Ahead of his fight with Jonathan Di Bella on April 5 at ONE Friday Fights 58, Prajanchai seemed calm and was all smiles. Coming from a family that was almost entirely made up of Muay Thai fighters, Parajanchai was influenced to step into the ring to fight and win and earn money for his family. This was what drove him to pursue a prolific career of nearly 400 fights.
In an interview with Sportsmanor, Prajanchai spoke about his dominant victory over Joseph Lasiri in his last fight where he Knocked out Lasiri in Round 1. Did such a victory serve as a confidence booster coming into the fight that he has on his hands with Di Bella?
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He said, “I feel Jonathan DiBella is very good and I do consider myself as an underdog. If you look at me physically and if you look at one’s familiarity with the sport of kickboxing, I feel Jonathan has an advantage over me. In terms of training and in striking, I do have confidence in myself but of course it’s not a 100%.”
Prajanchai has a message about humility
Prajanchai’s answer came laden with humility quite unlike the answers given in pre-fight interviews where fighters talk with absolute surety about getting the job done at any cost and fans wanted to know where Prajanchai had developed this sense of humility and how it helps him in his process as he prepares for fights.
Prajanchai thought about this question and said, “My main mantra when it comes to fighting is displaying sportsmanship and respecting your opponent. Anything that comes under the umbrella of combat sports – be it boxing, kickboxing or Muay Thai, we are all having the same career and it’s important to respect other athletes.”
“I don’t really like playing a character where I have to look down on an opponent and say that they are not good. I feel like everyone tries and puts in a lot of effort. If you saw me with Joseph Lasiri, we were teasing each other but that was really just for entertainment. In my heart I really respect him as I have respected every opponent that I have faced.”
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Though this was obviously something that Prajanchai had thought about a lot, it did seem very counter to the fight business, where fighters engage in trash-talking just to sell the fight, so that the fights sell in big numbers and everyone gets paid well, so the fighter was asked about how much he thought about the commercial aspect of the fight business and in selling his fights.
When this was brought up to Prajanchai he said, “playing a character is important because that helps people watch the fights. But I like being myself and as a person I like playing pranks and teasing my fellow teammates. So when I do this, it helps people remember me and that’s how I maintain myself in this sport in a promotion such as One Championship.”
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With a career that spans nearly 400 fights this mantra of staying humble and grounded has aided his longevity. “I always keep in mind that I’m not good. I could be better and my opponents are all better than me. I’ve kept this in mind since the beginning of my career. And whether I compete in boxing, Muay Thai or kickboxing, I keep this in mind.”
“Whenever people predict that I would win an upcoming fight, I try to keep that thought out of my head because staying humble drives me to have discipline and train harder than others. So I feel it’s important to remember that in life you always have room for improvement and that other people are better than you. So that you work harder”.
What do you make of Prajanchai’s comments? Let us know in the comments below.