Sirimongkol Singwangcha, former Thai world champion, reveals the background on why he served as a trainer for Takeru before his victory over Rodtang Jitmuangnon.
On 12 May 2026, Takeru Segawa gained widespread attention after winning by TKO against Rodtang Jitmuangnon in the 5th round, claiming the interim flyweight kickboxing world championship at the ONE SAMURAI 1 event held on 29 April.
One point of interest was that Sirimongkol Singwangcha, a former Thai professional boxer and Thailand's 23rd world champion, acted as a trainer for Takeru Segawa for about one week.
Sirimongkol told Thairath Sport, “I once taught boxing in Japan. The gym owner's child is friends with Takeru, so they asked me to coach him. I taught for about seven days, focusing on skills and techniques. Previously, Takeru had lost because of punches; he wanted to improve his punching, so they brought in a trainer experienced in professional boxing to teach him how to fight with punches.”
“Takeru is very dedicated and committed. Whatever we taught, he understood and was ready to follow the training. His discipline is very high, including diet and nutrition plans—he followed everything.”
“Takeru’s punches aren’t very heavy, but he finds the right timing to throw combinations. He’s a well-rounded fighter.”
“His body is like that of a 25-year-old—very fit. Most importantly, he’s extremely disciplined, training on time precisely. In the first fight against Rodtang, his punches weren’t tight enough; this time, we corrected that by making his punches tighter and quicker.”
“I told him to observe the timing first because we knew Rodtang is tough and strong. Watch his moves initially. But Takeru was very confident. He might have thought Rodtang’s punches lacked power, so he opened himself up to punch.” (He smiled.)
“He was confident in himself. From the first round, I saw that Takeru had faced Rodtang before and surely understood Rodtang’s weapons and how the previous fight went.”
When asked about the criticism from keyboard warriors accusing Sirimongkol Singwangcha of training Takeru Segawa, he responded,
Sirimongkol said, “Being a trainer for foreign fighters is just my job. It’s like work—I do my best. When foreign trainers come to train Thai boxers, they also give their all. When I teach someone, I want my student to win. People should see this as a profession. If I only trained fighters who lost, no one would hire me.”