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Welcome once again to another Camp update, I am late as always, two and a half months late so there is a lot that has happened. We have gone from the hot season to rainy season, ten days ago, when the rains came with a vengeance, but here the rain is life giving and a welcome respite from the heat, dryness and smoke, everything is growing and green once again and the air is cool and clear. We (I) survived another Song Khran, sober and dry, which for any of you who have been here for Thai New Year will know, that is a feat in itself! Pom has opened a restaurant at our house near the Camp, finally returning to her original and preferred occupation of Chef extraordinary! Den is getting married, for all of you who did not already know, he is marrying Sarah on the 27th May, and everyone is welcome, if you cannot make it here in person we will expect you in spirit! We have many exciting fights to report on, some amazing KO's, and we achieved another step on that climb to the top! And we have a young and upcoming fighter who is taking out every opponent in his path! More on that later!
The first bit of news, on the 2nd March, Lee Lancaster, from England broke the mountain run record, by five seconds and then a month and a half later Ahmed returned to training and took it back, by 5 seconds. We have heard Dave Tew will be returning soon with the intention of regaining the record he originally held first last year!
Our first fights for this update happened on the 15th March, in Fang, a tough place to fight, with Sompong winning in five rounds using his usual impeccable defense. JR fought next, producing another of his hard KO's, more on that later, and Boon fighting a fifty fifty loss in five. On the same night, but in Chiangmai, at Gawilla Stadium, our young lad Manat had a rematch against his previous opponent and once again lost in the clinch, we are working on it! Alex fought a good five round win against Payak Dam, a Thai fighter who has fought many of our foreigners and is considered awkward and hard to beat. Jaime (Kasper) had his second fight since returning to training, taking TKO when the ref stopped the fight half way through the fifth.
Two weeks later on the 28th March, in Hang Dong, we had one of our best nights in a long time, with four wins out of four! Jin won in the first, by knee, a little too easy but then no fight is easy! JR, once again producing a devastating KO, in the second. Boon, a great win in five rounds. And Solam defending his Northern title against an old foe and winning in five with a strong and polished performance.
The following evening we traveled to Lamphun where Shane Martell from Australia, on a return visit to the Camp, pulled off the second most improbable win of this update, with a jumping straight punch KO in the second! Next up was Halfdan Schionning, from Denmark, also on a return visit to the Camp, he took on a tough fight, doing his best to stay with an older fighter who, though out of shape, still had the moves, Halfdan losing by KO punch in the second round.
The first fights for April were on the 5th, we had a single fight at Gawilla, with Alex fighting a Burmese Boxer, and though the gloves stayed on, Alex's' opponent had one thing only on his mind, elbows. He came out swinging them from the first bell and caught Alex with several, the final one just before the end of the round cutting him high on the forehead. The cut was controllable and Alex came out in the second going straight back with a few elbows of his own and half way through the round dropped his opponent with an elbow behind the ear, cut included! Good win, No Fear!
On the 9th April, we fought on a televised fight promotion in Kanachanaburi, site of the famous Bridge over the river Kwai. It was a tough fight program and though there was a lack of audience, with the fights in the middle of one of the hottest days of the year, on an uncovered ring, all which may have contributed to the results, but heh, we do not make excuses!!! Joey lost in three rounds to punches against Ismal from France, and Jaime took on an opponent who not only outclassed him but also had a lot of face to save as his older brother had lost a champions fight earlier on the program. Jamie went down to the vicious spinning elbow that caught him on the top of the head in the second minute of the first round.
The night after arriving back from Kanachanaburi, we had fights at a large festival in Chiangmai, to signal the start of Song Khran. Carla Fox fought the main fight of the night, facing an old foe for the third time. Carla showed over five rounds that all the hard training she had been putting in gave her the strength and ability to overcome a difficult and strong Thai opponent who had beat her at their last meeting. It was a very good win for her. On the same night at the end of the program, Ait, our new/old Thai boy (at 21 you are a bit old by Thai standards to be starting boxing!) had his third fight stopped due to a mismatch, he had the heart but not the ability!
The next night on the 12th April we once again had two fight venues for the night, in Lampang and at Bar Beer Centre in Chiangmai. George Chan fought his second fight for us in Lampang and produced the most improbable win of this report. Being totally out matched for the whole fight, with the trainers considering throwing in the towel after the fourth, let the fight go to the fifth where George delivered a beautiful spinning elbow, which, though he had attempted it a couple of unsuccessful times earlier, caught his opponent perfectly. Good Night, thank you very much! It was lovely! Next up was Matt Pace, from the US, having his first ever fight and though he outweighed his opponent, he fought Payak Dam, who gave Matt a good fight before catching him with a straight in the third.
Meanwhile in Chiangmai we were in Thapae Bar Beer Centre, with Jono having a warm up fight ahead of his biggest fight yet! and winning in the third against a good but older fighter who could not take the punishment any more! And then we had our second, after Georges great win, fight drama, with Jin going up next to fight his 7th fight against a boy he had fought in his third fight and lost to a cut from an elbow in the fifth round. This time, while once again losing the fight in the fifth round Jin pulled out another of those beautiful straights to the chin, they are becoming Jin's trademark! It was a sweet rematch win, who says it isn't nice to get a little bit of revenge sometimes!
For a week or so after this we had a quiet time at the Camp, as most people took time out to get over the festivities of Song Khran, it takes heavy toll!! The first fights of the Thai new year on the 18th April, were in Ban Hong, a small village south of Lamphun, where Brian Cleary from the US, fought a great fight against a good Thai boxer and though Brian won by a KO punch in the fifth round it was his surprising superiority in the clinch and knees which won him the fight, an all round great performance of guts and determination, love it like this! Next up was Ninna Nygarrd, from Denmark, having trained hard and looking for more of a fight than her first outing was Ninna got more than she bargained for in a smaller but much better opponent who did not give her much to hit. Losing in five Ninna came away tired, bruised but wiser and as determined as ever to fight on! The fighter's heart!
