Real Recognizes Real: Jonathan Di Bella Praises Jonathan Haggerty For Tokyo Knockout
Jonathan Di Bella was certain Jonathan “The General” Haggerty would leave Tokyo with his belt. He simply did not expect him to do it in such spectacular fashion.
The ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion watched Haggerty stop former titleholder Hiroki Akimoto in the third round of the ONE SAMURAI 4 main event at Ariake Arena on Saturday, October 17. The win lifted the 29-year-old Londoner to 25-5 overall, kept him perfect at 4-0 in kickboxing, and earned him a US$100,000 performance bonus.
Akimoto, roared on by his home crowd, rattled Haggerty with hooks in round one and landed a superman punch in the second after eating a flying knee. In the third, a right hand and a knee put him down, and a final burst brought the stoppage 42 seconds into the frame.
Di Bella had backed Haggerty from the start. The manner of the finish, though, caught even him by surprise.
“I knew Haggerty would win the fight, but I didn’t think like that. That was a nice knockout,” Di Bella said.
The Italian-Canadian knows a thing or two about building momentum himself. He swapped interim gold for the undisputed strawweight kickboxing crown last year, then defended it against “The Fighting Rooster” Zhang Peimian at The Inner Circle 22 in July for his fourth straight win.
His next challenger may already be waiting. Wang Junguang set his sights on the belt after upsetting Prajanchai Pongsuphan PK at The Inner Circle 35, and Di Bella has already said he is ready for that fight.
Watching another kickboxing champion dominate on a big stage has only sharpened his appetite to get back into the ring himself. Haggerty’s performance, he believes, showed a fighter at the peak of his powers.
Akimoto was dangerous, and the hometown favorite made the main event far from comfortable at times. In Di Bella’s view, however, the reigning king handled every moment of adversity with the composure of a fighter in full control.
“He made it look easy in Tokyo. I feel like Akimoto was at his best when he was a champ. But right now, Haggerty’s got the momentum, and as you can see, he made it look easy,” he said.
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