Takeru Will Not Retire Until He Has His Revenge On Rodtang
Eighty seconds is all it took to change everything.
When Rodtang Jitmuangnon landed a booming left hook that put Takeru Segawa on the canvas at ONE 172 in Saitama last March, the former three-division K-1 Champion experienced something he had never felt before in a career built on dominance — a clean, definitive, humiliating knockout. Saitama Super Arena fell silent. The damage was undeniable.
What followed, for Takeru, was not retirement. It was obsession.
The 34-year-old Japanese megastar headlines ONE Samurai 1 on Wednesday, April 29, at Ariake Arena in Tokyo — ONE Championship’s inaugural Japan-based event series — in a rematch with Rodtang for the ONE Interim Flyweight Kickboxing World Title. It will be his final professional fight. He has made clear that only one result will give him the ending he needs.
“After I lost to Rodtang, that was around the time I started thinking that I must defeat Rodtang and retire,” he said. “He was the first opponent who gave me that level of humiliation as a fighter. So I feel if I don’t get revenge against a fighter like him, I can’t finish my career as a fighter.”
That single sentence carries the full weight of his entire ONE journey. He joined the promotion specifically to fight Rodtang. He pushed through a debut loss to Superlek. He rebuilt himself in the aftermath of Saitama. And he sent a statement to the world last November at ONE 173, delivering a highlight-reel finish over Denis Puric that made clear his hands still carry lethal intent.
But he was carrying injuries during the first Rodtang fight, and he has never stopped thinking about it.
“Last time, I was not in the best condition with some injuries, so I wanted to fight him one more time as my last match and in the best condition,” he said. “After all, I signed with ONE Championship because I wanted to fight Rodtang, so I must fight in the best condition. If not, I would remain frustrated.”
The setting adds another layer of pressure — and meaning. A win on home soil in his retirement bout, against the man who gave him the darkest moment of his career, with an interim world title at stake. It is the kind of scenario that belongs in a film, not a real fight card.
Rodtang carries a 274-43 career record and 17 promotional wins into Tokyo. He does not get sentimental, and he does not soften for occasions. The task is enormous.
Takeru is under no illusions about that. He simply does not care.
“I cannot quit without revenge on that,” he said.
READ MORE: Anthony Joshua Shares Inspirational Quote As He Plans To Return To Boxing
Recent posts
