Adiwang KO’s Kawahara
CEBU – Hard-hitting Lito Adiwang made a huge statement after a thunderous second round knockout of Deep strawweight champion Namiki Kawahara in the opening bout of ONE Championship: “Unbreakable” last Friday night, Jan. 22, 2021, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.
The 27-year-old Adiwang was clearly eager for an impressive finish after losing by split decision to Hiroshi Minowa on Nov. 13, 2020, his first loss in the ONE Championship cage.
Adiwang came out aggresive and traded strikes with Kawahara, who was more than willing to hang with the Team Lakay standout in the stand-up game.
In the second round, Adiwang perfectly timed a bone-crushing left hook to the head that dropped Kawahara on his back. The 31-year-old Japanese was clearly out with the punch but Adiwang finished him off with a hammer fist on the ground, which forced referee Olivier Coste to jump in and stop the fight in the 2:02 mark.
Adiwang was very emotional after the fight because he just recently lost his mother in 2020. He dedicated the fight to his mother.
Adiwang improved to 12-3, while Kawahara lost in his ONE debut and dropped to 7-4-2.
Adiwang hopes to earn a rematch with Minowa and move up the strawweight rankings.
In the main event, Capitan Petchyindee Academy (144-40) dethroned Alaverdi Ramazanov (61-6) for the ONE kickboxing bantamweight belt via a second round knockout in the main event.
Japanese legend Shinya Aoki (46-9) submitted James Nakashima (12-2) with a rear-naked choke in the opening round of the co-main event.