“He’s not on my level” - Tang Kai says Thanh Le won’t be able to handle his striking

Next in line to challenge for featherweight gold is Chinese phenom Tang Kai, and he believes defending world champion Thanh Le won’t be able to deal with his striking skill set at ONE 160.

Tang believes he is second to none when it comes to his striking. In a virtual press conference, he explained:

"My opponent, Mr. Thanh Le, he runs around a lot and has very good striking. But I just don’t think he has ever faced any opponent with striking as good as mine. He has never faced anybody with my kind of structure and striking skill set. I’m going to show him that he can never find anybody with my style, and he won’t be able to handle my striking. He’s not on my level.”

Tang Kai has been unstoppable since making his ONE Championship debut in January 2019. He holds an 86% finishing rate overall, with his last three victories ending in TKOs.

To prepare him for the biggest fight of his career, the Chinese-born fighter is training out of Tiger Muay Thai, honing his skills alongside the likes of Vitaly Bigdash and Anatoly Malykhin.

Thanh Le, on the other hand, is undefeated with five consecutive wins under his belt. The reigning ONE featherweight world champion has remained a dominant force in the division, finishing all opponents with emphatic knockouts. Arguably the most impressive knockout he had was against former titleholder Martin Nguyen to capture the belt in 2020.

Tang Kai, however, makes a good point in saying that Le hasn’t fought as powerful and potent a striker as him. While Nguyen was more of a one-punch threat, it’s certainly possible that Tang’s combination of power and technique could give Le unprecedented problems in the circle.

If Tang can repeat what he did to his last few opponents in ONE Championship, fans could witness a new world champion being crowned at ONE 160.

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Rewatch Tang Kai’s one-punch knockout of Kim Jae Woong at ONE X

In arguably Tang Kai’s best performance to date, the young phenom stopped South Korean slugger Kim Jae Woong in his tracks at ONE X. He did so with a devastating one-punch knockout to earn the number one spot in the featherweight rankings.

Tang had already showcased his elite level of skill and fight IQ coming into the contest. He was on an eight-fight winning run when he squared off with ‘The Fighting God'.

On the flip side, Kim Jae Woong was on a two-fight win streak, and held knockout victories over two notable names in Martin Nguyen and Tetsuya Yamada.

In the opening round, Tang Kai did an incredible job staying patient and creating openings. Eventually, Kim took the bait and Tang made him pay. He caught ‘The Fighting God’ with a debilitating left hook, knocking the South Korean out cold.

Rewatch the outstanding one-punch knockout below: