Jonathan Haggerty retained his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title at ONE Fight Night 19 in Bangkok, Thailand, but his victory was anything but straightforward.
Haggerty was stunned in the opening round by Brazilian challenger Felipe Lobo, who threatened to dethrone “The General”. But Haggerty rallied in a thrilling second round, before stopping his man in the third to retain his title after a rollercoaster title clash at Lumpinee Stadium.
The bout started off with Haggerty establishing his range and rhythm while Lobo sat back and looked for opportunities to strike with heavy-handed combinations.
And, in the closing moments of the round, Lobo’s power gave the challenger an early breakthrough as he forced Haggerty down, with only the ring ropes preventing him from being sat down on the canvas. It prompted referee Olivier Coste to issue a standing eight-count to give Lobo a 10-8 round and put the Brazilian in the driving seat.
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Haggerty came firing back in Round 2, and the pair went toe to toe in a thrilling round as they unloaded vicious strikes. With the pair engaging in phone-box fighting in the centre of the ring, Haggerty connected with a spinning elbow, then followed up with a three-punch combination to drop Lobo. But “Demolition Man” continued to push forward, and the pair traded big shots until the end of the Round.
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Haggerty had taken Lobo’s best shots and fired back to drop him in response, and in Round 3 the Englishman took over. “The General” poured on the pressure and connected with a huge right hand that dropped Lobo hard to the canvas.
Lobo beat the count, but with the challenger’s legs looking decidedly wobbly, referee Coste waved off the fight as Haggerty claimed the win after a wild encounter that had the Thai crowd thrilled from start to finish.
