Kevin Belingon wants to savor that championship feeling anew. —TRISTAN TAMAYO/INQUIRER.NET
MANILA, Philippines — Regaining the ONE bantamweight world title remains the top priority for Kevin Belingon.
But that doesn’t mean the Team Lakay star can’t hang with the bigger fighters at the featherweight division when he finally decides to move up.
In fact, Belingon also has his sights on challenging featherweight king Martin Nguyen down the road.
“If ONE Championship feels a fight between me and Martin would be good, I have no problem going up a division to featherweight. There are bigger guys at featherweight, but I think I can handle them,” Belingon, the former undisputed bantamweight champion, said.
“It’s just that right now, bantamweight is my priority, so I’ll focus on that first.”
The 32-year-old Belingon is keen on getting a fifth crack at reigning bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes first with Nguyen next on the list.
It’s not going to be the first time Belingon and Nguyen will face off.
Two years ago, Belingon dominated Nguyen in a bantamweight bout with the Filipino winning by unanimous decision.
Belingon, though, is wary of the kind of challenge Nguyen presents.
“Martin is just a great striker, and a good fighter overall. He’s very skilled and powerful, and he has great timing. I can’t say much about his weaknesses, because there are very little. I was on my toes the entire time in our first fight,” said Belingon