"I wasn't as ready as I thought I was" - Hiroki Akimoto recalls "frustrating" experience of losing his bantamweight kickboxing gold
Hiroki Akimoto is looking to put the past behind him when he returns at ONE Friday Fights 81. The Japanese striker has accomplished some great things in his career, but his last fight did not match his high expectations.
After a long period of inactivity that came after he lost the ONE bantamweight kickboxing world championship, Akimoto returned earlier this year at ONE Fight Night 22.
In a controversial decision from the judges, he lost his comeback against China's Wei Rui and had to go back to the drawing board before stepping back in on Sept. 27.
In a recent interview with ONE Championship, the former champ spoke about where he believes he went wrong in that fight. Rather than it being a tactical error, Akimoto places some of the blame on his own preparations:
"At that time, I thought I had prepared well in my own way, but there were areas where I wasn't fully prepared. It was a frustrating experience, realizing I wasn't as ready as I thought I was. I felt incompetent and disappointed in myself. I believe I could have won if I had prepared properly."
Hiroki Akimoto looks to bounce back in a big way on Sept. 27
Hiroki Akimoto now has the task of attempting to spoil the long-awaited return of another former world champion.
Ilias Ennahachi will look to do what his upcoming opponent could not by getting his hand raised after a long period of inactivity.
The former flyweight kickboxing world champion wants to cement himself as a major player in the bantamweight division and what better way to do that than taking out a previous titleholder.
For Akimoto, he has the benefit of learning from his bad experience in May and making the right adjustments this time around to ensure that it doesn't happen again.
ONE Friday Fights 81 will air live in Asian primetime via watch.onefc.com