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Veteran Japanese kickboxer Masaaki Noiri is honored and looking forward to touching gloves with Thai superstar Tawanchai PK Saenchai in a title match this month in Japan. It is something he always wanted and grateful now to be given the opportunity to do it.
The 31-year-old Nagoya native will battle featherweight Muay Thai king Tawanchai for the division's interim kickboxing belt at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23 at the Saitama Super Arena.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Masaaki Noiri shared his thoughts on being pitted against a world champion fighter like Tawanchai.
He said:
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"After that fight [previous fight], I was simply thinking that if I won, it would be great to compete in the Japan event. That was about it. But then now I’m given the chance to fight in the Japan event, and not only that, my opponent is Tawanchai, an incredibly strong fighter."
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Heading into ONE 172, Masaaki Noiri is coming off a breakthrough win in ONE Championship last January, where he knocked out Shakir Al-Tekreeti of Iraq. The win came after he lost his first two matches in the promotion.
Tawanchai, for his part, is going for two-sport glory when he battles Noiri.
ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang is available live on pay-per-view via watch.onefc.com.
Masaaki Noiri says winning interim featherweight kickboxing belt a huge feather in his cap
Masaaki Noiri has won his fair share of titles in his long and successful career but winning the interim featherweight kickboxing belt at ONE 172 could be the biggest to date.
He made this known in an interview with ONE Championship ahead of his title match against Thai superstar Tawanchai PK Saenchai, saying:
"For me, this fight feels like the biggest culmination of everything I've done so far, and I have to show my best performance ever."
Noiri joined ONE Championship last year after establishing his name in K-1, where he became the super lightweight and welterweight champion.
