Like his brother, Nirote Saenkham started his career in the sport of kickboxing and later switched to orthodox boxing. After becoming a sports star in his native country, he followed a long-standing Thai custom of adopting an attention-getting pseudonym and thus became known as Kaokor Galaxy.
He entered professional boxing in 1985 and won his first seven fights before capturing the Thai bantamweight (118-pound) title in July 1986. He held that crown until May 9, 1988, when he upset Puerto Rico's Wilfredo Vasquez to take the WBA world bantamweight title. With the victory, the Galaxy brothers became the first twins to ever be world champions.
Kaokor lost the title three months later, when an accidental headbutt called a halt to his first defense, against Korean Sung-Kil Moon after just six rounds. By rule, the fight went to the scorecards and Galaxy was behind on points.
He bounced back with five straight wins to earn a rematch with Moon on July 9, 1989. This time, Kaokor Galaxy won easily, taking all 12 rounds on two scorecards and 11 of the 12 on the third.
He again lost the title in his first defense, three months later against Luisito Espinosa, and surprisingly retired at that point with a record of 24 wins and just two losses.