New interim champ Nabil Anane credits old foe for showing him “what a world-class athlete is”
Newly crowned ONE Interim Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nabil Anane made the most of his opportunity at ONE 170, and now the 6-foot-4 superstar is savoring the most profound moment of his career. Having said that, he has little time to rest.
He became interim champ with a stunning first-round stoppage of #2-ranked contender Nico Carrillo this past Friday, January 24, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s sold-out Impact Arena.
With that, Anane must prepare for a rematch against a striking giant in his own right. He will unify belts with ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 at ONE 172 on Sunday, March 23.
The pair first crossed paths at ONE Friday Fights 22 in June 2023 in Anane’s ONE debut. Superlek picked apart the Thai-Algerian to score a flawless first-round knockout win.
Plenty of time has passed since. With six wins on the bounce, Anane is a much different battler than he was in their initial meeting. He feels this will be evident when they meet in Japan’s Saitama Super Arena in eight weeks.
“First of all, I want to thank Superlek for giving me the opportunity to know what a world-class athlete is like,” Anane said at ONE 170’s post-fight press conference.
“I’ve been improving myself since that loss with Superlek, and I’ve been training very hard, and I’m ready to face him.”
Nabil Anane shocks the world with first-round annihilation of Nico Carrillo
Many people had written off Nabil Anane when he stepped up to face Nico Carrillo at ONE 170.
At 6-foot-4, his range was always going to be problematic. However, there’s more to the Thai-Algerian than just his height. His power began to shine through as he put Carrillo down with a stern right hand.
Moments later, Anane unleashed a storm that concluded with a ferocious high kick to put the Scotsman down for a second time. The ending was inevitable when he then smacked his foe to the mat one more time to finish proceedings.
Now, the only way is up as he looks to unify the gold versus two-sport, two-division king Superlek Kiatmoo9 this coming March at ONE 172.
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
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