“The Warrior” Wang Junguang waited six years to return to the global stage, and one night was enough to turn heads at the top of the sport.
Reigning ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan Di Bella noticed, and what he saw left him both impressed and a little surprised.
Wang claimed a split-decision win over ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Champion Prajanchai Pongsuphan PK in the strawweight kickboxing main event of The Inner Circle 35. The card streamed live in Asia primetime exclusively for subscribers at live.onefc.com from Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium on Friday, October 16.
Clearly, the time away did nothing to dull Wang’s edge. The upset lifted him to 31-7 and put his name firmly in the World Title conversation.
From the divisional king’s seat, the view looked different. The Italian-Canadian star, who carries the gold now, has a new name to keep his eyes on, and few are better placed to judge him.
Di Bella told onefc.com:
“He looked good. It looks like he was hungry, and he wants to get a title shot. Prajanchai, meanwhile, I didn’t see him in shape. I didn’t see him like when he was fighting me, you know what I mean?
“I didn’t see him in that shape. It didn’t look like the old Prajanchai. Wang was more in shape, for sure, and Prajanchai showed that he wasn’t in shape.”
To see where Di Bella’s praise comes from, go back to the action inside “The Madison Square Garden of the East” last week.
Wang’s triumphant outing was built on relentless pressure, from stinging lead-leg teeps and unorthodox footwork to heavy body shots and digging knees. Prajanchai answered with body kicks and uppercuts, but “The Warrior” kept marching forward to finish strong.
As a result, “The Warrior” left the Thai capital with the nod, but Di Bella’s scoring of the contest went an extra step in the 31-year-old Chinese star’s favor.
He added:
“I had it 3-0 for Wang. He’s looking very strong. He looked aggressive.”
Wang did not need long to make his next move clear, either.
Shortly after the fight, he made his intentions known, chasing the 26 pounds of gold that he contested for against the legendary Sam-A Gaiyanghadao at ONE: MARK OF GREATNESS in December 2019.
Di Bella, for his part, will happily play his role as the defending ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion, and he has a clear view of what the moment means for both men.
He continued:
“[I know] he wants the belt, so no problem. It’s his dream. He had a chance against Sam-A, but he didn’t get it. Now, he wants a second chance. He beat Prajanchai, and I guess he deserves it.
“But it doesn’t matter, man. It doesn’t matter who is in front of me. I gotta get the job done.”
Di Bella Eyes A Long-Overdue War With Wang
Getting the job done against Wang Junguang would also finish something that began years ago.
The two strikers were actually scheduled to lock horns once before, but the matchup never made it to fight night, and Jonathan Di Bella remembers it well.
He recalled:
“We were supposed to fight once, like a long time ago, during COVID-19. But we had to cancel because of something with the flight, and the quarantine was too much of a mess.”
Years later, the stars could finally align on the grandest stage of martial arts.
With “The Warrior” earning his way back into the title picture and the reigning ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion eager for his next challenge, the battle that fell apart once before could soon be back on the table.
And if it comes together, the Montreal bruiser already knows how it will end.
Di Bella concluded:
“I do think somebody’s going to get knocked out in this fight. And it’s not going to be me.”