Lito Adiwang channeled all the heartbreak he suffered in 2020, churning in a dominant performance, Friday evening during ONE: Unbreakable in Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The Team Lakay standout floored Namiki Kawahara with a second round knockout in a huge bounce-back win in ONE’s deep strawweight division.
After a feeling-out process to start the second round, the 26-year-old uncorked a left hook that floored the athlete out of Alpha Male. A couple of hammer fists landed before the referee stopped the bout at the 2:03 mark.
“It’s been tough for me, very emotional coming into this fight. There were a lot of challenges entering this bout. I tested myself here. Honestly, this is the toughest fight I faced,” shared Adiwang, who lost his mom Leticia last month.
“I was not able to prepare well, but to God be the glory.”
Adiwang was coming off a controversial split decision loss to Hiroshi Minowa during ONE: Inside The Matrix. Making matters worse, his original opponent Hexigetu was forced out of the bout just days before the event.
But it did not stop Adiwang from being aggressive against the DEEP Strawweight Champion early, connecting on crisp leg kicks and solid body shots to start the bout. On the other hand, Kawara settled to being a counter-puncher in the opener.
The win raised Adiwang’s slate to 12-3 while Kawahara dropped to 7-4-2.
But more importantly for Adiwang, he was able to honor his late mom well with this performance.
“We’ve been through a lot. To my family, I love you so much. This is for you mama.”
