Kwon Won Il Refuses To Lose To Koyomi Matsushima In Shanghai

“Pretty Boy” Kwon Won Il has quickly become one of the most electrifying featherweights in ONE Championship.

He made a thunderous promotional debut in January, as he finished Dutch-Indonesian knockout artist Anthony “The Archangel” Engelen via TKO in 67 seconds.

Proving that it was no fluke, the South Korean bested that performance by knocking out former ONE Featherweight World Title challenger Eric “The Natural” Kelly in 19 seconds just three months later.

“It always feels good to win, but I was especially thrilled to achieve such a quick victory,” the 23-year-old says of his most recent outing, which put him in the record books for the second fastest stoppage in the featherweight division.

“I had been training in the Philippines for two months before that match, so I felt as if I was fighting in my hometown.”

This coming Saturday, 15 June, “Pretty Boy” makes his promotional return in neutral territory and he looks to take a massive step closer to World Title contention.

He is scheduled to face Japanese dynamo Koyomi “Moushigo” Matsushima at ONE: LEGENDARY QUEST, which emanates from the Baoshan Arena in Shanghai, China.

Matsushima is regarded as one of the top contenders in the featherweight division. The Yokohama native, who holds a black belt in Kyokushin Karate, owns a 10-3 professional mixed martial arts record with six of those victories coming via knockout or TKO.

The 26-year-old demonstrated his fierce striking prowess in his ONE debut back in September.

Although he drew an incredibly tough assignment for his first promotional bout, Matsushima shocked the organization’s global audience by knocking out former ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat “Cobra” Gafurov in under three minutes.

Kwon is well aware of his Japanese rival’s dazzling skill set and his status as one of the premier talents in the weight class.

While he respects “Moushigo,” he is not intimidated by him and he refuses to lose when the two meet in the ring on Saturday night.

“Matsushima is a strong and well-rounded player. His strengths are his strikes and his jiu-jitsu,” the South Korean acknowledges.

“I know I am facing a strong opponent, but I promised myself [that I would] never lose again. I promised myself to always put on a sizzling fight.

“I am extremely happy, and I look forward to engaging in a match at such a historic location.”

Not only that, but Kwon also wants to impress the potential 2.6 billion people watching ONE: LEGENDARY QUEST and inch closer to the ONE Featherweight World Championship.

Should “Pretty Boy” defeat Matsushima in highlight-reel fashion, then he would undoubtedly accomplish that goal.

“I want to give my fans an entertaining match and more importantly, I want to enjoy the fight myself,” he says.

“I hope to bring home the championship belt back to Korea one day.”