“The Queen” Phetjeeja has made the atomweight division her sovereign state. On Sunday, March 23, she returns to defend her ONE Atomweight Kickboxing World Championship inside Saitama Super Arena in Japan at ONE 172.
Challenging Phetjeeja will be one of the pound-for-pound best kickboxers on the planet, Kana “Krusher Queen” Morimoto.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Phetjeeja detailed that “Krusher Queen” offers a lot of unique looks that will make the world title tilt difficult.
“Kana’s strengths – she has good punches, her hooks are very powerful, and when she fights in close, she has good body shots. And she can fight with both southpaw or orthodox style. Her switching between stances makes it hard for me to predict her movement,” Phetjeeja said.
While the 23-year-old gave her elder her flowers, the Team Mehdi Zatout striker mentioned she has a keen eye to detect the changes in her opponent’s stances.
More importantly, Phetjeeja believes her youth and vitality will come in handy as the bout draws into the championship rounds.
“And another thing is, I’m not sure she has the gas for five rounds. Because last year when I watched her fight, she seemed to run out of gas at the end of the second round,” the atomweight titleholder said.
Phetjeeja noted that she will enter hostile territory for the matchup, meeting Kana in her home country. However, she is undaunted by the task as a world traveler and world beater.
And, if nothing else, it adds more pressure to finish the fight before the final bell – a skill she has mastered over the years.
“Competing overseas is a good experience for me because I have to win by knockout or decisively – otherwise, I’ll lose,” Phetjeeja said.
ONE 172: Rodtang vs. Takeru airs live on Sunday, March 23, from Japan on global pay-per-view via watch.onefc.com.
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