Takeru “Pure Born Krusher” Segawa has been enthusiastic about this second for years. Not with dread, however with the quiet precision of somebody who has spent a profession refusing to do something midway.
The 34-year-old Japanese kickboxing icon will make his farewell look in the principle occasion of ONE SAMURAI 1 on April 29, reside from Ariake Enviornment in Tokyo, with the ONE Interim Flyweight Kickboxing World Title on the road in opposition to Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon.
The choice to retire wasn’t sudden. Takeru had been weighing it for 3 or 4 years, measuring the calls for of his physique in opposition to the hearth nonetheless burning inside him. When the precise second lastly grew to become clear, he didn’t hesitate.
“Effectively, relating to my retirement, really, I didn’t have the sensation of retirement but,” Takeru mentioned. “However I had been enthusiastic about when could be the precise timing to retire for about three or 4 years. The situation of my physique was my prime consideration.
“So the second after I thought that this would really be the final time I might [fight at my] strongest situation was most likely a couple of yr in the past.”
For an athlete who has constructed his identification on uncompromising depth, the concept of giving something lower than his peak was by no means going to be acceptable. He made clear he might proceed — however selected to not:
“If I needed to proceed, I believe I most likely nonetheless might. However I believed this could be the final time I can put myself in my strongest situation, so I made a decision to retire this time.”
Takeru meets Rodtang in ONE SAMURAI 1 principal occasion
The rematch with Rodtang is the rationale Takeru continues to be right here. Their first assembly at ONE 172 in March 2025 lasted 80 seconds — a left hook that dropped him earlier than the struggle ever actually began. That loss grew to become gas. He rebuilt at ONE 173, stopping Denis Puric within the second spherical in Tokyo and incomes the rematch he had at all times needed.
“The essence of my preventing type is a slugfest, and I’ve at all times needed to have that type of struggle with Rodtang,” Takeru mentioned. “The final struggle, I couldn’t even attain that time and misplaced. So, for this reason I [always] believed I have to struggle Rodtang yet another time. That’s the rationale I’ve come this far.”
The followers, his workforce, and his household are the ultimate motivator. Since arriving in ONE, consecutive losses on house soil weighed on him in a method that data and titles by no means might. April 29 is his probability to shut the guide on his personal phrases.
“I nonetheless have demanding [training sessions despite my decision]. The struggle just isn’t over, so I don’t have unhappiness or comparable emotions related to retirement,” he mentioned.
“As a result of the subsequent [match] would be the final, I’m spending every day in order that I may give every little thing I’ve and to retire with none regrets.”
