{
  "id": 3216198,
  "title": "‘I Fell In Love With It’ – The Unlikely Journey That Carried Lenny Blasi From Milan To The Global Stage",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/i-fell-in-love-with-it-the-unlikely-journey-that-carried-lenny-blasi",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-25T07:09:57.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/fell-love-unlikely-journey-carried-070957445.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Lenny Blasi, an Italian native, embarked on an unexpected career path that took him from Milan to the global stage of Muay Thai. Unlike most Italian boys who grow up with football at their feet, Blasi chose a different sport, and it changed his life forever. On Friday, August 28, Blasi will headline a high-stakes bantamweight Muay Thai match against Thai veteran Worapon Lukjaoporongtom at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, streaming exclusively for members on live.onefc.com in Asia primetime.\n\nBlasi's journey began at the tender age of eight, when he started playing football like every other Italian boy. However, his family, who had no interest in the sport, encouraged him to try other sports. It was during this exploratory phase that Blasi stumbled upon Muay Thai, a sport that would become his lifelong passion. He recalled, \"I started at 8 years old. In Italy, all the kids play football, so I wanted to play football too at the start. But my family, my parents were not big fans of it. They let me try different sports. And when I tried Muay Thai, I fell in love with it, and I started.\"\n\nDespite the local Muay Thai scene in Italy being underdeveloped, Blasi found solace in a nearby gym, just 100 meters from his home. This gym, which had produced champions like former ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Champion Joseph \"The Hurricane\" Lasiri, became his training ground for 11 years. It was here that Blasi's talent was recognized and nurtured, transforming him from a shy youngster into a relentless force inside the ring. Blasi said, \"I had a great gym like 100 meters from home. And I stayed in that gym for like 11 years. It made great champions like Joseph Lasiri. But Muay Thai is not that big in Italy. Now it’s growing, but when I started it wasn’t that big.\"",
  "summary": "The Italian reveals why he ditched the pitch for ring.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}