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A titanic duel between Ilias Ennahachi and Petchtanong Petchfergus will descend upon the Lusail Sports Arena for ONE 171: Qatar on February 20.
The former ONE world champions lock horns in a bantamweight kickboxing contest, with a victory likely to land either ranked superstar a shot at the divisional gold that will be on the line when defending king Jonathan Haggerty goes toe-to-toe with 'Demon Blade' Wei Rui in the night's main event.
ONE Championship announced the bout on its site earlier today.
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No.2-ranked Ennahachi has yet to taste defeat on the global stage after announcing his arrival with a wicked knockout of Petchdam at ONE: Dreams of Gold in August 2019. The Moroccan veteran is on a perfect 5-0 run heading into this showdown.
His biggest win came against reigning two-sport, two-division king Superlek Kiatmoo9 in a successful ONE flyweight kickboxing world title defense — he still remains the only athlete to hand 'The Kicking Machine' a loss in the promotion.
Ennahachi, unfortunately, was stripped of his gold after failing to make the flyweight limit in his subsequent appearance.
That said, the S&B Gym affiliate has found success in the bantamweight division with a pair of triumphs over Aliasghar Ghodratisaraskan and ex-bantamweight kickboxing world champion Hiroki Akimoto.
He hopes to extend his winning ways in Qatar, but it'll be far from easy with an opponent of Petchtanong's caliber waiting to trade at every opportunity.
Petchtanong out for one more run at bantamweight kickboxing gold
After taking time off for more than a year, Petchtanong took a significant stride to reclaim his ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title with a vintage display of brutality against Alaverdi Ramazanov at ONE Friday Fights 68.
Another big win in Qatar could massively help his bid to reclaim his 26 pounds of gold.
With more than 400 fights under his belt, the Superbon Training Camp affiliate can bank on his experience to overcome what will undoubtedly be a tricky test.
Moreover, with knockout power at his disposal, the 39-year-old will fancy his chances to leave the Lusail Sports Arena with his hand raised.
Tickets for ONE 171: Qatar can be purchased here.
