ONE Championship Awards 2022: Tawanchai PK.Saenchai named Breakout Star Of The Year

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Singapore, January 10: Tawanchai PK.Saenchai made his ONE debut in 2021, but it was in 2022 that the Muay Thai phenom made his mark in the ONE Championship.

The 23-year-old kicked off his campaign with a highlight-reel knockout before scoring a second midway through the year and then capping it off with an upset win over longtime ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Champion Petchmorakot Petchyindee in September.

With the World Title victory, Tawanchai announced himself as one of the very best Muay Thai stylists on the planet, and he has, deservedly, been named ONE's Breakout Star Of The Year because of it.

After a 1-1 start to his ONE tenure in 2021, the Thai superstar was determined to start a streak when he made his first appearance of 2022 against Saemapetch Fairtex in a catchweight Muay Thai feature at ONE: HEAVY HITTERS in January.

Meetings between two Thai strikers often result in a three-round chess match, but Tawanchai was clearly in no mood for this, as he blitzed his compatriot from the bell.

Saemapetch had no answer as he landed kicks and punches seemingly at will, scoring an early knockdown before closing the show with a crushing left hand just 2:55 into the opening frame.

After the fight, Tawanchai announced that he would be making the move up to featherweight, having experienced some struggles hitting the bantamweight limit.

He was handed a title eliminator straight out of the gate in his new weight class, which showed just how highly rated he was by the ONE brass after his dismantling of Saemapetch.

Facing Niclas Larsen at ONE 158 in June, Tawanchai took his opportunity with both hands.
He needed only 30 seconds to drop "Dreamchaser" with a slick punch combination.

And though Larsen wasn't deterred as the bout moved into the second round, Tawanchai repeated the dose again, scoring another knockdown - one that the Dane couldn't recover from.

The win scored the in-form striker a World Title opportunity against featherweight Muay Thai king Petchmorakot at ONE 161 in September.

Petchmorakot - champion since 2020 - entered the clash as the heavy favorite, but Tawanchai was unphased. He was on point across the pulsating five-round battle, and he took a unanimous decision and the featherweight Muay Thai strap for his efforts.

Tawanchai went from up-and-comer to outright superstar in 2022, making him the obvious choice to claim ONE's 2022 Breakout Star Of The Year award.

Source: Media Release