Top 5 : The Best Takeru Knockouts in history – Countdown Ahead of one ONE 172

Takeru Segawa is one of the most vicious knockout artists in the past generation of kickboxing. He has incredible punching power, relentless offense, and a diversity of attacks, including incredible front kicks, knees, and kickboxing combinations. So, in anticipation of his match against Thai superstar Rodtang at ONE 172, we will be counting down the most bone-crunching and brutal knockouts in the history of “The Natural Born Crusher’s” kickboxing career.

Honorable Mention: Young Takeru slumps Kenta Yagami in one punch

In his early career in the K-1 sister promotion Krush, Takeru would score one of his most underrated and spectacular knockouts when he faced off against the much larger and aggressive Kenta Yagami. In a fight where Takeru was getting backed up and outscored by the very active and aggressive Yagami. With him losing most of the first round, the future start would plant his feet and throw a monstrous one-two combination, putting Yagami down face first and completely unconscious, an incredible showing of power against a much larger opponent.

5. Takeru beats down and destroys Bailey Sugden with a head kick

In rare form and with his only head kick finish, he would face off against Glory veteran and then ISKA champion Bailey Sugden, the British striker. This was his comeback fight after losing to Tenshin Nasukawa, leaving K-1, and testing free agency with this fight against Sugden in Paris, France. A lot of people questioned if Takeru would be able to succeed outside of the somewhat insular world of Japanese kickboxing.

However, The free-agent star would show up when he beat Bailey Sugden badly in their fight. Who came to fight and would throw down with the former K-1 champion and even find success. The power of the Japanese slugger was just too much. At this point in his career, he was a full-fledged offensive force, with his incredibly accurate combinations and an absolute display of Takeru’s brutal kicks and knees on the Body of Sugden. The night would end horrifically for Sugden as in the dying seconds of the match, Takeru would land a crushing head kick that would put Bailey Sugden out completely. A brutal beatdown and a brutal finish!

4. Dropped but not out against Thant Zin.

In his second fight in ONE Championship, Takeru will face off against late-notice replacement Thant Zin, a Burmese bruiser. The first round was very rocky for Takeru, who seemed off as he was coming off a huge loss and a horrific leg injury from the fight. With a fighter in Thant Zin who had nothing to lose, we would see a rare sight of Takeru getting out-struck and dropped in the first round by an unknown Lethwei knockout artist.

After this round and getting dropped, Takeru would enter an insane flow state as he would style on Thant Zin and land power shots at will, making Thant Zin miss even when he was in range. The Japanese slugger would begin to beat down Thant Zin and drop with a lethal and hard-to-see front snap kick to the body. Thant Zin would answer the count, but this was the beginning of the end as Takeru would beat down Thant Zin with a vicious set of combinations and force the stoppage, an insane comeback and one of the most incredible mid-fight adjustments I have ever seen in kickboxing.

3. An easy and impressive knockout over Daniel Puertas

Back in K-1, Takeru faced off against two-division ISKA champion Daniel Puertas after becoming a three-division champion. In a highly anticipated fight between two world champions with two of the most important titles in kickboxing, Takeru should level in the first round halfway through the round. He dropped Puertas badly, and the shaky Spaniard answered the count, but he was damaged goods.

The champ would finish Puertas by beating him down in typical fashion, as the stunned Puertas seemed shocked by the power of the Japanese fighter. Mind you, this is the same man who gave Superlek a close fight for the vacant ONE flyweight kickboxing title. “The Natural Born Crusher” would crush the Spanish champion, but we all know styles make fights. And this was a stylishly brutal knockout.

2. A spinning back fist comeback against Taiga Kawabe.

In his K-1 debut, Takeru would face off against fellow Krush champion Taiga Kawabe in a domestic super fight between two highly touted up-and-comers in the Japanese kickboxing scene. We are all familiar with Takeru’s almost Mexican-style version of kickboxing, with its aggression and high-level karate. Taiga Kawabe is the absolute opposite of a pillow-fisted fighter. Still, it has incredible footwork, kicking ability, and high-level defense, the opposite of “The Natural Born Crusher.”

This bout would be quite the shocker, as the first two rounds would be dominant for Taiga Kawabe. With his fast footwork, he made Takeru miss badly, punished him with quick kicks, and frustrated the come-forward slugger. He would even hurt Takeru in the second with a counter cross, and despite Takeru managing to mount his offense in the last seconds of the round, he was still very much down across two rounds.

Takeru would show us who he was in the final round, needing a finish. In the face of mounting adversity, throwing a front and immediately followed with a vicious spinning back fist that would absolutely flatten Taiga Kawabe. This was an insane come-from-behind finish and an insane showing of adjustments and craftiness from the then-young star.

1. Takeru destroys Leona Pettas in his final k-1 Fight

In his last fight in K-1, Takeru defended K-1 Super Featherweight against fellow finisher Leona Pettas. Pettas is a former Krush Super Featherweight champion, much larger than Takeru, who was in his third weight class and a brutal finisher in his own right. When the two faced off, we saw one of the most hectic kickboxing matches in recent memory. The two fighters immediately went for the finish against one another.

At the end of the first world, Takeru viciously dropped Pettas with a brutal left hook that seemingly knocked him out, but he managed to answer the count and be saved by the bell. Pettas would recover quickly and land his offense on Takeru, stumbling him. Still, the champion would respond and catch him with a vicious cross, and once the fight resumed from the referee count, Takeru would crumple Leona Pettas with a horrific cross, and he dramatically fell to the ground. It was an incredible fight with high drama to cap his legendary run in K-1. Now to the final test, Rodtang, “The Iron Man.”