“Even contemplated retirement” - Interim kickboxing champ Masaaki Noiri reveals he nearly called it quits after rough start in ONE

Masaaki Noiri was ready to hang it up after suffering back-to-back defeats in his first two matches in ONE Championship.

It's a good thing the Japanese superstar did not give up when things got tough since he was able to turn things around and realize his lifelong dream at ONE 172: Takeru vs Rodtang.

There was a lot of hype surrounding Noiri when he joined the home of martial arts last year. After all, he was a former multi-division K-1 world champion and was expected to make an immediate impact right away in the talent-stacked 155-pound division.

Surprisingly, however, Noiri dropped his debut to Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong, followed by another disappointing setback against Liu Mengyang.

In an interview with My Navi News, the Team Vasileus athlete revealed he nearly retired after those two painful losses.

"When I lost two fights in a row, of course, I thought about what I wanted to do, and even contemplated retirement. But it all changed when I got my comeback fight in January and won by KO."

Masaaki Noiri's warrior spirit shone bright, as he returned with a vengeance with a TKO victory over Shakir Al-Tekreeti. The opportunity to vie for the interim featherweight kickboxing crown came around, and he grabbed it by the horns against the phenomenal Tawanchai PK Saenchai.

The rest, as we now know, is history. The 31-year-old proved he is one of the best strikers in the world when he decimated Tawanchai to claim 26 pounds of gold at Saitama Super Arena.

Watch the full interview:

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Masaaki Noiri fine-tuned left hook that ended Tawanchai

In order to pull off his career-defining and gold-winning TKO victory against Tawanchai, Masaaki Noiri had to finetune a meticulous gameplan.

After all, he had to face a generational talent who was hell-bent on two-sport supremacy.

After weathering the Thai megastar's early kicking onslaught, the new interim featherweight kickboxing king shocked the world with a thunderous left hook.

Noiri shared in the same interview:

"I prepared different styles or tactics for this fight, but the display that I brought on the fight, that wasn’t one of them. But how can I put it? It was an inspiration while we were fighting, but that left hook was all part of the plan."

Visit watch.onefc.com to watch the replay of ONE 172: Takeru vs Rodtang.