Josh McCulloch eyes another Thai scalp

And at Revesby Worker's Club in Sydney on November 11, Tamworth's rising Muay Thai star will aim to burnish that reputation against a young Thai who is trained by one of the sport's all-time greats.

A win against Thongchai Petchrungruang - who will have legendary former fighter Diesel Noi Chor Thanasukarn in his corner - would be McCulloch's fifth straight win over an opponent from the south-east Asian kingdom.

His past four contests have been against Thais and he has stopped all of them - the past three in devastating fashion, catapulting him into the WBC's top-20 world rankings for lightweights and then to No. 12 on that list.

Having turned 23 today, and boasting an unblemished professional record of seven wins with six KOs, McCulloch has emerged as the Thai destroyer (he also stopped two Thais on Phuket as an amateur).

"My last four fights against Thais have been stoppages, so I'm sure there's people out there that are noticing that," said the Tamworth High alumnus, who is unbeaten as an amateur and pro since 2016.

Unlike some fighters, McCulloch said, he did not try to "out-Thai the Thai" - a mistake that included trying to "look stylish".

"Whereas with my style, I've got different angles - I attack from different angles, different tempos," he said. "I just think it's something they [Thais] aren't as experienced in.

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"And people might watch my fight and go, 'Oh, he seems easy to fight'. But, I think, once they get in there, it's a little bit different."

Thongchai is trained at the world-famous Petchrungruang Gym at Pattaya, Thailand.

"This one's gonna be a young Thai - he's in his prime," McCulloch said.

"There's no, I guess, concern that he's gonna be older than me and he might be a little bit weathered ... he's fresh."

The two biggest scalps on McCulloch's resume - Thais Orono Pumlumnow and Kiw Eikkasit - have fought hundreds of times between them. He stopped both veterans in vicious fashion.

"And another big thing is, he's got that knockout punch ... he's got the big hands," McCulloch said of Thongchai.

Having Diesel Noi by Thongchai's side, and having a WBC world title bout as the main bout on the 1774 promotion, makes the contest even more appetising for McCulloch.

"So they'll be a lot of eyeballs on it ... they'll be a lot of exposure on the card," he said.

"And, obviously, having Diesel Noi as his trainer in the corner as well, it will be pretty surreal to get the win over such an experienced corner."

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