While former ONE Bantamweight World Champion Kevin "The Silencer" Belingon suffered back-to-back KO losses, he insists that he's far from done.
Belingon succumbed to another knockout defeat, this time against "Pretty Boy" Kwon Won Il at ONE: WINTER WARRIORS II last Friday, December 17, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
For the pride of Kiangan, Ifugao, there's still much left in his gas tank despite the string of alarming losses.
"We have to review our previous matches. My past few fights haven't been good for me, so I have to go back and take a look at the things we did wrong and things we're lacking in. I have to improve. I have to work on my weaknesses, and that's something that you'll see next year," the Team Lakay mainstay said.
"The confidence is still there. The fire is still there. Now, it's all about tweaking everything I did wrong in my past fights."
Belingon revealed that the rib injury he suffered during training camp hampered his preparation for his South Korean opponent.
That didn’t work out against Kwon, who is known for his solid body shots, which he landed early in the bout.
"I really don't think it was the reach advantage which gave me problems. Eight weeks before my fight, I injured my rib, and I had to rest for two weeks. When I returned to training, I had to take it slow," Belingon said.
"Even in his previous fights, he loved going down to the body and looking for those body shots. We expected that from him. Unfortunately, I wasn't in full condition for this one."
Still, "The Silencer" doesn't want to be quiet in praising Kwon, especially since the Extreme Combat and the Top Gym BF representative has been on a roll with three straight wins, all ending in devastating fashion.
His injury may have hampered his movement, but Belingon wouldn't want to take anything away from Kwon's spectacular finish against him.
After all, he could still train before the fight in a generally good condition. It wasn't until Kwon started going to the body that his injury wore him down.
"I knew the damage in my body was already beginning to pile up in the second round. I feel like if I wasn't injured, I would've been able to take it, but that's no excuse. That's part of it," Belingon said.
"I was still able to train well and prepare for this. I just thought that I was already fully recovered actually, but when he began tagging it, that's when I knew I was in trouble. I felt heavier the moment he started focusing on my body."
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