“I don’t think I am at my peak, I think there is still a lot of room for improvement. Becoming a champion is not necessarily a peak, because defending the title and staying as champion is more difficult.”
At ONE Friday Fights 58 this week, he faces Jonathan Di Bella in a unification bout. The undefeated Canadian holds the regular belt while Prajanchai is the interim champion and the two men meet in the co-main event at Lumpinee Stadium.
Even Di Bella has admitted that he comes into this contest as an underdog but Prajanchai does not see things that way.
“I don’t think he’s the underdog, I feel like he’s the king of kickboxing and I’m the underdog. I’m not as familiar with the rules as him and he has never been defeated – not even one time in ONE Championship – so I think I am the underdog.”
While Di Bella has yet to suffer any sort of setback – he is undefeated as an amateur and a pro – Prajanchai was on the wrong end of a massive upset in 2022, when he quit on his stool three rounds into a strawweight Muay Thai title fight with Joseph Lasiri.
Last year Prajanchai avenged that defeat, stopping Lasiri in the opening round to recapture a belt that will not be on the line this Friday. It was put to him that the defeat made him stronger, but the 29-year-old does not see things that way.
“It’s not that I won (the rematch) against Lasiri and I became stronger. But I believe if you train hard and train well, you keep disciplined and stick to your routine and schedule, then you will get stronger.”
Di Bella is a couple of years younger than Prajanchai but the Canadian has stated that he is in his prime. This is a source of motivation for the interim champion, who wants to test himself against the best opponents.
“I would be happy if I am able to defeat him because I remember in an interview he said that he is at the peak of his career and if I can defeat him at his peak that would be a great achievement.”
Ahead of this fight he has been taking advice from Superlek Kiatmoo9, considered one of the greatest Thai kick-boxers of all time.
Superlek recently beat Takeru at ONE 165 to cement his status as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.
Superlek started out in Muay Thai and transitioned to kickboxing relatively late in his career, as had Prajanchai, who says he has picked up a few tips from the flyweight champion.
“I am happy for Superlek to have had success in kickboxing. We know each other and we did have a talk before this fight and I will use his advice.”
Prajanchai will be looking to secure the seventh major title of his career, to go with a regional belt he won in traditional boxing. Clearly the novelty has not worn off.
He is determined to become an undisputed kickboxing champion for the first time, which is why this is an “important” fight.
“It’s very important to me to be a double sport world champion. It would make me proud.”
Thirteen years after accomplishing that goal of becoming the first family member to win a belt, there are clearly still challenges out there that excite this decorated Thai champion.
