George Jarvis has set his sights on facing Regian Eersel for ONE Championship lightweight gold after an impressive debut in Bangkok.
The 24-year-old Englishman knocked Mouhcine Chafi down twice en route to a unanimous decision in their catchweight Muay Thai bout at ONE Fight Night 30.
That made it three wins on the bounce for “G-Unit”, who earned a contract coming through ONE Friday Fights, and he could now be fast-tracked for a title shot.
Jarvis is in “no rush”, but a lack of clear challengers for Surinamese striker Eersel may open the door – and he would be willing to walk through it.
“Yeah for sure,” he told Bangkok Post backstage at Lumpinee Stadium after his win. “All respect to Regian, he's a great champion. I've been watching him for years, but that's the fight I want, whether it's next, whether it's at the end of the year, whether it's next year.
“I'm in no rush. I'm just enjoying the journey. It's a pleasure to be back here again. Like I said to Mitch [Chilson, commentator] in the ring, it's starting to become a bit like a second home.
“So it's great to be back and if they want to give me that shot then me and my team will be ready for that. But there's no rush, bro, there's no rush.”
Before last week’s weigh-ins, Eersel was the proud owner of two belts but lost his ONE lightweight kickboxing title on the scale after failing to pass hydration.
The 32-year-old veteran managed to grind out a majority decision win in the co-main event over Alexis Nicolas, who was the only fighter eligible to win the belt.
Though kickboxing is far from Jarvis’ first love, he is game to challenge Eersel for the vacant title.
“For sure. I've done a kickboxing [fight] against Ricardo Bravo. It was never my thing, but I really enjoyed it, and I feel like my style now is slightly adapting to that kind of style of kickboxing anyway,” he said.
“So anything – Muay Thai, kickboxing, mixed ruleset, let's go. I'm buzzing for all these opportunities ahead.”
Eersel told the Bangkok Post he received a guarantee from CEO and chairman Chatri Sityodtong that he would be fighting on August’s card in Denver – meaning Jarvis and his team could be heading Stateside.
“Yeah, Denver would be nice. I've always wanted to fight in America,” he added. “I fought in LA once, but I would love to go back and do it on the big stage for sure.
“It's not Thailand, a little bit further. But a different task and it's just ticking off another box on the journey, that's what it's all about. I've got a great team and I'd love to travel the world with them for sure.”
If Jarvis is not matched up with Eersel, there are still several big names on his mind for his return to the ring.
“Sinsamut, Nieky Holzken, any of them top boys, I'm here,” he said. “I'm a fighter. I'll fight anyone. Anyone who wants to go, I'm more than happy to get it on. Let's go.”
Even British rival Liam Nolan, who has performed a sudden U-turn on a shock retirement announcement in January.
“Liam's doing what he's doing. I thought he was retired,” Jarvis said. “We were arranged to fight, he didn't accept the fight. I did and now he's back fighting.
“The fight's gonna happen at some point. It's not really a fight I'm overly buzzing about, because I feel like I'm on bigger things than that.
“But if that's what the fans want, then I'm happy to fight Liam Nolan. I'll fight anyone. It doesn’t bother me.”
The 24-year-old Englishman knocked Mouhcine Chafi down twice en route to a unanimous decision in their catchweight Muay Thai bout at ONE Fight Night 30.
That made it three wins on the bounce for “G-Unit”, who earned a contract coming through ONE Friday Fights, and he could now be fast-tracked for a title shot.
Jarvis is in “no rush”, but a lack of clear challengers for Surinamese striker Eersel may open the door – and he would be willing to walk through it.
“Yeah for sure,” he told Bangkok Post backstage at Lumpinee Stadium after his win. “All respect to Regian, he's a great champion. I've been watching him for years, but that's the fight I want, whether it's next, whether it's at the end of the year, whether it's next year.
“I'm in no rush. I'm just enjoying the journey. It's a pleasure to be back here again. Like I said to Mitch [Chilson, commentator] in the ring, it's starting to become a bit like a second home.
“So it's great to be back and if they want to give me that shot then me and my team will be ready for that. But there's no rush, bro, there's no rush.”
Before last week’s weigh-ins, Eersel was the proud owner of two belts but lost his ONE lightweight kickboxing title on the scale after failing to pass hydration.
The 32-year-old veteran managed to grind out a majority decision win in the co-main event over Alexis Nicolas, who was the only fighter eligible to win the belt.
Though kickboxing is far from Jarvis’ first love, he is game to challenge Eersel for the vacant title.
“For sure. I've done a kickboxing [fight] against Ricardo Bravo. It was never my thing, but I really enjoyed it, and I feel like my style now is slightly adapting to that kind of style of kickboxing anyway,” he said.
“So anything – Muay Thai, kickboxing, mixed ruleset, let's go. I'm buzzing for all these opportunities ahead.”
Eersel told the Bangkok Post he received a guarantee from CEO and chairman Chatri Sityodtong that he would be fighting on August’s card in Denver – meaning Jarvis and his team could be heading Stateside.
“Yeah, Denver would be nice. I've always wanted to fight in America,” he added. “I fought in LA once, but I would love to go back and do it on the big stage for sure.
“It's not Thailand, a little bit further. But a different task and it's just ticking off another box on the journey, that's what it's all about. I've got a great team and I'd love to travel the world with them for sure.”
If Jarvis is not matched up with Eersel, there are still several big names on his mind for his return to the ring.
“Sinsamut, Nieky Holzken, any of them top boys, I'm here,” he said. “I'm a fighter. I'll fight anyone. Anyone who wants to go, I'm more than happy to get it on. Let's go.”
Even British rival Liam Nolan, who has performed a sudden U-turn on a shock retirement announcement in January.
“Liam's doing what he's doing. I thought he was retired,” Jarvis said. “We were arranged to fight, he didn't accept the fight. I did and now he's back fighting.
“The fight's gonna happen at some point. It's not really a fight I'm overly buzzing about, because I feel like I'm on bigger things than that.
“But if that's what the fans want, then I'm happy to fight Liam Nolan. I'll fight anyone. It doesn’t bother me.”
