Thananchai Charunphak

Thananchai Charunphak (Thai: ธนันท์ชัย จรูญภักดิ์, born: April 16, 2000) is a Thai professional boxer.

He was born in Ubon Ratchathani and his personal nickname is "O". He started boxing in 2020 under Surachart Pisitwuttinan's Nakornloung Promotion, which has already featured world champion boxers including Veeraphol Sahaprom, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. Thananchai was able to defeat many skilled Thai boxers were Kompayak Porpramook, Eaktwan BTU Ruaviking, Samartlek Kokietgym. One of them made him the WBC Asia flyweight champion.

On August 12, 2024, he traveled to Japan, his first fight abroad. He was able to defeat Kento Hatanaka, WBO Asia Pacific flyweight champion by unanimous decision via 12 rounds.

After winning and getting the title, Surachart was interviewed and said, he himself was determined to make Thananchai a world champion by the end of this year, with the goal of heading to the WBO flyweight champion, which Anthony Olascuaga reigns over.^[2]

After making a name for himself by winning the WBO Asia Pacific champion in Japan, Thananchai was invited to travel to Japan again to fight for the WBA flyweight world title against Seigo Yuri Akui, a local champion. The event was held on October 13, 2024, at Tokyo's Ariake Coliseum as part of a world championship quadruple-header that saw the main event Seiya Tsutsumi defeated fellow-countryman Takuma Inoue to win the WBA bantamweight title after the pair traded blows for 12 action-packed rounds, and Kenshiro Teraji TKO Nicaragua's Cristofer Rosales in the 11th round for vacant WBC flyweight champion, with Shokichi Iwata TKO Spain's Jairo Noriega in the third round for vacant WBO light flyweight crown.

As #8 ranked WBA flyweight and WBO Asia Pacific flyweight champion, with only a little over a month to prepare, before the fight, Thananchai announced that he would snatch the belt back because it used to belong to Saen Sor Ploenchit, a senior boxer that he admired. In the actual bout, Thananchai turned out to be a far more formidable challenger than anyone had anticipated. He stood his ground and repeatedly countered the forward-charging Akui with crisp, well-placed punches. The tenth round was his most dominant—he hammered Akui with a flurry of vicious body shots that clearly staggered him and backed him up for the first time in the fight.

The result was that Thananchai lost by a split decision from three judges, 115–113, 113–115, and 117–111.^[3]

After the fight, Akui admitted that although he was declared the winner, it was not a flawless victory. He acknowledged that Thananchai had fought fiercely and countered effectively throughout all 12 rounds. He himself recognized the need to go back and further improve his skills in order to stay at the top.^[4]

On Thananchai’s side, Surachart openly expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the judges’ decision. Personally, he saw the outcome very differently and announced his intention to file an official appeal with the WBA, calling for a rematch to settle the score.^[5]

Boxing legend Khaosai Galaxy acknowledged that Thananchai had fought well, but as a challenger stepping into the champion’s backyard, his performance simply wasn’t enough to sway the judges. In Khaosais view, if Thananchai truly wanted to walk away with the title, he needed to clearly dominate the fight—leave no doubt in anyone’s mind, and deliver a performance convincing enough to overcome the home-crowd advantage.^[6]

• Boxing record for Thananchai Charunphak from BoxRec (registration required)