Professional fighters are among the toughest athletes around, but a powerful, well-placed shot to the midsection can give even the most seasoned prizefighters a moment’s pause.
That’s why the world’s best fighters put themselves through punishing gym sessions to firm up their abdomens and, in some cases, even invite their training partners to train their abs for the punishment of fight night by unloading a barrage of strikes to their torso.
One such athlete is ONE Championship striking ace [autotag]Hiroaki Suzuki[/autotag], who is looking to get himself back into title contention after his first title shot ended in defeat.
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Suzuki lost out to Thai legend Nong-O Gaiyanghadao for the ONE bantamweight muay Thai title in May last year in a fight that saw him on the receiving end of more than 50 thumping body kicks from one of the best muay Thai strikers on the planet.
But, despite taking a barrage of kicks to the midsection, Suzuki took the champion all the way to the scorecards in a remarkable display of durability.
Now the Japanese striker will be hoping to bounce back and make a run at either of the bantamweight belts in ONE’s all-striking league, ONE Super Series, which features bouts under muay Thai and kickboxing rulesets.
ONE Championship is set to return to action Friday in Bangkok as the promotion looks to get back up and running again following the COVID-19 shutdown, and Suzuki has been in the gym preparing ahead of his next fight booking. Based on the footage below, it seems he’s getting ready for another punishing war.
We saw two-division ONE champion Aung La N Sang’s “Body Shot Challenge” a few months ago, and it seems “Kaibutsukun” is happy to give “The Burmese Python” a run for his money in the toughness stakes.
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.