Former ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title challenger and fifth-ranked contender Liam Harrison recently appeared on Sky Sports’ YouTube channel to discuss several things.
Among the topics he spoke about was how the 4-ounce gloves in ONE Championship Muay Thai fights changed his defensive scheme when fighting. The British combat sports superstar explained it by saying:
“I remember the first thing we did I stepped in to throw a jab and the Thai fighter I was fighting, he was a little stocky, real strong fighter, he jabbed at the same time, I remember his jab at me and it felt like a right hand and I thought, ‘Jesus Christ, there’s so many different stuff that you can do with the guard and defense that you can do in 8-ounce gloves that you can’t do in 4-ounce gloves.’”
See the full interview below:
In the 4-ounce gloves, the ONE Championship circle has seen plenty of highlight-reel finishes and barnburners, a far more exciting and high-octane approach to the discipline as compared to the traditional 8-ounce muffs.
This change made the fights in the promotion more exciting, as one punch can change the complexity of a match, and Harrison experienced this firsthand.
He has split his first four fights after receiving losses from Petchmorakot Petchyindee and Rodlek PK Saenchai.
‘The Hitman’ redeemed himself with back-to-back wins over Mohammad Bin Mahmoud and Muangthai PK Saenchai to book a date with former ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Nong-O Hama.
Unfortunately for the Brit, he suffered a second-round knockout and multiple ligament tears in that fight.
Liam Harrison previews world title fight between Jonathan Haggerty and Felipe Lobo
During the same interview, Harrison also shared his thoughts on the upcoming world title showdown between reigning champion Jonathan Haggerty and No.3-ranked contender Felipe Lobo in the main event of ONE Fight Night 19 on February 16.
Harrison believes that it will be a clash of styles among the two elite strikers and thinks that this will be the perfect match to prelude the hypothetical mega bout between Haggerty and Carrillo in an all-UK fight.