Ev Ting Defeats Koji Ando In Macau, Calls For World Title Shot

Malaysia’s Ev Ting just strengthened his case for another shot at the ONE Lightweight World Championship.

He has brilliantly rebounded from his unsuccessful title challenge in April 2017. First, he defeated Nobutatsu Suzuki last August, and then Ariel Sexton in February.

On Saturday, 23 June, he earned his third consecutive victory.

“E.T.” defeated fellow ONE Lightweight World Title challenger Koji “The Commander” Ando at ONE: PINNACLE OF POWER. He dominated the Japanese athlete, utilizing pinpoint accuracy and effective boxing to capture a unanimous decision win.

Ting started the first round off by pressuring Ando with a series of high head kicks and fiery punching combinations. Though he landed on a few solid strikes, “The Commander” absorbed everything and continued to engage.

At one point, Ando tried to shoot for a single-leg takedown with the Malaysian trapped against the corner. “E.T.” stood his ground, however, and prevented the judo specialist from taking the action to the mat

The Tokyo native then turned up the aggression in the second round, choosing to bring the action to Ting. Conversely, the Malaysian opted to wait and counter his opponent.

A pair of right hands landed for Ting midway through the stanza, but Ando countered with his own combinations. The Japanese athlete continued to press forward, and soon found success with his strikes.

However, Ting masterfully danced away from his opponent’s biggest shots, as he expertly utilized his footwork to bring himself out of range.

In the final round, the Malaysian opened up with a solid combination to kick things off. Ando once again elected to plod forward behind his boxing.

One of his punching combinations momentarily stunned Ting, but “E.T.” answered right back with strikes of his own.

Moments later, Ting connected on a huge knee, which dropped Ando to the canvas. “E.T.” pounced, but his adversary recovered well, and both warriors poured it on in the bout’s final moments.

All three judges scored the contest in favor of Ting, who improves his overall record to 16-4. 

Ting may have earned another World Title shot with such an impressive win, and he made it clear that he is gunning for gold in his interview after the bout.

However, with lightweight titleholder Martin Nguyen scheduled to meet Kevin Belingon for the ONE Interim Bantamweight World Championship in July, the Malaysian may have to wait a little while longer for that showdown.