Fans react to Hiroki Akimoto’s bruised right ribcage during fight with Petchtanong Petchfergus at ONE 163

Thai striking legend Petchtanong Petchfergus earned an incredible victory at ONE 163. He captured the ONE bantamweight kickboxing throne when he defeated Hiroki Akimoto.

Thailand's Petchtanong fought in a southpaw stance and utilized knees to the open side of Akimoto's body. The 37-year-old fighter caused severely visible bruising against the Japanese-born kickboxer's ribs.

ONE Championship shared a clip of Akimoto's bruised body on Instagram:

"What five rounds of fighting Petchtanong does to you 🤕 [Petchtanong Petchfergus]"

ONE Championship fans reacted to the bruising on Akimoto's ribs in the comments. Instagram user 'RSLNT Fight Wear' commented on what we're all feeling:

"Damn. My ribs hurt looking at this 😅."

Combat sports follower Jeynelle Ng was impressed with the fortitude of Hiroki Akimoto:

"Hiroki’s endurance wowed me. Go champ! you’ll get the belt in the next one"

ONE fan Luna Isabella was impressed with both fighters:

"Petchtanong’s been always a great and strategic fighter 🙌 but Hiroki’s fighting spirit and endurance is also admirable 🔥❤️ such an amazing match."

[Photo Credit: @ONEChampionship] Instagram Comments

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New ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion Petchtanong Petchfergus

After more than 20 years in combat sports, Thai-born Petchtanong Petchfergus just achieved the pinnacle of his career. Over five rounds of dominance, the 37-year-old fighter earned the ONE bantamweight kickboxing world championship in his 415th professional bout.

In his post-fight interview, the Thai-born fighter said:

“I have been training so hard for two months for this event only... I would like to say thank you to my fans in Thailand and all around the world.”

While it was a split-decision win, the confidence of the 37-year-old athlete never wavered:

“I was surprised [by Akimoto's endurance], but I was confident that ONE Championship would be fair enough that I was the winner today.”

Before the fight even happened, Petchtanong was extremely confident in his ability to handle the pressure and power coming from then-world champion Hiroki Akimoto. Weeks before his world championship bout, the Thai athlete told ONE:

“Another thing is that my [Physical] build is close to his. I can take his shots. Some people may be worried that I couldn’t handle Hiroki’s powerful strikes, but I would say to those people, don’t worry about me in this matter. I’m as big as Superbon, I can definitely handle his attack power.”