Roman Kryklia has that effect on heavyweights these days. They come bearing impressive credentials, threatening his reign, then depart horizontally while the Ukrainian stands over them, arms raised, barely having broken a sweat.
The phenomenon repeated itself Saturday morning inside Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium, where three-time WBC Muay Thai World Champion Lyndon Knowles arrived with grand ambitions and departed with his senses scrambled after just 130 seconds.
Kryklia, built like a Ukrainian woodsman’s nightmare, wasted no pleasantries. The ONE Heavyweight Muay Thai World Champion stalked his British challenger with the serene confidence of a predator who knows dinner won’t be putting up much resistance.
When the slaughter began, it was clinical. Venomous boxing combinations flew from the champion’s massive frame during the fight’s opening minute. The Thai crowd, connoisseurs of such displays, cheered in approval.
Then came the knee that signaled the end was near – a thunderous strike up the middle followed by a left hook clean enough to remove dental work. Down went “Knowlesy,” his title dreams already leaking onto the canvas.
The Englishman somehow regained his feet, his courage exceeding his judgment. Kryklia, with that strange sixth sense great fighters possess, recognized an opponent ready for the slaughterhouse. His hammering straight right arrived like a wrecking ball, turning out Knowles’ lights just 2:10 into the first round.
The finish was so good that ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong nodded to his accountants to prepare a $50,000 performance bonus. It seemed the least they could do for such ruthless efficiency.
At 33, Kryklia now rides an absurd 15-fight winning streak, seven straight in ONE, improving his frightening record to 51-7. The heavyweight Muay Thai division appears to be his personal playground, with challengers merely passing through on their way to the medical tent.
Meanwhile, somewhere around the world, fighters watching at home suddenly remembered pressing engagements in other weight classes, thanking providence they weren’t born ten pounds heavier.