Reigning ONE strawweight champion Joshua Pacio is confident that his teammate and pal Danny Kingad, the No. 2 flyweight contender, will show no ring rust when he faces No. 3 fighter Kairat Akhmetov of Kazakhstan in ONE: Winter Warriors II at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Dec. 17.
"A lot of people have been saying that Danny might deal with ring rust because he hasn't fought in a long time. But he never stopped training and actually, I believe that the time which was more than a year that Danny spent away from the cage even made him better because he put in the work," said Pacio, who is known for having a very tight bond with Kingad.
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Just like Kingad, Pacio then was surrounded with doubts and questions if ring rust will be a huge factor for their respective comebacks.
It would be recalled that Pacio had knocked out Yosuke Saruta in their trilogy. But the strawweight champion has been inactive for almost two years before returning to the Circle.
The Igorot warriors don't believe in such things as ring rust.
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"Everyone in the gym saw how much improvements he's had as a martial artist. Danny wants to prove that he's ready for primetime and he can't wait to mix it up with some of the best in his weight class," said Pacio.
Kingad, for his part, has not fought since scoring a unanimous decision win against Chinese foe Xie Wei to improve at 14-2 record last January 2020, the same event where Pacio defended his belt against Alex Silva at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
His opponent, Akhmetov, is riding on a three-match win streak since 2018 with the recent coming from Kim Dae Hwan last December 2020.
Both fighters are coming from a long lay off but Pacio believes that Kingad has what it takes to take down Akhmetov, who has a 27-2 slate.
"When I say Danny has made lots of improvements, it means that he still has a lot to show for the fans. And when he has said that he has a gift for Kairat, he's really intent to show that because he still has a lot of weapons in his bag," added Pacio.