Prajanchai, Di Bella sound off ahead of ONE Lumpinee 68

ONE strawweight Muay Thai world champion Prajanchai PK Saenchai and former strawweight kickboxing king Jonathan Di Bella will duke it out for the vacant ONE strawweight kickboxing world title at the blockbuster event at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, this Friday, June 28. 

The pair were originally scheduled to face off at ONE Lumpinee 58 in April, but Di Bella fell ill on weigh-in day and could not step on the scales. The 27-year-old was stripped of his title after defending his strawweight kickboxing crown. 

One of the key narratives heading into the restored matchup is the boxing skills of both men. Di Bella is undefeated as a professional boxer, while Prajanchai is a former WBA Asian champion. 

As such, the PK Saenchai Muaythaigym representative indicated at the press conference that punching range is likely where the fight will be fought and won. 

“I feel very honoured and happy to be fighting one of the top fighters in the world like Jonathan Di Bella, and I’m thrilled and excited to face him this Friday,” he said. 

“Jonathan Di Bella has very fast hands and very good boxing skills, especially in his combinations. I have to overcome this by being faster or faster than Jonathan Di Bella’s boxing skills. In terms of boxing, it’s all about an opening, and then I will see if I want to trade hands with Jonathan Di Bella. But I want to focus on the accuracy and the power. 

“I have the size disadvantage against Jonathan Di Bella, so I will avoid trading, but I will try to find the opening to knock Jonathan Di Bella out.” 

In closing, Prajanchai promised to go all-out in his quest to become a two-sport ONE world champion. 
“I want to say to all my fans, especially all the Thai fans, tune in and cheer me on this Friday, especially my family, my girlfriend’s family, and the PK Saenchai gym, please tune in for the fight this Friday. I will do my best,” he said. 

For Di Bella, despite having watched Prajanchai’s successful kickboxing debut late last year, it was boxing that was on his mind. 

“I was impressed with his [kickboxing] skills. He fought a top fighter in Akram Hamidi. That was a high-level fight and he did well,” Di Bella said. 

“His boxing is good too. I believe he has three pro fights in boxing, and he’s the WBA Asian champion so I believe it’s a fair match in boxing because he has a championship in boxing. 

“I think it’s an even fight because he has good boxing and he has over 400 fights, I believe. So I think he has a lot more experience than me. So yeah, I think it’s going to be an even fight and a good fight. We’ll see on Friday.” 

The son of a former kickboxing world champion has only known success from the day he was born. 

Now, at ONE Lumpinee 68, Di Bella plans to bring world title glory back home. 

“I just wanna say to all my fans, this fight is for you guys and my family,” he said.