The Featherweight Kickboxing Grand Prix quarter final contest between Giorgio Petrosyan and Petchmorrakot Petchyindeeacademy at ONE: ‘Enter the Dragon’ became one of the most talked about fights of 2019 after the split decision win for the Thai was overturned.
A rematch was ordered and it will take place at ONE: ‘Masters Of Destiny’ next month. Yesterday Petchmorrakot and his manager Nuttadej Vachirarattanawong addressed the media during an open workout in Bangkok. The latter explained how his charge struggled to adapt to the unfamiliar ruleset,
“We planned to fight in the opening round using boxing more and show we could compete at his game, but Petrosyan was too quick and Petchmorrakot struggled. We then decided to use the knees and clinch more, but it was difficult for us as Petchmorrakot has only had a couple of kickboxing bouts whereas Petrosyan has over 100 so we didn’t fully understand the rules. We also went back a little too much in the later rounds,” explained Nuttadej.
Confidence in the air
Regardless of the controversy surrounding the first fight there was a strong air of confidence at the Petchyindee camp in Bangkok. Nuttadej believes they are ready to shock the kickboxing world again,
“I am genuinely much more confident this time around as we have fought him now and know what to expect. We have seen a weakness too that we will try to exploit and I am confident Petchmorrakot will get the win again.”
Nuttadej also spoke of employing a different approach to avoid repeating mistakes from the last fight,
“We are proud of our heritage and want to show the world that Muay Thai is the best. The biggest problem in the last fight came from the clinch so we decided the best way to avoid this is to not use the clinch at all in this fight. We want to show the world we can win but it is also very important for us to win in a clean, clear way, so no-one can accuse us of using any of our weapons to get an unfair advantage over our opponent.”
Well prepared
Petchmorrakot also spoke of his readiness and what the fight means to him,
“I am about 70-80% ready now and we are working hard to make sure of the win. Petrosyan has very good boxing, so we are working a lot on defending against that as well as some other things. He is the toughest opponent I have faced and I learned a lot from our first fight. We will be better prepared for the rules this time and I am determined to bring home the win for the people of Thailand. I know it will be a very tough fight against him again, but with the support of my team and fans, I am very confident that I can do it.”
ONE: ‘Masters of Destiny’ is set for the Axiata Arena on July 12th and the rematch between Petrosyan and Petchmorrakot will be the main event. Also participating in the open workout was Sorgraw PetchyindeeAcademy who faces George Mann in a Muay Thai bout on this card.
