“He can do it easily” - Liam Harrison believes Superlek can bounce back if he focuses on improving his physical condition
ONE 172 was stacked with five title fights on the card - but only four made it into the ring. The highly-anticipated rematch between Superlek Kiatmoo9 and Nabil Anane, which was supposed to double as the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title unification match, was downgraded into a regular bout, to the dismay of many.
Superlek entered the Circle with no belt to show, stripped of his world title upon missing weight and hydration.
Liam Harrison believes that with the right changes, the Thai legend can bounce back from this setback. Speaking to Nick Atkin, Carrillo said:
"He can do it easily. If he got Pete on board, and if you look at how his body shape at the weekend, there were no muscles, there were no cuts, he looked fleshy."
He was referring to Peter Miller of Condition Nutrition, who has worked with top-tier athletes in the combat sports scene.
One of his most prominent clients is Rodtang Jitmuangnon, who was stripped of flyweight Muay Thai gold at ONE 169 and recently successfully made weight for his epic duel against Japanese kickboxing megastar Takeru Segawa in the main event of ONE 172 in Saitama.
Check out the interview below:
Liam Harrison says Superlek looked out of his element in rematch with Nabil Anane: “He didn’t want to be there”
Beyond weight issues, Liam Harrison also questioned Superlek's fire going into ONE 172. From his perspective, the Thai superstar looked out of sorts during the match. He pointed out:
"Because in round three, I think he could sort of tell that he didn’t want to be there. He would just move going through the motions, Nabil was miles ahead and Superlek wasn’t even trying. He wasn’t kicking, there was no game plan or anything."
The night ended with a unanimous decision win in favor of Nabil Anane.
But while Anane may have gotten the revenge he was looking for, perhaps the win felt a bit empty without the unified bantamweight belt to show for it.