Ev Ting TKOs Nobutatsu Suzuki In First Round
Ev Ting may have lost a five-round thriller to ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang four months ago, but he is already thinking about a title rematch.
Motivated by his title loss, “E.T.” returned to the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 18 August, and made short work of former ONE Welterweight World Champion Nobutatsu Suzuki at ONE: QUEST FOR GREATNESS.
Ting used a blistering barrage of strikes on the ground to overwhelm Suzuki, and earned the TKO victory at 3:29 of the opening round.
Despite a near three-year long layoff, Suzuki did not look like he missed a step, as he came out ultra aggressive in the opening minutes, firing a series of straight punches down the middle in an effort to knock Ting out.
While Suzuki was looking for the power shot, “E.T.” was precise with his counter strikes, using a combination of quick punches and hard stinging kicks. The Malaysian also found a home for a big right hand above Suzuki’s eye, which stunned his Japanese opponent.
Once Ting had Suzuki backing up, he pressed forward with a huge slam takedown to put the former ONE Welterweight World Champion on the mat. With Suzuki on his back, the Malaysian unloaded with a series of strikes as he stood above his opponent, firing away in succession.
Ting’s punches started to chip away at Suzuki’s defense, until the Japanese could only cover up and wait for the referee to save him from further damage.
“E.T.” improves to 14-4, and gets back in the win column. A title rematch was clearly on Ting’s mind, as he wasted no time calling for a second shot at the belt following an impressive outing in Malaysia.
“I believe I’m a complete athlete,” Ting shouted. “Eduard Folayang — I know you watched this, I’m coming back for that title!”
As Ting rides high, Suzuki falters in his lightweight debut. His record drops to 11-3-2.