Nico Carrillo credits his striking to boxing titans Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez: "How I have the style that I have today"
Nico Carrillo credits the style that you now see him apply in ONE Championship's bantamweight Muay Thai division to his biggest influences.
Like many young martial artists, the Scottish striker was inspired by some of the all-time greats of his era as he was growing up.
Alongside watching the best of the best in Muay Thai, he had a huge passion for watching the masters of their craft in boxing.
Nico Carrillo spoke about this and how it shaped him as a fighter during a recent appearance on the Leather'd Podcast, where he named Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez as key figures:
"That's literally how I have the style that I have today. Because when I was younger, I was totally obsessed. And what I would do is I always watch all the greats. Now, when people say the greats, I think Muay Thai, but I watched others."
'King of the North' continued:
"Obviously, Muay Thai as well, but I loved boxing, so I did, and I would always watch Floyd Mayweather. I would always watch Saul Canelo Alvarez. And what I would do is, when I was like, kind of 15-16 just getting better at Thai boxing, I would watch them. And every time I go into the gym and spar, I say to myself, all you're going to do is what they've done."
Check out the full interview below:
Nico Carrillo will look to reach the same heights in his career
The two big influences that Nico Carrillo mentioned in his career met inside the ring way back in 2013 when Floyd Mayweather put his undefeated record on the line against the rising Mexican star, Canelo Alvarez.
Alvarez may have lost that fight but sharing the stage with the best in the world only made him better as a result.
At ONE 170 on Jan. 24, Carrillo will look to continue his rapid rise to the top when he takes on potentially the best striker on the planet today, Superlek Kiatmoo9, who will defend his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship in the co-main event.