Ahead of his first defense of the ONE featherweight kickboxing world title against Marat Grigorian in the ONE Fight Night 13 headliner on Friday, August 4, Chingiz Allazov has been reflecting on his ONE Championship journey so far.
The Azerbaijani-Belarusian striker made his promotional bow against German star Enriko Kehl in April 2021, following an 18-month hiatus from competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The extended time off spurred him to connect with his entrepreneurial side amid the uncertainty that hung over the sporting world, but that meant he had to take his mind off his fighting career.
“The real change in my life happened three years ago,” Allazov said.
“For 20 years, I have been training the same. I train every day. I focus on training. I work 100 percent in training. If my coach says to do 20 kicks, I do 30. But before fighting Enriko Kehl, we had this COVID situation for two years. My mindset was on my businesses and making money.”
Though “Chinga” arrived in ONE to much fanfare, owing to his impressive kickboxing career prior to signing with the Singapore-based promotion, his lack of focus led him to drop an unfortunate split-decision loss to Kehl.
But a sitdown with coach Andrei Gridin after that debut defeat revealed some home truths that ultimately led to a shift in Allazov’s lifestyle.
“After (my loss to) Enriko, I sat with my coach, Andrei. He said, ‘Chingiz, you could be one of the best fighters in the world, maybe No. 1 in the world, pound-for-pound. But you’ll never be the best if you don’t focus on fighting.’ He said, ‘Please, trust me,’” the featherweight kickboxing king recalled.
“I started focusing only on sports and family. I used to live in the middle. I stopped all my businesses. I lost money. But this wasn’t a problem in my life. Money isn’t important. Money isn’t No. 1 in my life.”
Allazov went on to dominate the stacked striking division from there, reeling off three crushing knockouts among his four subsequent victories. The 30-year-old claimed the ONE featherweight kickboxing world grand prix belt in that winning run, earning him a shot at then-divisional king Superbon Singha Mawynn this past January.
When he stepped in to challenge the pound-for-pound great in the main event of ONE Fight Night 6, “Chinga” knew he had to make the most of his golden opportunity, and he did just that. The Gridin Gym standout was dominant from the start, as he swarmed Superbon with aggressive attacks before flooring the Thai superstar three times in the second round to shock the world and claim the coveted crown.
The work has continued for the rejuvenated Allazov since then, and he says he has been diligently planning how he is going to score redemption against Grigorian – to whom he fell to a loss back in 2013 – on August 4.
“People don’t know this, but we train every day. I say, ‘Coach, please help me beat my next opponent.’ I trust him, he trusts me. This is another tactic, the mental tactic of training. We don’t go to training every day and train hard. It’s no good. We train tactics,” he said.
“You will see in this fight. I have many plans for this fight – work my speed, move, and go forward and backward. We have a game plan for this fight, but my real gameplan you will see in my fight.”
