“A match fought by the new Takeru” - Japanese superstar Takeru Segawa admits changing up his training when he fought Thant Zin
Takeru Segawa is undoubtedly one of the greatest strikers of all time, but he isn't one to stay completely stationary in his career.
The Japanese superstar decided to change things up in his approach when he knocked out rising star Thant Zin at ONE Friday Fights 81 this past week at the historic Lumpinee Stadium.
Taking to Instagram, Takeru revealed he changed bits of his training camp when he prepared for his flyweight kickboxing matchup against Thant Zin.
Takeru Segawa wrote he changed his strength and conditioning exercises during his training camp and essentially created a new version of himself when he knocked Thant Zin out in the second round of their Bangkok meeting.
He posted:
"This time, for the first time, I changed my practice method and conditioning in various ways. A match fought by the new Takeru. There are still a lot of things to fix, but I'm getting a good feel for it. I will improve this new style for the next fight. I will definitely win next time. Thank you for all your support and encouragement!"
Things started to look dire for the former three-division K-1 Kickboxing world champion when he got dropped in the first round.
Takeru Segawa, however, needed that crucial wake-up call and unleashed an offense that reminded people why he's arguably the greatest Japanese kickboxer in history.
Channeling his karate roots, Takeru folded Thant Zin with a patented toe kick to the body that dropped the Burmese phenom.
Takeru, who now held all the advantage in the world, then pummelled Thant Zin with a storm of punches to capture the technical knockout win.
Takeru Segawa didn't expect that he would get such a dramatic win over Thant Zin
Takeru Segawa always expected that every match he figured in would be a difficult one, yet he was still surprised how his win over Thant Zin went down in Bangkok.
In an interview with Nic Atkin, Takeru admitted that his victory over Thant Zin was one of the most dramatic in his career.
Takeru added that his early knockdown in the first round added another layer of suspense to his victory:
"I didn't expect that it was going to be this dramatic. I know that Thant Zin is very strong. I didn't expect myself to win that easily, but if I didn't get [knocked] down, that would have been better. But I know that I have entertained the ONE Friday Fights fans all over the globe."
Watch Takeru's entire interview below: