The highly anticipated clash of expert kickers Superbon and Tawanchai is set to take place at ONE Friday Fights 46 on December 22 in Bangkok at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. After two delays the fight is back on and the ONE Muay Thai Featherweight title is on the line. We checked in with former ONE Featherweight Kickboxing champion Superbon two days before he challenges Tawanchai.
ON DELAYS
Superbon's in good spirits shortly before the fight. The leg injury he sustained a few months prior irked him, as he was looking forward to fighting Tawanchai sooner. He shook the delays off as he considers injury and sickness part and parcel of the sport. Superbon is prepared year-round, and prefers that his opponents are in great shape, noting "If they're not ready, it's not gonna be fun."
KICKBOXING AND MUAY THAI TOGETHER
Superbon has spent the bulk of his career in the last decade fighting under international kickboxing rules. Despite being away from Muay Thai for so long, he's not concerned about his return to elbows and clinching.
"My blood is Muay Thai," Superbon explained. The transition back to Muay Thai rules was natural, after all he noted he has over 20 years of Muay Thai in his fighting career starting at 5 years old.
When we asked about ONE's small gloves he was similarly unphased, saying training in small gloves only had minor differences from boxing gloves.
Superbon thinks his experience in kickboxing has made him an even better Nak Muay than before his international debut and transition to a different sport. He feels his boxing, combinations, timing, and footwork have improved. He's been able to take good things from both Muay Thai and kickboxing.
ON TAWANCHAI AND THE NEXT FIGHT
Tawanchai's recent kickboxing fight with Jo Nattawut gave Superbon some insight into how to defeat the 24-year-old phenom. For Superbon, Nattawut looked a little bit stronger due to his relentless counterattacks. According to Superbon, Muay Thai fighters sometimes get complacent after placing a few shots, and he saw Nattawut find success peppering Tawanchai with combinations after receiving one or two blows. Still, Superbon considers Tawanchai's tactics to create conundrums around the left punch and kick a "dangerous" threat.
Outside of a rematch with Chingiz Allazov, Superbon has no strong preference for future fights in kickboxing or Muay Thai. The Belarusian kickboxer knocked Superbon out in the first round and has been inactive since his title defense against Marat Grigorian in August 2023.
SUPERBON'S GYM
We moved on to talking about Superbon's gym the Superbon Training Camp. It's where he lives, trains, and teaches. Fortunately for Superbon, he has access to training partners like former Rajademnern, Lumpinee, and ONE Muay Thai champion Nong-O, current Rajademnern champion Daniel Rodriguez, and former ONE kickboxing champion Petchanong. Superbon has his usual stable of trainers including Gae and one of the great kickers in Muay Thai history, Lumpinee champion Singdam. He counts his blessings having the capacity to run a gym while focusing on his training, not really having to stress about the business operations during fight camp. Superbon tries to learn different styles from his all-star team.
ON TAKERU VS. RODTANG
Superbon Training Camp was recently host to former three-division K-1 champion Takeru.
We asked Superbon about his thoughts surrounding Takeru's upcoming match with Rodtang in Japan at ONE 165 and he couldn't favor either. He views Rodtang as a top fighter with a strong body and great timing, and recounts a sparring session where he landed a head kick on Rodtang that Rodtang took well. However, Superbon thinks Takeru's hands are faster and that the Japanese fighter "never gives up", and that he will be watching the fight closely.
Superbon closed the interview shouting out his fans, "I love to fight all the time…guys that love to fight like me, enjoy my fight. I'm going to do my best."
