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Bosnian Muay Thai star Denis Puric is heading for a collision course with the UK's Jacob Smith at ONE Fight Night 21 on April 5. 'The Bosnian Menace' is coming off of a huge knockout win over Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat at ONE Fight Night 17 late last year.
Denis Puric is looking to move up his weight class and possibly challenge the current king, ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon. Despite wanting to usurp Rodtang's throne, Puric has tremendous respect for him.
The Bosnian striker told ONE:
"I've got nothing but respect for him. He comes from nothing, worked his way up, and became one of the most popular fighters on the planet. But I also think he's taking a lot of what I've been working for."
Warriors respect fellow warriors and it's what motivates them to be their very best once they clash swords. It seems Puric's respect for Rodtang fuels him even more to unseat 'The Iron Man' in the future.
Denis Puric also came from relative obscurity, surviving war-torn Bosnia to find a new life in Canada
It seems Puric's respect for 'The Iron Man' is motivated by the fact that he himself has gone through hardship and fought his way up in life.
'The Bosnian Menace' grew up during the Yugoslav Wars in his war-torn home country of Bosnia, where his father served as a soldier.
Puric told ONE:
"We spent some time in a refugee camp while my dad was on the front lines fighting in the war. He got shot in the war and kinda disappeared on us. My mother and I thought he was dead. We went back to our town, and we went to another refugee camp because the fighting started in our city again. That second time, we found our father alive."
After reconciling with his father, Denis Puric and his family decided to leave Bosnia and immigrate to North America. After getting denied entry into the US, they were able to find a home in Canada, where they've been living ever since.
It's in Canada where Puric started competing in kickboxing, where he won the national championships four years in a row. This is also where he met Kru Alin Halmagean, who introduced him to Muay Thai and is still his trainer to this day.
Catch Denis Puric in action at ONE Fight Night 21, which goes down at the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, live in US primetime free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.
