BANGKOK – Malaysian muay thai exponent Kabilan Jelevan Thiagarajan made a stunning ONE Championship debut at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok as he earned a technical knockout (TKO) victory and pocketed 350,000 baht (RM45,743) as performance bonus.
The 23-year-old Sarawakian fighter downed his opponent, Sulaiman Looksuan of Myanmar, with a thudding right hand to earn the TKO at 2:51s of the opening round in flyweight muay thai, on Friday night.
“All muay thai athletes dream of fighting in ONE Championship. It has been my dream since I started training when I was 14.
“I worked hard to make my dream come true.
“I underwent intensive training for nearly two months before for my ONE Championship debut. I trained about eight hours a day, four hours in the morning and another four hours in the afternoon for six days a week. It all paid off with a stunning debut,” he told Bernama.
Kabilan from Rentap Muay Thai Gym in Kuching, Sarawak expressed his gratitude to his coach, Addy Singpayak, for keeping his training on track.
Meanwhile, another Malaysian muay thai exponent, Muhammad Johan Ghazali Zulfikar won by unanimous decision after three rounds against Samurai Seeopal of Thailand.
It is the 16-year-old teenager’s third victory in ONE Championship.
Johan or better known as “Jojo” dominated the opening round against his 18-year-old opponent utilising his ripping body shots and blistering punch combo to put constant pressure on his opponent.
However, Samurai fought back in the second round. In the final round, Johan pushed his opponent to the brink, securing a unanimous decision from the judges. – Bernama, July 16, 2023
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