Superbon Hungry To Reclaim Undisputed Kickboxing World Title After Beating Marat Grigorian For Interim Gold
The main event of ONE Friday Fights 58 on April 5 saw Thai superstar Superbon capture the ONE Interim Featherweight Kickboxing World Title with a sensational decision win over longtime foe Marat Grigorian.
That five-round battle went down in front of a raucous Thai crowd at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, and for Superbon, it marked a return to wearing 26 pounds of gold around his waist.
The former undisputed ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion was proud of his performance, which gave him a 2-1 lead in his rivalry with the Armenian striking great.
After the contest, the 33-year-old spoke about his hard-fought victory, noting that it wasn’t without some difficult spots:
“I feel like I won every round. I’m really happy with my victory. Even though I wasn’t doing so good early, I still did good enough to beat him.”
After suffering a devastating knockout loss to Grigorian outside of ONE back in 2018, Superbon evened the score in 2022 with a decision victory at ONE X.
The Thai says Grigorian showed improvements from their second encounter in their third meeting, which forced some crucial in-fight adjustments:
“I think he did a little bit better from ONE X. This time, he changed the game because he pressured me. I needed to change the game, too, because I didn’t think he could pressure me.
“But we prepared, too. Because he pressured close, I did a knee to the body every time he punched, and that helped me stop his pressure.”
Indeed, Grigorian showed little fear in marching toward Superbon’s firing range, wading forward behind big hooks as he tried to close the distance in an effort to get inside any dangerous kicks.
While that strategy worked to a certain extent, the Bangkok-based fighter was prepared for close-quarters combat and consistently landed body blows in response.
Superbon said:
“He pressured me in the first round. He tried to figure out my distance from the last fight. He did figure it out and put me in a little danger.
“But from my experience, I can adjust, too. I countered back every time he came close. I still have close-range weapons, like my short knees to the body.”
Superbon Continues To Target Two-Sport Gold
Now a ONE World Champion once again, Superbon still isn’t satisfied with interim gold.
Instead, he’s laser-focused on Chingiz “Chinga” Allazov – the man who took the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Title from him with a stunning knockout in January 2023.
The division’s Interim World Title will effectively secure Superbon a shot at the undisputed crown, which has remained his primary goal all along:
“I want a rematch [with Allazov]. I want to be number one in kickboxing.”
The Thai doesn’t want to stop with one belt, though.
Last December, he came up short against his superstar compatriot Tawanchai PK Saenchai in his bid for the ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Title, and he’s hungry for another crack at two-sport glory.
Superbon added:
“That’s another goal – my goal still. I want to be a Kickboxing World Champion, and I want to be a Muay Thai World Champion too. That’s my goal.”
