Tagir Khalilov sees world title opportunity if he beats Superlek: “I'm really looking forward to it”

Tagir Khalilov plans to capitalize on the massive opportunity in his upcoming fight against Superlek Kiatmoo9.

On July 14, ONE Championship returns to the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium for their twelve event featured in the Amazon Prime Video partnership. The event was supposed to be headlined by Roman Kryklya defending his ONE heavyweight kickboxing world title against Francesko Xhaja before the latter pulled out with an injury.

As a result, Superlek stepped up and accepted a short-notice flyweight Muay Thai bout against Tagir Khalilov for the main event. During an interview with ONE Championship, the Russian acknowledge the potential world title shot implication in his fight against ‘The Kicking Machine’:

“I got the loss by decision, but before that I had two wins by knockout. Now I have a very important fight ahead of me and I'm serious about getting ready for it because this fight should get me closer to a title fight and I'm really looking forward to it.”

Tagir Khalilov fought in the ONE flyweight Muay Thai division for the first time in October 2022, losing a unanimous decision against Denis Puric. Since then, ‘Samingpri’ has secured back-to-back first-round knockout wins against Chorfah Tor Sangtiennoi and Black Panther.

Meanwhile, Superlek Kiatmoo9 holds a promotional Muay Thai record of 7-0. The ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion last fought on June 23, defeating Nabil Anane with a first-round knockout. ‘The Kicking Machine’ looks to continue his winning streak in “the art of eight limbs” by securing another win on July 14.

ONE Fight Night 12 can be seen live and for free by North American Prime Video subscribers.