Team Lakay's Lito Adiwang isn't interested anymore in facing Japanese foe Hiroba Minowa in a rematch.
Adiwang said he doesn't want to give much attention to Minowa and the issue surrounding them, shifting his focus on making it to the top of the strawweight rankings.
It would be recalled that Adiwang suffered a controversial split decision loss against the 21-year-old Minowa in ONE: Inside the Matrix III last November.
Many fans pointed out that the Igorot warrior should have won the fight and criticized the call for a split decision as spectators stressed that the Japanese youngster was seen tapping out while in agony of Adiwang's kimura lock.
For Adiwang, a rematch would be a chance for Minowa to prove his questionable victory, addressing that his near-finishes in the first and second rounds hauled more points.
"'Yun sana 'yung magandang time to prove ang sarili niya pero ang dami niyang rason (That's the good time for him to prove himself to the fans but he has many excuses), " said Adiwang in a Youtube video posted by Team Lakay Saturday, March 13. "Tuldukan ko na rin, ayaw ko na rin. Kung ayaw mo, mas ayaw ko (This has to stop, I don't want to fight him anymore. If he doesn't want to, I don't want it either)."
The Filipino warrior, however, admitted that he had a bad camp entering the fight amid the death of his mother Leticia in December. For him, this proved to be a huge factor on why he wasn't able to unleash his classic explosiveness as "The Thunder Kid."
That said, Adiwang doesn't want to force Minowa in a rematch knowing that it could just end up in a bad bout and earlier cited that the Japanese fighter from STF stable was "scared" to take on the challenge.
"Para sa akin, ayaw ko rin na makalaro ang isang parang napipilitan. Alam natin pag ganun, pangit din. I want every time na I promise a good fight, entertaining fight, explosive fight. Ayaw kong mabigyan ng kahihiyan mga fight ko na magre-rematch kami, pilit siya (I don't want to fight someone who's being forced to. We know it would end up in a bad fight. Every time I step in, I promise a good, entertaining and explosive fight. I don't want to put shame on my fight knowing that it's a forced rematch)."
Adiwang recently bounced back with an impressive second-round knockout win over Japanese newcomer Namiki Kawahara in ONE: Unbreakable last January to improve at 12-3 record while Minowa is set to face former strawweight champion and current No. 5 contender Alex Silva of Brazil in ONE: Fists of Fury III at the Singapore Indoor Stadium next Friday, March 19.