Hakim Hamech Fells Yukinori Ogasawara After A Phenomenal First-Round Display
There was a spectacular finish in the second bout of ONE: BEYOND THE HORIZON between France’s Hakim Hamech and Yukinori Ogasawara of Japan.
Hamech felled his taller opponent with a crushing right hand at 2:59 of the first round at in Shanghai, China on Saturday, 8 September, as ONE Super Series continues to showcase the world’s most exciting striking talent.
In this flyweight bout, the two-time Muay Thai world champion from Lyon needed to close the distance against Ogasawara, and from the opening bell, he sought to blast his way into range with hard punches and low kicks.
The pair exchanged strikes in the clinch, with both neither able to gain the upper hand, but once they had separated, it was Hamech’s aggression that caused problems.
An overhand right signalled the beginning of the end for Ogasawara as he was knocked down for the first time, but he managed to pull himself back to his feet to answer the referee’s count.
The Frenchman kept up the pressure with a barrage of punches against the ropes until another decisive right hand found its mark, dropping the Crosspoint Kichijoji gym representative to the mat again to end the bout.
“We worked on a boxing-based style, and it worked,” Hamech told Mitch Chilson in the ring after the match.
“I didn’t expect this KO, but I am really happy with the finish tonight.”
The Team-NAS-R.K man’s impressive ONE Championship debut improved his record to 43-8, and showed his power will be a dangerous asset in the flyweight division.
After a highlight-reel finish of his own in his first bout, Ogasawara was on the receiving end in his sophomore ONE appearance, and dropped to 15-5-4.
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