Sportskeeda picks: ONE Championship’s best kickboxing knockout of 2023

The kickboxing scene in ONE Championship this year was filled with electrifying finishes, but truthfully it wasn't hard to pick the cream of the crop when you include finesse and big stage nerves in a sentence.

At the organization’s opening card of the year, ONE Fight Night 6, Superbon Singha Mawynn and Chingiz Allazov met to determine the ruler of the featherweight kickboxing division.

The Thai divisional king's confidence was at an all-time high leading up to this showdown. With a trio of wins against Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong, Marat Grigorian, and that smashing finish of Giorgio Petrosyan, it was easy to understand why.

As such, Allazov knew he had to be at his best if he was to go on and defeat the pound-for-pound great. While many doubted him, he turned on the heat to produce one of the most spectacular stories of an eventful 2023 in ONE Championship.

First, he had to find a way past the tip of Superbon’s limbs and fists, and he did so brilliantly, frustrating the Thai superstar at every exchange.

While the talk of the town was all about the kingpin's chances of crushing his Azerbaijan-Belarusian representative, it was the latter who danced to that beat, even coming close to finishing the contest with a pair of head kicks early in the duel.

Soon, momentum was on his side, and the bearded challenger shifted into fifth gear and went full berserk at the start of the second canto.

He rattled the ONE Championship world champion with a superman punch and followed up with another wild combination for the first knockdown of the clash.

At that intersection, Superbon’s usual aura of confidence seemed to diminish into thin air. On the flip side, Allazov’s eyes were dead focused on switching off his opponent's lights, with victory possibly just a touch away.

True enough, just as Olivier Coste recommenced the fight, the Gridin Gym superstar sprung into action, unloaded with a barrage of strikes and a devastating right to see off the firefight at 1:03 of round two.

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ONE Championship: Allazov vs Regian Eersel is one to make for an explosive 2024

With ONE Championship gold and a US$50,000 performance bonus for his fine effort, the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix winner left no doubt about who’s the top pound-for-pound kickboxer on the planet.

While he could have chosen to rest on his laurels, ‘Chinga’ did not waste time calling his shots shortly after the triumph, turning his attention to ONE lightweight Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion Regian Eersel.

Though he hasn’t faced the Dutch-Surinamese megastar, a clash between the pair should be something that the ONE Championship matchmakers should think about as they look to break records in 2024.

Relive his sensational world title triumph over Superbon and clash against Marat Grigorian via ONE Championship's YouTube channel.