Joseph Lasiri wants to force Prajanchai to quit

Joseph Lasiri is heading towards the toughest fight of his career to date. He's set to take on ONE strawweight Muay Thai world champion Prajanchai PK.Saenchai.

Prajanchai is already one of the best Muay Thai artists of his generation, but Lasiri is more than ready to send a heaping ton of punishment towards the champion.

The two strikers will meet in the co-main event of ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot on May 20. The event will be broadcast live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Lasiri admitted that he’s a fan of Prajanchai. Despite his admiration for the Thai superstar, Lasiri won’t put his world title opportunity to waste.

Joseph Lasiri said:

“Everyone who practices Muay Thai knows Prajanchai. He has a unique and elegant style. I am a huge fan of his, but what I have in front me now is the opportunity of a lifetime.”

He added:

“I want to bring a real toe-to-toe fight. My intention is to impose a really high rhythm to the match. I want to pull him out of his comfort zone. That will be my main goal for this title bout.”

Lasiri earned his title shot after securing back-to-back wins against Rocky Ogden in November 2020 and Asahi Shinagawa in December 2021. ‘The Hurricane’ also holds a victory over ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion Hiroki Akimoto in March 2019.

Prajanchai, however, is one of the greatest talents of his generation. The 27-year-old champion has an astounding 338-51-3 record and wrestled the title away from another generational talent in 37-year-old Sam-A Gaiyanghadao last July.

Nevertheless, Lasiri has set out to reach his goal of becoming a Muay Thai world champion and is hoping to make the titleholder "quit."

“My focus will be to make Prajanchai quit, mentally. I will not focus on his boxing skills, but I will focus on imposing a super-high rhythm that even a champion like Prajanchai cannot bear."

Joseph Lasiri is fighting for everyone who’s helped him

Joseph Lasiri knows that reaching the summit isn’t a one-man job.

The 30-year-old has been fighting for more than a decade and has gone through the highs and lows of the profession. In 2017, Lasiri captured the WBC Muay Thai bantamweight title before joining ONE Championship in 2018.

He’s had a rough run in ONE Championship, but has since bounced back with two wins over Ogden and Shinagawa. Having reached this point, Lasiri is thinking about one thing and one thing only: championship glory.

"I will not enter the circle thinking about my opponent. I will go there with the mindset of achieving my goal. I will go there to bring something important home for all the people who helped me to get here.”

We'll see if Lasiri can achieve his goal at ONE 157 on May 20.