Don Wilson vs Samart Prasamit
June 23, 2009 by nopstar
Here is some vintage fight footage courtesy of Stack. It’s Don “The Dragon” Wilson vs. Samart Prasamit. We’ve all seen this scenario play out in countless early days Kickboxing vs MuayThai bouts. I think this fight was in ‘83, Wilson fought about 70 times and had about 5 defeats. I’m sure Stack will mention this, but unlike other kickboxing “legends” Wilson made no attempt to cover up his losses in Thailand.
I don’t know anything about Samart, but I’m surprised he didn’t go with leg kicks/the clinch sooner. Anyway, I was pretty sure those days were gone. Kickboxer’s who fight MuayThai rules should have some clinching experience right? Wrong… The last time I was at the fights in Croydon, I saw kickboxer who was doing ok, until he got clinched… end of story.
Got me thinking? How do you think a lot of the dutch fighters would fair under full MT rules? I know Spong is a beast, but I’ve never seen him in a clinch or elbow situation. I’m so used to seeing the Thai nakmuays fighting in Holland under K-1 rules, I forget how significantly they’ve been handicapped.
Don wrote back to me actually Nop.
He said ”
I was forced to lose 8 pounds just hours before the? bout. Conditioning was always on of my strong points. However, I wanted the money so I fought feeling weak and sick from the first round. I did get a second wind in round five but the bout was over. I accept this as a lose and believe the Thai promoters thought Fanta would win in Hong Kong in ‘84 but I won a unanimous decision. Dragon out”
I have to say Don really did pretty decent given that he was out of his element and did not understand the rules. I actually respect Don a ton for even taking the fight on the terms offered to him.
In regards to Spong he fought Orono’s gym mate, Yodchai Wor Petchpun who is quite a bit smaller than Spong with elbows. Spong TKOed Yodchai very quickly in round one and yes he actually got a world title out of it.
Great upload Stack. It was nice seeing Don’s response; bringing back some reality to this fight that occurred 26 years ago.
There was a big write-up on this from A/X a while back by Mike Miles:
In September 1983 Don Wilson gave Thai Champion Pongdejoi Prasobchai a beating, knocking him out in Hong Kong. The Thai’s refused to believe this loss was legitimate and the Thai’s wanted Wilson to come to Bangkok to fight Champion Samart Prasanmitr. Wilson took the lucrative fight on the understanding that he was going to fight in Samart’s backyard and the only way he could probably win was by KO. Wilson was paid $1,000,000 Hong Kong dollars ($122,000 American). Samart was guaranteed $10,000 Hong Kong dollars. It is rumored the Thai would have been paid as much as $200,000 Hong Kong if he knocked the American out. The purse got so high during the negotiations of the rules for the fight. Each time the Thai’s wanted a Muay Thai rules, Wilson would say no and the Thai’s would pay money to have the rules included in the match. The 2 athletes had a considerable weight difference with Wilson at 172 lbs. while Samart weighed 148 lbs. Wilson was told that his weight would make no difference as far as the Thai fighter and the fans were concerned so the American approached the fight like he was preparing for a fight against another 175 lbs. athlete. Things changed at the weigh in and the Thai officials harassed Wilson about his weight and they wanted him to lose weight. Wilson sat in a sauna on the day of the bout. Wilson felt there were other methods used to try and demoralize him including: a small dressing room infested with mosquitos, armed guards, military personnel assigned to guard the 3 garbage bags full of money wagered on the outcome of the fight. “It made me concerned to see those guns and all that money in my dressing room,” said Wilson. The five round bout of three minutes per round went the following way:
Wilson won the first round handily but at the end of the round a Thai came over and said, “Not good. You lost that round pretty badly.” Wilson won the round with sidekicks to the body and punches to the head. Wilson was told that groin techniques were not allowed in the rules but he claims he was continually attacked in the groin from the start of the first round. Wilsons brother was baffled why Wilson had trained so hard to deliver sidekicks to the legs but did not use them during the fight. Wilson has stated he did not use them because the Thai was so easy to hit with the fist that he decided he would keep using these weapons until the Thai went down. The videotape of the bout was confiscated by the Thai military after the bout so this result is the recollections of the Americans who watched the bout. The second round was again Wilson’s though by a smaller margin. Surprisingly, the Thai who told Wilson he lost the first round showed up and stated that Wilson could only win the fight now by KO. Wilson changed his strategy and started to press more for the KO. The 2 athletes had established what they were capable of now with Wilson using the sidekicks and the punches whereas Samart would press with knees and elbows. In the middle of the 3rd round, Wilson was caught with a knee to the back of the spine. The Thai was considered the winner in this round even by the Wilson’s. The 4th round was even worse for Wilson. From the knee to the spine Wilson complained he could not get control of his muscles. During this round he was dropped twice with knees to the body. Wilson took the counts but managed to last until the end of the round. In the rest period for the final round, Wilson said he had recovered and he was standing for the final opening bell. When it sounded he met the Thai with a flurry of of punches that had Samart bleeding from the nose and mouth. Wilson was the aggressor now but the Thai had built up a commanding lead by winning 2 rounds clearly as well as Wilson suffering several knockdowns. Neither fighter could have went another round and this did not matter because Samart won the match handing Wilson his 4th loss in his entire career. Samart was not happy with the win and he was jeered by the Thai’s because he could not fight back. Wilson unhappy with his loss went over to congratulate the Thai, but Samart would not shake his hand. Up to this point the story is that the fight attracted the largest fight crowd ever to Lumphini Stadium. It was the largest amount of money ever bet on a fight there as well. Wilson spent $10,000 to buy himself a Presidential Rolex in Hong Kong on his way back to America. Years later Wilson claims that the bout was rigged. He claims Thai officials made him lose 8 lbs. before the bout took place. And he also claims that the Thai’s reduced the number of rounds without letting him know.
