Tawanchai recalls winning his first Muay Thai fight at 7 years old: “I knocked him out with a kick”

ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion Tawanchai PK Saenchai has accomplished a lot in the ''art of eight limbs' but his first victory in the martial art is something he looks back to with a lot of fondness.

He did such in an interview with health and fitness personality Mark Abbott, which the latter shared on his Instagram profile, recalling the first of what turned out to be many victories for him in Muay Thai.

Tawanchai said:

"I was 7, he was 4. I knocked him out with a kick. He was much more experienced than me. Yeah, he’d also had 10 to 20 fights already. I was 7 years old but this was my first ever fight. So I went for it with a kick and won by KO. So proud to KO a 4-year-old. That’s actually a true story. He might have been 5 years old. He was smaller than me, but he was more experienced."

Tawanchai, from there, continued to develop his game, leading him to solid professional career in Thailand and in the last four years in ONE Championship, where he is now among the superstars in the promotion.

In over a decade as a professional fighter he has compiled 134 victories, 10 coming in the 'Home of Martial Arts'.

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Tawanchai expanding campaign to kickboxing

While he has had a lot of success in Muay Thai, Tawanchai PK Saenchai has seen it fit to also compete in kickboxing under ONE Championship and has achieved some success early.

The Pattaya native started his ONE kickboxing campaign in August 2023, where he scored an impressive TKO victory over Davit Kiria of Georgia. He followed it up with a decision victory two months later against veteran Thai fighter Jo Nattawut.

He attempted to make a significant leap in his push when he vied for the interim featherweight kickboxing belt at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, against hometown bet Masaaki Noiri.

Tawanchai made early inroads in his bid but fell to a third-round knockout loss to Noiri, dashing the featherweight Muay Thai king's attempt for two-sport glory.

Despite the setback, Tawanchai reiterated his goal is still this same for kickboxing and vows to return better and make another run at the title.

The replay of ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang is available at watch.onefc.com.