Two New Kickboxing World Champions Crowned At ONE 163

Two new kickboxing champions were crowned on Saturday, November 19, with Thailand's Petchtanong Petchfergus and Ukraine's Roman Kryklia both taking home some new hardware at the end of ONE 163 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

In the main event, Petchtanong outstruck Japan's Hiroki Akimoto throughout five rounds to win by split decision and become the new ONE bantamweight kickboxing titleholder.

A veteran of over 400 Muay Thai contests, Petchtanong used an arsenal of kicks and knees to batter Akimoto's body.

It didn't take long for the damage to be visible on Akimoto's body, but the Japanese striker continued to soldier on and attempt to hold onto his intricately-crafted belt.

In the end, it was Petchtanong who was able to grind out a hard-fought decision victory and capture his first world title under the promotion's banner.

Petchtanong has now won back-to-back bouts in ONE Championship.

Akimoto, meanwhile, snapped a five-fight winning streak and absorbed a disappointing defeat for the first time since 2019.

In the co-headliner, Kryklia survived some early trouble to rally back and knock out Iran's Iraj Azizpour in the second round to be crowned the ONE Heavyweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix champion.

With 22 seconds left in the opening round, Azizpour dropped Kryklia and appeared to be just moments away from winning the tournament finals.

However, the reigning ONE light heavyweight kickboxing kingpin endured and mounted an insane comeback in the second frame, blasting Azizpour with a hurricane of punches, kicks and knees to score the knockout and add another belt to his already impressive collection of accolades.

Kryklia likewise broke the deadlock between himself and Azizpour, which stood at 1-1 heading into their Grand Prix encounter.

The Ukrainian remained undefeated in ONE Championship, winning all five of his assignments so far.

Azizpour, on the other hand, suffered the first loss in ONE Championship.