ONE: Adiwang admits ‘cardio took a big hit’ after COVID-19 bout

Team Lakay’s Lito Adiwang. INQUIRER PHOTO/TRISTAN TAMAYO

MANILA, Philippines—Lito Adiwang’s return to the ONE Championship cage took a little while longer after the Team Lakay star’s bout with COVID-19.

The strawweight contender was supposed to take on Jared Brooks in ONE at TNT II in April but his debut in United States television had to be postponed.

Now fully recovered, Adiwang to follow up his stoppage win over Namiki Kawahara when he takes on China’s Getu Hexi on September 24 at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

“After we recovered fully, we really made sure to prioritize our health,” said Adiwang in Filipino during a virtual press conference Friday. “We made sure that we didn’t lack the strength and focus because of our bout with COVID-19.”

“We found ways to get back to training in a safer environment inside our gym.”

Adiwang said that both he and ONE strawweight champion Joshua Pacio contracted COVID-19.

Pacio will defend his title against Yosuke Saruta in the culmination of their trilogy series.

ROAD TO RECOVERY

Adiwang said that recovering from COVID-19 was different from recuperating from a fight as it took away so much of his strength.

“I admit there are effects especially when we were recovering,” said Adiwang. “It was really hard because it’s not just back to zero but we’re into the negatives. My cardio took a big hit.”

Getting back into optimum shape, however, is just one aspect of a prize fighter’s job and Adiwang did his best to get back into fighting condition and try to barge into the top five of his division.

Adiwang (12-3) has been one of the most explosive strawweights in ONE Championship with 6-1 record so far.

“We needed to come up with a plan to regain our strength after getting sick and it all started with the right mindset. The only thing I thought of was to recover and get stronger,” said Adiwang.