“I’m glad I worked hard” - Masaaki Noiri presents his ONE world title to his parents in laidback family homecoming

Masaaki Noiri returned to his familial roots after he captured the biggest win of his career.

The Japanese superstar secured the ONE interim featherweight kickboxing world title when he stopped Tawanchai PK Saenchai with a stunning third-round stoppage at the stacked ONE 172 card on March 23 at the historic Saitama Super Arena.

In his recent post on Instagram, Noiri shared a couple of pictures of him celebrating with his parents and two older brothers.

Masaaki Noiri wrote that he's proud to bring the ONE interim featherweight kickboxing world championship to his family in a testament to the hard work he put in throughout his career. He posted:

"Noiri family homecoming 🏠The youngest son, who used to be a crybaby, has grown up to be this big 🤣 lol The whole family is happy, and I couldn't be happier ☺️ I'm glad I worked hard 🔥"

Noiri was seen as a massive underdog heading into his interim world title fight against Tawanchai, but the two-division K-1 champion showed the ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion why kickboxing will forever be his domain.

Tawanchai and Noiri engaged in a fiery back-and-forth for the first two rounds, until the hometown hero decided to pick the pace up in the third. Noiri found his rhythm in the pivotal round and worked behind his vicious lead hook.

After forcing Tawanchai against the ropes, Noiri uncorked a hellish left hook that knocked the Thai megastar down a little over a minute into the third round.

Noiri knew he had Tawanchai on the retreat, and he unloaded an onslaught of punches that ultimately forced the referee to call a stop to the contest 1:55 into the third.

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Masaaki Noiri says he's confident he can pull off a better showing in the future

While some may consider the TKO win over Tawanchai as his greatest one, Masaaki Noiri is confident he can pull off something more spectacular than his career-defining victory at ONE 172.

In an interview with My Navi News, Noiri said:

"So I wasn’t able to throw my counters the way I had practiced. So that is something I need to work on. I wasn’t able to use everything I’ve practiced. It met the grade, but I do think there is room for further growth."