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Reigning and undisputed ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Di Bella is a man of many talents.
Despite being one of the best kickboxers in the world, the 27-year-old Canadian-Italian superstar recently said he is more than willing to enter other realms of the fighting spectrum, including making appearances in Muay Thai and mixed martial arts.
However, it’s a brief stint in professional boxing that Di Bella has had experience in, and he says it’s because he wanted to stay sharp amidst COVID-19.
Like many professional combat sports athletes, Di Bella was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and its many restrictions. Which is why he turned to boxing in Montreal as a way to keep busy while he couldn’t do kickboxing.
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Speaking to veteran journalist Ariel Helwani on a guest appearance on The MMA Hour, Di Bella explained his boxing stint. He said:
“The two boxing fights were me just trying to stay active at the time. Cause I was coming from a three-year layoff from kickboxing because of COVID-19 and yeah, I just wanted to stay active and it was the only thing I could have done was boxing in Montreal.”
Di Bella had two fights in 2022 as a professional boxer, posting a unanimous decision victory over Brian Lopez Salinas and a knockout over Jesus Omar Chavez Velazquez.
Needless to say, Di Bella is certainly one talented fighter.
Jonathan Di Bella, the reigning ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion
Not long after his last boxing fight, Jonathan Di Bella found himself in ONE Championship, the world’s largest martial arts organization.
The 27-year-old made his promotional debut against Chinese spitfire ‘The Fighting Rooster’ Zhang Peimian at ONE 162: Zhang vs. Di Bella in October of 2022. A unanimous decision victory for the Canadian-Italian earned him the vacant ONE strawweight kickboxing world title.
Di Bella recently defended that strap against ‘Mini T’ Danial Williams of Australia at ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov on Prime Video last October 2023.
