FOLLOWING two unsuccessful forays as a bantamweight, two-division ONE Championship world champion Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen has reconsidered his career tack and focusing on the heavier weight divisions.
The reigning featherweight and lightweight champion, Mr. Nguyen saw his quest for a third world title shut down in successive fashion.
He fell first to bantamweight champion Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandez of Brazil in his first jab at the 65.8-kg division crown, losing by split decision in March before being silenced by Filipino Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon by unanimous decision in their battle for the interim world title in July.
The twin defeats had forced Vietnamese-Australian Nguyen to reevaluate, before finally deciding to focus for now on featherweight and lightweight.
“I was naive. I thought the weight cut was not going to be an issue, but it played out in the fight,” said Mr. Nguyen, referring to his last fight against Mr. Belignon.
“I did not feel tired — I could have gone another five rounds, but with my toe, it just came to a point where my reactions were off, and Kevin’s speed was impeccable. I could not adjust, and everything just came into play,” he added.
Mr. Nguyen underscored though that his bantamweight sojourn was not completely for naught as it allowed him to better understand himself as a fighter and should serve him well moving forward.
“It was a good learning curve, and a good experience overall, but I will stick to my roots where my body feels stronger and more comfortable,” Mr. Nguyen said.
The two-division world champion went on to say that he is ready to take on all-comers for his belts, who include former champions Shinya Aoki of Japan and Filipinos Eduard Folayang and Honorio Banario in lightweight, and Narantungalag ‘Tungaa’ Jadambaa of Mongolia in featherweight.
Mr. Nguyen has yet to defend his lightweight belt after seizing it from Mr. Folayang in November last year while he defeated Christian Lee of Singapore in their featherweight title clash in May. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
