponent who was a three division K-1 champion.
The 28-year-old is much more familiar with Muay Thai having fought somewhere in the region of 200 times, and is unbeaten in the discipline since joining the ONE Championship roster.
He was scheduled to fight for the flyweight title, but came in overweight and missed out on the belt despite beating reigning champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon by decision.
The fight with Takeru was entertaining enough to justify an immediate rematch, even if the judges did award four of the five rounds to Superlek. His match with Rodtang was much closer and there was some debate about the scorecards that day.
Chatri thinks the trio, who he calls “the best strikers on the planet”, could end up fighting one another multiple times.
Takeru’s background might be in kickboxing but according to Chatri the Japanese fighter is looking to compete in Muay Thai too.
“Takeru told me he also wants to fight in Muay Thai as well, so there’s a whole another series of fights you know,” he said. “I haven’t decided.”
Takeru was not the only Japanese fighter to endure disappointment at the Ariake Arena last Sunday. Yoshihiro Akiyama was stopped in the opening round by Nieky Holzken, while Keito Yamakita and Hiroba Minowa both suffered decision defeats to foreign opponents.
Chatri said he was still looking for “a Shohei Ohtani”, a Japanese star who could have the same impact in ONE Championship that the star pitcher and hitter has had in Major League Baseball.
“If you look at the last several years, it doesn’t matter which discipline, Japanese fighters come into ONE and they get crushed,” Chatri said. “And you know, in order for ONE to truly blow up in Japan and [for] 125 million people to go crazy, we need the Shohei Ohtani moment.”
