By Kevin Estrada
Unbeaten South African Bokang Masunyane is now aiming at the title challenge straight away, after producing the knock out of the night at ONE Championship: Big Bang by dropping veteran fighter Rene Catalan Friday evening at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The Little Giant shook the entire division with an upset knockout over the third-ranked contender, taking the 41-year old out like timber in record time, with the pre-fight talk taking longer than the action in the circle itself.
By setting his knee strike, a high left leg kick to Catalan’s head was all Masunyane needed to end the contest in just 37 seconds for his first-ever win by knockout.
That stoppage was unexpected for the 26 year-old, as he was known for his grappling game and his endurance, with six of his professional wins went to the distance.
“I’ve been working a lot of my striking, mixing it out with the wrestling. It worked out well,” he admitted.
Right afterwards, he sent a message to the entire division, aiming for no less than the chance to steal the belt from reigning ONE Strawweight king Joshua Pacio
“I’m the best in my division. I like to challenge the champion. I’ve got my eyes on the title, give me the title shot,” he added, putting emphasis on the ONE world champion from Team Lakay.
With the defeat, the Catalan Fighting Systems were blanked in the process as Jomary Torres was earlier stopped by Ritu Phogat in the curtain raiser.
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