“You can’t take anything away from him” - Liam Harrison says Nabil Anane deserves more praise for shutting down Superlek

Liam Harrison feels that Nabil Anane should be lauded for dominating Superlek Kiatmoo9 in their last match even though he believes that the Thai superstar was not his usual self in said contest.

ONE interim bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Anane defeated 'The Kicking Machine' by unanimous decision in their rematch at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23 in Japan.

The 6-foot-4 Algerian-Thai phenom banked on his reach and height advantage to take steady control of the match throughout and give Superlek a difficult time, highlighted by scoring a knockdown in the opening round.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Harrison shared his thoughts on what went down in the match, highlighting that regardless of whether Superlek was a hundred percent or not on fight night, Anane showed up and should be celebrated.

'Hitman' said:

"Whether or not [Superlek] was 100%, would he have beaten Nabil on that night? I don’t know still because Nabil looks incredible. So, you can’t take anything away from him."

Watch the interview below:

The match at ONE 172 was supposed to be a unification bout for the bantamweight Muay Thai belts before erstwhile divisional king Superlek was stripped of the world title for missing weight and failing hydration tests.

The fight still pushed through but was reconfigured as a non-title, three-round showdown. The win, meanwhile, was a payback for Nabil Anane, who was knocked out by Superlek in his ONE Championship debut in June 2023.

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Liam Harrison confident Superlek can bounce back in possible trilogy match with Nabil Anane

While he believed Nabil Anane should be saluted for the way he dominated Superlek last time around, Liam Harrison is not ruling out a grand bounce-back by the Kiatmoo9 Gym standout in a possible trilogy match between the two.

He spoke about it in the same interview with the South China Morning Post, sharing that while Superlek underperformed at ONE 172, he has it in him to redeem himself against Anane in a future re-engagement.

Harrison said:

"There were no kicks, there was no game plan, there was just that right punch. Obviously, there might have been a reason behind this and some stuff, but still, needs to go away, regroup, come back, and get to his best. And if he does, then I think he’s the only one who might be able to stop Nabil at that weight."

The defeat to Nabil Anane at ONE 172 halted an 11-fight winning streak for Superlek and dropped him to a 15-2 record in the promotion.