Muay Thai icon Sam-A certain Tawanchai has "all the elements" needed' to be a global superstar
Sam-A Gaiyanghadao is one of the most experienced and acclaimed strikers in ONE Championship today. The 41-year-old is still competing at the very highest level despite all of the wars and adversity that he has faced in his career.
Eventually, there will come a time when he's no longer able to be one of the predominant names in Muay Thai. Fortunately, there are multiple Thai superstars already on the scene that will take his place.
One of those is the current ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion, Tawanchai PK Saenchai, who is set to headline ONE 170 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok in January.
The 25-year-old rising star has been a revelation since debuting in the promotion three years ago and having lost just once in his second fight against Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong, he's put together a very impressive run of wins.
In a recent interview with Sportskeeda MMA, the former two-division, two-sport ONE world champion gave his thoughts on what makes Tawanchai such an exciting star:
"First, he has a good face. He has a nice build, perfect in every way. In a fight, he can throw weapons beautifully in the southpaw style. And I heard he is very disciplined in training. That gives him all the elements needed to be a superstar."
Sam-A has the ambition to become a champion once again
The next generation of Thai superstars like Tawanchai aren't quite overlapping living legends like Sam-A just yet.
In his last two fights, Sam-A has shown that he's still competing at the very highest level even if his best days are behind him.
A devastating knockout win over Akram Hamidi and a dominant performance against Zhang Peimian last time out have put him right back into world title contention, where settling the score with Prajanchai PK Saenchai is his main goal right now.