ONE Championship: Rodtang would get ‘schooled’ by Superlek and lose to Takeru, Liam Harrison says
- ‘This a sport and you should want to see who is the best in the division, the best on the planet,’ bantamweight Muay Thai contender says
- Harrison backs ‘dangerous’ Japanese star Takeru Segawa to beat ONE flyweight Muay Thai king Rodtang in kickboxing
Liam Harrison believes Rodtang Jitmuangnon would lose to both Superlek Kiatmoo9 and Takeru Segawa in kickboxing – but is not convinced he would even take the fights in ONE Championship.
Both men have now called out the UK’s Jonathan Haggerty, who holds the Muay Thai title up a weight division. But bantamweight contender Harrison feels they should settle matters in their own division first.
“I spoke to Superlek not long back, because I did a training camp with him, and he kept saying to me he wanted to fight Rodtang. So I’m not sure if someone whispered in his ear and said, ‘Please don’t fight Rodtang’,” the 37-year-old Briton told the Post.
“God knows what’s going on there. I know they both keep saying we want to keep the belts in Thailand, we don’t want to fight each other. Surely the only way to keep the belts in Thailand is if the Thais fight the Thais? That’s logic, isn’t it? I don’t get it.
“Fair enough if you’re the champion of Muay Thai in your weight division and want to move up and win the next one, then yeah, shout Haggerty’s name. But until you’re the champ in your own division, just shout whoever the champion is.
Superlek pours cold water on Rodtang fight – ‘I want Thais to have the belts’
“The entire world should go on strike until them two are made to fight. It might be one of them where you just never see it. You see it in boxing all the time. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. They might end up fighting when they’re 45 years old.”
Harrison insisted Rodtang has not fought against “elite level” opposition in his recent fights, either.
“He’s fought people like Joseph Lasiri and ‘Mini T’ [Danial Williams] from the weight division below. He had a tough fight with Mini T, who gave him a hard time. Superlek just blitzed Mini T when they fought,” Harrison said.
“If you look who Superlek has been beating. Nabil [Anane] has been fighting the top level in Thailand. Panpayak is one of the greats of this era. Superlek destroyed Walter Goncalves in one round, whereas Walter had a really close title fight with Rodtang.
“The way it’s going to be marketed, the Americans love watching Rodtang. They love his antics. They’re [ONE] going to want to push him, especially now with Prime Video shows getting into America, and I totally understand that.
“But at the end of the day, this a sport and you should want to see who is the best in the division, the best on the planet. All the fans want to see that. If that fight does happen, I think Superlek beats him. I think he takes him to school and beats him convincingly.”
One man who definitely wants to fight Rodtang is Japanese kickboxing icon Takeru Segawa. But “The Iron Man” seemed to pour cold water on the idea, telling him last week to “get some wins in ONE” before saying his name.
“I don’t know if Rodtang just believes all his own hype, there’s no need for him to say that,” Harrison added. “It’s not as if Takeru hasn’t proven himself as one of the greatest kickboxers of this era. He’s done everything.
“The reason he’s signing with ONE is, like Chatri said, they’re gonna make him versus Rodtang in Tokyo. Make it a big spectacle. So I don’t know why he’s talking himself out of it now.
“I don’t know if he’s worried, if he’s thinking, ‘If I fight Superlek or Takeru and I lose, my money might go back down, and I won’t be able to buy any new Mustangs’, or all of these crazy trainers and T shirts and shades that I keep seeing him turning up to fights in. I’d be doing it if I were on that money. I don’t blame him at all, to be fair.
“But the level of his opponents has to come up. He’s gonna have to fight Superlek and he’s gonna have to fight Takeru, and he’s gonna have to level up.
“I watched Takeru at the weekend. He’s dangerous. He fought one of my friends, Bailey Sugden, who I spar a lot. He’s a handful. He’s a tough spar. He got stopped with two seconds left and gave a good account of himself. But Takeru was just levels above him.
“It’s going to be an interesting one, that. Kickboxing rules, I see Takeru taking that one against Rodtang.”
