Fresh off his loss to Superlek in his ONE debut, the now-33-year-old Takeru has been booked to face Black Panther of Venum Muay Thai Gym, nine years his junior. While Takeru has consistently been a top kickboxer for the past nine years, it will be Black Panther's first fight under kickboxing rules.
Despite being dealt a bad hand in his ONE debut against a veteran Tagir Khalilov, Black Panther has consistently improved in his short time competing on ONE Friday Fights shows. He has notably beaten the incredibly tough Suriyanlek and most recently got a highlight-reel head kick knockout over Ali Saldoev earlier this month. If Takeru can get past the young Thai, he will likely face Rodtang in a massive super fight.
Former ONE Kickboxing Champions Clash
After a year-long absence from the sport, Elias Ennahachi returns to ONE Championship against Hiroki Akimoto. Both men look to recapture the elusive Kickboxing title that now belongs to Superlek.
In 2019, a shockwave hit Impact Arena in Bangkok as Ennahachi knocked out Petchdam in the first round to capture the ONE Kickboxing title, which he would defend twice more through controversial decisions over Wang Wenfeng and Superlek. A rematch against Superlek fell through as the Morrocan fighter could no longer make the Flyweight limit and subsequently vacated his title to move up in weight, where he would only fight once before disappearing. Ennahachi returned to the cage in June and won a lackluster decision over Khyzer Hayat before being resigned by ONE Championship.
Hiroki Akimoto has amassed an impressive record of 6-3 in ONE, with notable wins over Qiu Jianliang and Capitan. The Japanese fighter lost in his first title defense against Petchtanong who was later stripped for doping. He most recently lost a controversial decision against one of the greatest 65 kg kickboxers of all time, Wei Rui. Despite a spotty recent record, Akimoto is still one of the best 65 kg kickboxers in the world today and both fighters will be gunning for a title shot against Superlek.
