ONE Championship: Rodtang Jitmuangnon would ‘destroy’ Floyd Mayweather in a striking contest, Chatri Sityodtong says
- ONE chairman and CEO admits Mayweather is one of greatest boxers in history – ‘but as a striker, is he the best?’
- Chatri says it would ‘not even be close’ if ONE’s flyweight Muay Thai champion took on the legendary American with elbows and kicks allowed
It’s a clash that is unlikely to ever happen.
But ONE Championship’s boss Chatri Sityodtong has backed Rodtang Jitmuangnon to “destroy” boxing legend Floyd Mayweather should they ever step into a ring together – if elbows and kicks are allowed.
Chatri made the remarks while he was espousing what he sees as the superiority of his martial arts promotion’s strikers to other combat organisations, ahead of ONE’s on-ground US debut in Denver, Colorado next weekend.
“Floyd Mayweather is one of the greatest boxers in history, but as a striker is he the best? Rodtang would destroy him. Destroy him. It’s not even close,” Chatri told Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour during an in-studio appearance on Wednesday.
The 46-year-old American “Money” Mayweather officially retired after stopping UFC superstar Conor McGregor in 2017, but has since taken on a series of exhibition fights and non-boxing purists.
ONE’s flyweight Muay Thai champion Rodtang is not stranger to cross-discipline super fightsm, having faced the legendary Demetrious Johnson in a mixed rules MMA and Muay Thai bout last year, losing in a second-round submission in Singapore.
“Boxing is a very restrictive rule set where you can have a bladed stance, you can have a hand up here,” Chatri added. “But if you get kicked in the head or leg, or elbowed in the face, it’s over.”
The question came up after Chatri was pressed about the possibility of signing former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who has made it publicly clear he wants to test himself against boxing royalty like Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder.
“If we did boxing, we would co promote with Francis. One of the big differences with ONE is we offer multiple disciplines, not just MMA,” Chatri said.
“We have done an ABC boxing world title fight in ONE before, in 2017 or 2018. It was a regular ONE show. We want the best fighters on the planet.”
Such an approach is what drew the highly-regarded former KSW multiple-weight champion Roberto Soldic to sign with ONE.
The Croatian’s debut did not exactly go to plan, ending in a no contest in the first-round after he suffered a low blow from Murad Ramazanov in Manila last December.
But “Robocop” will return on May 5’s ONE Fight Night 10 card at 1STBank Centre, taking on former welterweight MMA champion Zebaztian Kadestam as he looks to plot a path to his first title.
“This is what drew Roberto Soldic to ONE,” Chatri added. “I told him you could win a world title in kickboxing, boxing, MMA – why be restricted to one organisation’s rule set and one thing?
“You should be able to fight multiple rule sets and win everything – that truly means that you are the best combat sports athlete on the planet.
“Roberto’s dream is to win the world title in MMA in ONE, a world title in kickboxing, Muay Thai and also boxing. Then he’s accomplished everything and will be one of one in the realm of combat sports. Man, this guy has big dreams.”
