Superbon says he has no personal beef with Marat Grigorian: "We respect each other"
ONE Friday Fights 58 featured a blockbuster main event as Superbon came to blows with Marat Grigorian for the second time in ONE Championship.
The ONE featherweight kickboxing division is one of the most talent-stacked weight classes in all of kickboxing, and these two men are great examples of why.
When you have two fighters of this caliber in the same weight, they are destined to meet multiple times. That has been the case with these two opponents.
Tied at 1-1 (Superbon took the win at ONE X whilst Grigorian won their first meeting years prior), it all came down to April 5 inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, where the ONE interim featherweight kickboxing world championship was on the line.
After getting his hand raised and winning the title, the Thai striker was very complimentary of his opponent. In an interview with ONE Championship, which was translated, Superbon spoke about the mutual respect that he has for his rival:
"Marat is a great athlete. He has great sportsmanship. At the end of the day, rivalries aside, we respect each other."
Superbon was pushed to the limit by Marat Grigorian
A great fighter needs great rivals and Suuperbon is not short on having world-class strikers that can continue to push him.
After dominating their last meeting, the former world champion faced a much tougher test in this meeting with Grigorian.
The power puncher and boxing specialist was relentless with his pressure throughout, forcing his opponent to dig deep and fight him on the inside to get the win.
The decision came down to the wire but there could only be one winner in order to cap off their excellent trilogy of fights against one another.
Both men will only benefit from testing themselves against another high-level opponent that arrived inside the 'Mecca of Muay Thai' with intentions of walking away with the gold no matter the cost.