Takeru is coming off the most devastating defeat of his career. He seemed to be contemplating retirement after the loss to Tenshin Nasukawa in the main event of The Match 2022.
That event broke several box office records and generated huge revenue. It made Takeru a wealthy man but no amount of money could compensate for the pain of losing to his greatest rival on the biggest stage of all.
Five days ago Takero announced he was going on holiday:
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Training trip
The K-1 star probably needed a break. But it turns out he wasn’t heading overseas in order to simply sit on the beach and try to forget about training and fighting.
Instead the 30 year old decided to book a trip to one of Thailand’s most famous training facilities. He was photographed at Tiger Muay Thai alongside Chinese kickboxing prodigy Zhang Peimian:
No break for Takeru!
The former K-1 Champion made his way to Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand. Here's him with 18-year-old Chinese prodigy Zhang Peimian. pic.twitter.com/aGxGMyzbcC
— Beyond Kickboxing (@Beyond_Kick) July 4, 2022
No break
The sight of Takeru in Muay Thai shorts should dispel the notion that Takeru is on the brink of retirement. He is not even taking an extended break from training by the looks of it.
Takeru remains K-1’s biggest star. But with Tenshin adamant he will never compete in kickboxing again he has lost his biggest rival and there doesn’t seem much prospect of him ever competing on a card as big as the one he just headlined.
But the 30 year old appears to have come to terms with his loss and is grateful he got to compete on one of the biggest cards in kickboxing history. Whatever is next for Takeru it doesn’t look likely to be retirement.
In his most recent Instagram update the K-1 star said he needed to ‘take care of himself’:
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Life changing
Takeru and Tenshin were both rumoured to have received eight figure purses for their participation in The Match 2022. While this cannot be independently verified it is clear that both men earned a life changing amount of money.
Takeru could afford to holiday anywhere in the world. He also hinted that he was having some health issues telling his Instagram followers that,
“I feel that time with myself is important. I’ve been ignoring SOS from my body all these years. From now on I’m going to take care of myself.”
This could well mean he is going to take an extended break from fighting. But it doesn’t sound like Takeru has any intention of turning his back on the sport.
