Jonathan Haggerty vs Superlek Kiatmoo9 to decide the best pound-for-pound striker on the planet

Jonathan Haggerty wants revenge when he fights kickboxing legend Superlek Kiatmoo9 in Denver, live on Sky Sports in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Haggerty lost to Thai star Superlek in a 2018 fight, but today is the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion and will defend his belt against the “Kicking Machine” in the headline event of the show which begins at 1am on Sky Sports Mix.

More significantly, both fighters have excelled since their first fight and their battle should decide the pound-for-pound best striker on the planet.

“I believe so. We believe that Superlek is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters and that’s why we’ve trained so hard,” Haggerty told Sky Sports.

“We’re both in the best organisation in the world, we’re at our peak. So may the best man win.

“He looks fired up, he looks excited. That’s what I want really. I want the best Superlek that there is so there’s no excuses once I do beat him.”

The Londoner added: “We’re coming for revenge. But we’re not going to go out there with a mindset of we’re going to steamroll him or anything like that. We’re going to take our time, we’ve got a gameplan. We’re going to stick to it the best that we can. Once the elbows fly, we don’t know what’s going to happen.

“Especially with them four-ounce gloves, anything can happen.”

Haggerty relishes a tear-up even with an opponent as dangerous as Superlek.

“Especially when the adrenaline’s running and I see red, I’m raring to go,” he said. “I see red a few times, I’m throwing punches, I’m getting punched back but they’re bouncing off my head and I’m just going forward punching.

“You can’t show any fear or any stepping back or that you’re scared of getting knocked out, you can’t show that. Otherwise people will put it on you for sure.”

Haggerty tends to thrill crowds when he fights. He’s blasted through top level Thai kickboxers and had to weather a knockdown to beat Felipe Lobo in his last fight.

“When that did happen with Lobo, I could have chosen to stay down or get back up and there could be a possibility of just getting knocked out completely. I chose to stand up and go through that. And it just goes to show, just fight to the final bell. Just fight to the final bell, you’re a fighter, do what you’ve got to do,” Haggerty said.

“He [Superlek] doesn’t care if he gets knocked out. I’m not sure why he’s saying that. I think it just goes to show that he’s prepared to get knocked out and he’s expecting to get knocked out. That’s what it sounds like to me.

“But it’s going to be an exciting fight and we’re both going to put it on the line.”

If Haggerty does comes through, further exciting options lie ahead of him.

“Nico Carrillo [the No 1 contender in the bantamweight Muay Thai rankings] definitely needs to get the fight for sure, I definitely need to put my hands on him,” Haggerty said.

He added: “I don’t want to keep the kickboxing division on hold. I’ve defended my Muay Thai belt twice. I think it’s about time I defended the kickboxing belt, I think it’s only fair for the division.

“If Fabricio Andrade [ONE’s MMA bantamweight champion] decides he wants to fight, or anyone in the MMA division then I’m happy to go to MMA for sure. Definitely on the cards.

“It all depends on this next fight.”

Expert view

Liam Harrison (kickboxing legend) says:

“Superlek’s a friend and he’s a former training partner. Haggerty’s a fellow Brit, and I know me and him have had words, I still wouldn’t wish bad on any fighter. May the best man win and I hope they have a great fight.

“Haggerty’s going to have the size advantage over Superlek, he’s going to be noticeably bigger than him. Superlek can still make 135lbs very easily. He’s had no time to bulk up. Haggerty’s going to have a size and strength advantage there. I think Superlek will have a speed advantage. It’s a real 50-50 fight for me.

“I think Superlek is that good a fighter he can go up and down the weights.

“I honestly don’t know. I’m going say maybe Superlek [will win] just because of his experience. But it depends how Haggerty’s size and the altitude plays into a five-round fight. It’s going to come down to the wire I think.”

Liam Nolan (lightweight contender) says:

“I definitely will go with Jon, not just because he’s a team-mate and a fellow Brit. I’ll go with Jon for a few reasons like the weight, he’s a weight above. The four-ounce gloves suit Jon better. I think the preparation as well, he’s been out in Denver acclimatising to the altitude whereas Superlek just turning up on the fight week is maybe a not-so-smart move from Superlek.

“It’s hard to say though because Superlek has not really put a foot wrong, he’s won all his fights against some really big names, Takeru, Rodtang. These are big names, these are big punchers as well. Jon’s a big puncher.

“But I’m going to go Jon early.”

Jake Peacock (rising star) says:

“I’m English, Jonathan Haggerty’s English, but my favourite fighter’s Superlek. I’d love to fight Superlek one day and he’s so good. He’s got the experience. He has so many different weapons he can choose from. He can take the fight anywhere he wants to.

“On the other hand Jonathan Haggerty is young, he’s hungry, he’s found his groove. I rate Jonathan’s skills and I also rate his coach’s game-planning. They’re very intelligent and I think that they can come up with the recipe to beat Superlek. However I’m not going to say that he’s going to beat Superlek, so we’ll see. I’m going to sit on that fence, and watch!”

Watch Haggerty vs Superlek live on Sky Sports Mix from 1am on Saturday morning