Ev Ting: There couldn’t have been a better time for this bout to take place
Malaysian-Kiwi sensation Ev “E.T.” Ting has quietly anticipated his return to action. The 30-year-old former ONE World Title challenger is scheduled to meet Singapore’s Amir Khan in the co-main event of ONE: Edge of Greatness, set for Friday, 22 November at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Ting has had his eye on facing Khan for quite some time now. The two have called each other out on many channels in the past. This Friday night, they finally meet at the center of the ONE Circle.
“It goes back quite a while, actually. Kiwis have a habit of calling people out, and there was this one time when ONE Championship made an Instagram post titled something like, ‘Who’s next for Amir Khan?” I replied to that post, and [I also] granted his call-out wish, too, from a couple of years ago,” said Ting.
The Auckland, New Zealand native recognizes his opponent’s strengths and is looking to give his Singaporean foe a tough out.
“He does well with his ground game, but I haven’t seen him attack on the ground. However, his defense in that department is good. I’ve been training equally hard too, and I’m keen to test him in the stand-up, wrestling, or on the ground.” Ting said.
Both Ting and Khan previously competed in the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix earlier this year. But neither was able to make it past the first round. Although they don’t exactly sit at the top of ONE’s lightweight ladder, both men believe they are still among the creme of the crop in their division.
As such, Ting says he may be catching Khan at the perfect time.
“I believe there couldn’t have been a better time for this bout to take place. We are both trying to come back from a couple of losses, and we are trying to rebuild ourselves,” he said.
“It’s a great time for us to match up against one another for a couple of other reasons, too — the number one being the chance to see who’s ahead and how far we’ve come since our last outings.”
Ting confesses that he has learned a lot from his previous setbacks. He says he wants to carry that wisdom into his upcoming battle in order to give fans a good performance. Beating Khan would be a huge feather in Ting’s cap, and the 30-year-old is looking forward to victory this Friday night.