Next on the 24th April, Jin once again fought in Bar Beer, winning a dubious decision in the third round of an even fight with a knee rather close to the groin! You win some and you lose some, at this level it is inevitable, but something, which I am to learn very soon is totally unacceptable at the top level! Halfdan takes on his second fight after Jin, and once again comes up against an older but this time fitter old boxer. But Dan shows he has taken the hard lessons learned from the first fight and gives a good performance before the ref stops the fight in the third in favour of his opponent.
The last fight for April was in Gawilla, with Ahmed Ait making a come back after 6 months out of the ring, and though losing on points in five had a good fight and all bodes well for the future.
The end of April and the start of May saw several moves on the part of a few of our Trainers and Boxers. Taywin Boontham has finally made his long awaited trip to Australia, where he is staying with Jim Gloftis and Shannon Forrester at Boonchu Gym, Mermaid Beach, on the Gold Coast. Chun returned from Guang Zhou, where he is now the head trainer at a large Muay Thai Gym, for a short visit with us and to pick up several trainers and fighters to take back with him to China. Boon is finally getting his chance to go and work with Chun as a trainer on a one year contract, and Supot, Kem and Solam have gone over for two months and will be fighting as well as training. Every one is missed at the Camp but we will get by as you all enjoy your stays overseas!
The first fight in May was with Gat, at Loi Kroh Bar Beer Centre in Chiangmai, the fight was early in the program and Gat won well against a fairly new boy, we were home early for a change! On the 5th May we fought in Hang Dong, Sompong took on a bigger fighter, by about 5 kgs. (Yes too much!), they went the five rounds and once again even though Sompong lost on points he showed the strength of his defensive style by lasting the distance without too much harm. Next up was JR, who once again produced another of his strong performances against an old opponent from Lampang, with a low kick punch KO win in the 4th round. Strong and a bit scary!
It is now that we are in the final build up to what is one of the biggest moments for me since I started Muay Thai 12 years ago, to go to Rajadamnern Stadium in Bangkok, with not one but two of our fighters from overseas, Alex Ricci, from Canada and Jono Redden, from England, both getting a chance to fight in one of the top Stadiums in the Muay Thai world. A small group of us traveled down to Bangkok on Friday night and in the meantime on the Saturday while we were adjusting to the big city we had fights in Lamphun, with Derry from Ireland having his second fight and winning in great style, KO in the third. Jin fought next and had a tough loss in five rounds against a better fighter. On Sunday morning we met up with Jono, who had been training for three weeks prior to this fight at Sit MonChai Gym near Kanachanburi, at the 6am weigh in. Jono made his weight with a pound to spare and with a light jog Alex dropped the two pounds he needed to make his weight. Everything was set for the evening and I was running around more nervous than either of the two fighters. Sunday night and we made our way through the notorious Bangkok traffic to arrive on an unusually wet and windy night. There was a small but appreciative crowd at a Stadium I was getting to see, other than on TV, for the first time! From the first fight it was plain to see we had entered the top level of the fight game, even on this Sunday night, which was obviously a quiet night, the standard was of the highest level. Jono, eighth fight on a card of twelve, had a good fight that went the five round distance and though he tried all he knew his opponent just stayed one step ahead and ultimately controlled the fight to win on points. Alex, up two fights after Jono, had a similar result against a former Rajadamnern Champion, the fight started well and Alex showed he could stay the pace, even after taking a straight to the chin in the second, he was back on his feet and went the distance with strength in the clinch which surprised his opponent. It was during Alex's fight where we saw what is expected of a fighter here at the top level. In the second round Alex caught his opponent with a low knee, and the referee gave him a stern warning at the time and then repeated the warning at the end of the round both to Alex and to myself at ringside, a first for me in all the years I have been here. The level of control over the fight game, the ability of the fighter, and the sportsmanship expected is second to none. It makes me realize that mere politics and in fighting amongst the powers to be in Muay Thai will never detract from the true essence of the Muay Thai Fight. It is a comforting thought!
That about wraps it up this update, if you have made it this far I thank you for your attention, I know these updates can be long winded as I leave them so long, but it is good to be able to relive these moments and share with everyone our trials and tribulations in the fight game of Muay Thai. We are now entering the rainy season here where the fight scene quietens somewhat due to the fact that most of our venues are outdoors, the Thai lads are going back to school, with both JR and Sompong graduating to Technical College and Agricultural College respectively. We are entering a time of extended training which is always a test for everyone as it is tough to stay focused without the regular fight on the horizon, but it is also the time when we can build consistently on the fitness levels of everyone and I am looking forward to some good training in the next few months, I will be chasing them all up the mountain!
A final word on one of our fighters JR, someone commented to me after JRs' last fight that they could not remember the last time he lost and I checked back on the records I have been keeping over the past 16 months and found that JR has not lost in his last fourteen fights, with 5 Kos, four of them in his most recent fights. This is quite an achievement for JR and he has done so quietly and without fuss, let us see now where he might go!
As always I hope that everyone is training hard and enjoying Muay Thai, until next time round, Good luck to all in, Muay Thai and life.
Take Care
.Andy
Young fan, Taywin, Andy, Carla, and Doi celebrating a good win! |
Jono getting some instructions!! |
Who is after who? |
Gat and Jin with Shane after his KO win! |
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