"A proper lovely bloke" - Liam Harrison has all the love for Masaaki Noiri's stunning interim title win over Tawanchai at ONE 172

Japanese kickboxing star Masaaki Noiri recorded an incredible victory at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on Sunday, March 23, inside the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The result has decorated British striker Liam Harrison singing his praises.

Taking to his X account, Harrison congratulated Noiri on winning the ONE interim featherweight kickboxing world championship in his own unique way, referencing his TKO defeat due to a cut when they crossed paths in the quarterfinals of the 65kg Slam Tournament at Glory 8: Tokyo in May 2013.

'Hitman' wrote:

"Happy Noiri won... hes a proper lovely bloke and a good guy...even tho he made me need plastic surgery on my eye when we fought 🤣"

Check out the post below:

With an opportunity to face reigning ONE featherweight kickboxing world champion Superbon in a unification bout over the undisputed 155-pound kickboxing crown at a later date, the Team Vasileus product delivered a shocking TKO of ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion Tawanchai PK Saenchai to win the interim crown.

It was a masterclass of epic proportions from the orthodox-stanced Noiri, as a well-timed lead left hook dropped Tawanchai late in the third round before soon swarming him to secure the stopage victory.

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Masaaki Noiri delivers on his promise of a knockout win

Masaaki Noiri was determined to live up to his reputation as a finisher by ending Tawanchai's dreams of becoming a two-sport ONE world champion via knockout.

Ahead of ONE 172, the former two-division K-1 kickboxing champion declared in an interview with ONE:

"That's the case for every fight, but my style is always to aim for the knockout. Since this fight has five rounds, I can use all five rounds to go for the finish, or I can go for the KO right from the start."

The full replay of ONE 172 is available via watch.onefc.com.