By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
It will take some time for Rene Catalan to get over this one.
Just 37 seconds into his highly-anticipated comeback fight in ONE Championship against South African Bokang Masunyane, the pride of Sta. Barbara, Iloilo kissed the canvass and dropped to his knees.
It was all over after a vicious knee to the body followed by a powerful head kick stunned the Ilonggo.
Masunyane was known to be a top-tier wrestler and Catalan’s camp predicted he would force the engagements to the ground but the South African had other plans in mind.
Immediately after the bell rang during the first round, Masunyane’s approach to the fight surprised Catalan after engaging him in a stand-up slugfest.
Masunyane’s speed and precision on his attacks caught Catalan off-guard which the latter was unable to counter early on.
“I feel really great. Leading to the fight, I was working on my stand up. I was here to showcase it. I’ve been working a lot of my striking with my wrestling. It just worked out well,” Masunyane said.
With the loss, Catalan dropped to 6-4 and faced his first knockout defeat since December 2014 against Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke.
