ONE Championship: Nico Carrillo ‘just needs to find Nong-O’s chin once’ says coach, ‘then we move on to Haggerty’
- JP Gallacher predicts ‘spectacular’ KO at ONE Friday Fights 46 next month, and says bantamweight Muay Thai title shot must be next
- ‘Nico is too big and strong and quick. It’s his time now. It’s going to be a passing of the torch,’ the Scot says of his former schoolmate
Nico Carrillo’s coach has predicted the Scottish prospect will make quick work of the legendary former champion Nong-O Hama at ONE Friday Fights 46 next month.
JP Gallacher then wants a title shot against ONE Championship’s bantamweight Muay Thai king Jonathan Haggerty – who claimed the title from Nong-O in April with a first-round KO.
The Sor Dechepant gym’s head trainer is preparing his 25-year-old former schoolmate Carrillo for the biggest test of his career at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium on December 22.
Carrillo earned a US$100,000 ONE Championship contract after two knockout wins in as many appearances at ONE Friday Fights this year, and though he is set for a big step up in competition, “The King of the North” and his camp appear to be fearless.
“It’s a bold statement to make this early in his career, but I do believe that I’ve got the blueprint for him to be the best pound-for-pound fighter,” Gallacher said. “We’ve just got to go and prove it now.
“Don’t get me wrong. I believe Nico will knock him out. That’s not me writing Nong-O off, he’s been my idol since I was a young boy. He’s beaten everybody, defended his belt 10 times.
“But he’s only lost the one fight, and everybody is writing him off. He could come back as the Nong-O he was before the loss, so we will be prepared for that. I just believe Nico is too big, strong and quick. It’s his time now. It’s going to be a passing of the torch.
“There was a time me and Nico would be sitting in school. We’d be watching Nong-O on YouTube and Nico’s training to fight him, I’m training Nico to fight him, it’s crazy. Sometimes you need to pinch yourself where this journey has taken us.”
Gallacher insisted that a title shot is all he and Carrillo are thinking about next, though Felipe Lobo and Saemapetch Fairtex – ranked No 2 and No 3 in the division – will fight on December 9 next month.
“I don’t see why we don’t get a title shot, realistically who is there better than Nong-O to beat to take us to the belt?” Galacher said. “If we go any other fights after this one it will just be wasting time.
“If Nico knocks him out in the same fashion Haggerty did it’s the only fight that makes sense. Everybody wants to see it. It’s all you see online. I don’t see any point in wasting time. I have full faith ONE will make the right decision once they see what Nico does on December 22. I believe they’ll match it for the start of the year.
“This fight realistically is an eliminator for the gold. If the company want us to fight somebody else, Lobo or Saemapetch, we’ll obviously agree it. But Nong-O has beaten both of them. We’re here for the belt.”
Gallacher refused to divulge Carrillo’s game plan for the 37-year-old Thai, but he warned it would be effective.
“We’ve got a plan for it, but I’m pretty confident,” he said. “Nico just needs to find the chin once and that’s it. Not because Nong-O hasn’t got a chin, it’s because everything Nico hits turns to stone. His power is absolutely crazy.
“Nong-O has got the experience advantage but Nico is a mountain compared to him in size. It’s never made a difference to Nong-O in the past so I’m not just banking on Nico being bigger, that’s not what’s gonna win us the fight.
“Nico will beat Nong-O then move on to Haggerty and Nico will be the champ.”
