Jonathan Di Bella admits resilient Danial Williams was very hard to put away: “He’s very tough”

ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Di Bella successfully defended his championship belt for the first time last week against Australian challenger Danial Williams. He, however, admitted that he had to dig deep to overcome the tough stand presented to him.

The Italian-Canadian fighter dominated ‘Mini T’ in their scheduled five-round title clash at ONE Fight Night 15 on Prime Video on October 6 in Bangkok, banking on his top-notch striking, particularly his crisp boxing.

Jonathan Di Bella, though, said that while he had his way for much of the contest, Danial Williams just would not go away quietly, particularly with his leg kicks.

The 27-year-old Quebec pride shared in the post-event interview session:

“He’s very tough. I knew coming into the fight, he was not going to be an easy opponent too. He’s been there before all five rounds and I knew that already. He showed it and he’s very tough. I knew that already.”

Check out the interview below:

It was the 12th straight kickboxing win for Jonathan Di Bella and second in ONE Championship. In his promotional debut in October last year, he claimed the inaugural ONE strawweight kickboxing world title with a unanimous decision victory over Chinese phenom Zhang Peimian.

After successfully passing his first test as ONE world champion, the Team Di Bella Kickboxing standout said he is now looking to continue building on his standing in kickboxing, with the end goal of being hailed as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.

For his part, Danial Williams slumped to his second straight world title fight defeat after his failed bid for the flyweight kickboxing gold back in March against reigning title holder Superlek Kiatmoo9.

ONE Fight Night 15 took place at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. Its replay is available on ONE Championship’s official YouTube page.