LANIGAN OUT TO AVENGE DEFEAT AT FIGHT NIGHT
CAIRNS Muay Thai fighter Luca Lanigan believes he has what it takes to turn the tables on Brisbane’s Kyl Juler when they meet again in a rematch at the Elite Fight Series.
The 19-year-old, who trains under two-time Australian Muay Thai champion Patrick Doherty at The Fight Academy, will take on Juler (Muay Thai Mulisha) in the main event at the Pullman International Cairns on Saturday night.
Lanigan will be out to reverse the result of their first meeting, after Juler claimed a split decision victory in their bout at Muay Thai League 2 on the Gold Coast in October.
“I’m feeling really good,” he said.
“I’ve trained harder than I’ve ever trained before, I’m as fit as I’ve ever been, I’m as sharp as I’ve ever been, I’ve been really strict with my diet so I’m super lean, and I feel very confident that I’m going to pull away with the result that I’m after.”
Lanigan said he had learned a lot from the first fight, and believed he had made the necessary adjustments to avenge the defeat on Saturday.
“In the last fight I was too cautious and too patient, so my approach for this one is to be a lot more aggressive and try and up the work rate and get stuck into him early on,” he said.
He said having the rematch on home soil would be an advantage.
“The first fight between me and Kyl was pretty much in his hometown and it was a very close fight, so I think the decision going his way had part to do with where the judges were from,” he said.
“If it’s another close fight, then I’ve got the advantage in that sense.”
Lanigan started training in Muay Thai when he was 10 years old and had a break before taking it up again, this time more seriously, at age 13.
In 2017, when he was 15, he represented Australia at the IFMA Youth World Championships in Bangkok.
“I took it very seriously in my early teens and ended up leaving school soon after and basically doing it full time,” he said.
“When I was 17, I had another year off and then came back this year and have been training really hard and fighting really actively this year.
“I stopped because of concussion problems and I was pretty adamant I was done, but I wasn’t really able to replace my love for Muay Thai.
“I love the lifestyle it brings. It forces me to stay disciplined, it forces me to stay healthy, it’s a challenge and it’s rewarding.
“You train really hard and sacrifice every day and then you win and you have this awesome high, and nothing really compares to that.”
Lanigan is the current MTA Amateur Queensland Middleweight and WMO Amateur Queensland Middleweight champion, and while Saturday’s bout will not be for a belt, a win will likely set him up for a shot at a pro title in the near future.