Masaaki Noiri’s stinging fists may have gotten the job done at ONE 172 last month. However, Thai veteran Buakaw Banchamek firmly believes that it was the Japanese star’s kicks that marked the beginning of the end for Tawanchai PK Saenchai’s hunt for two-sport glory inside the Saitama Super Arena.
Noiri squared off against the PK Saenchaimuaythaigym affiliate in one of four world title showdowns on March 23. Many favored Tawanchai to leave the fabled arena as a two-sport ONE world champion. The Team Vasileus superstar had other ideas, though.
The 31-year-old closed out the show with a flurry of strikes that forced the referee to halt action at 1:55 of the third stanza, earning him the ONE interim featherweight kickboxing world championship.
“It’s hard to tell what Noiri was trying to set up in the first round. But, you can see, he was just targeting Tawanchai’s lead leg throughout round one. Whenever Tawanchai gets careless, he lands. He started second guessing and moving slowly,” Buakaw shared while dissecting their world title fight in a clip posted on his YouTube channel.
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Indeed, the multi-time Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion got his analysis spot on.
Though Tawanchai appeared to be firing on all cylinders in the first two rounds, the former two-division K-1 champion’s chopping blows to the lead leg slowed the featherweight Muay Thai kingpin as the match progressed.
Watch Buakaw’s analysis of Masaaki Noiri’s highlight-reel win here:
Buakaw gives Masaaki Noiri his well-deserved folowers
In the same clip, Buakaw sang praise for Masaaki Noiri’s massive accomplishment at ONE 172, describing him as ‘one of the kings of kickboxing’ from ‘The Land of the Rising Sun.’
The 42-year-old shared:
“Noiri is considered one of the kings of kickboxing in Japan. He’s been doing kickboxing his whole life. Maybe not a hundred fights, but he’s been around.”
Fight fans can rewatch the entire ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang card via watch.onefc.com for free.
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Edited by Tejas Rathi