sorry about that long post:
Some extra pictures as you scroll downward of Samart Prasarnmitr.
He had fought the other Samart Payakaroon and Rob Kaman within a years time of the fight with Wilson.
http://message.axkickboxing.com/index.phtml?action=dispthread&topic=27030&junk=1235893378.48986
Among many things pretend Arjan is full of shit about is the tape.
“The videotape of the bout was confiscated by the Thai military after the bout so this result is the recollections of the Americans who watched the bout.”
That guy should seriously stop talking about things the entire world can see for themselves.
Thanks for the upload stack, it always good to check out how the old kickboxers use to fight. Question for anyone that can answer it, when did kickboxing start?
nate,
as far as i’ve read, kickboxing was an outgrowth of the full-contact karate tournaments in the 60’s out in southern california…guys like chuck norris, joe lewis, bill wallace and benny urquidez were active there
at what point/why somebody wanted to turn to gloves/ring, etc. i don’t know but by 73/74 bill wallace won the first kb title fight…so many came from a karate background, there’s a lot of pics with the infamous long pants and black belt
since then, like boxing (and western muay thai) there’s a ton of different bodies, “world” titles, etc
lots of my friends kickbox, anytime you’re banging it takes heart, but i just can’t dig it…i LOVE seeing long pants wearing kb’s getting pounded by nak muay…you tube changpuek low-kicking the crap out of rick roufus ( my all-time fave ) or diesel noi kneeing john moncayo’s spleen out for reference… :)
thanks for the upload, classic material. some things to keep in mind:
1. wilson is huge compared to samart.
2. kickboxing is a different game than muaythai and if you stand in front of a kickboxer, the style can give you LOTS of problems. if you are not used to the angle of the attacks and the types of techniques they throw, it can be a long day.
3. dutch kickboxing and muaythai are different sports as well. i don’t personally like the dutch style too much, although they are strong, strong fighters. they tend to lack an understanding of range and seem labored to kick above the waist. their clinchwork is rudimentary and lacks the sophistication of the thais. also, they tend to blow their load in the first round or two and the rest of the fights look like crap. this is probably the biggest difference between the thai fighters and dutch fighters, imo. the thais get stronger as the match progresses, while the dutch generally head downhill. those who want to excel at muaythai must embrace the sport in it’s true format, and not make up their own stuff.
anyways, my two cents. thanks for the video, stack, and the post, nopstar.
Interesting points Gorilla! I feel that this is the case with many US nak muays too. That and too much focus on the hands, and little in the way of kicks, knees.
GKfromMTA,
I read your post before watching the fight, having no objectives for those facts. After wathching the fight the only word came across my mind, bullsh*t. In the first round it looked like Don were pretty in shape, pretty relaxed and self-confident. In my opinion, Don was absolutely not ready for knee strikes. And he got payed for that , getting beaten from round 2 and so on, except the 5th round, the only round i `ve seen some clear shots from Don delivered to Samart.
celtic1967,
dunno why, but i feel the same when watching clips kb vs Mt like that :)
P.S. I`m new to this awesome site, thanks for uploading and sharing.
I got mad respect for the Dragon Wilson. He did appear tired towards the end of the bout. The size difference is crazy though! Damn, Samart is tiny compared to Don Wilson.
Actually, those weren’t my personal comments, I had cut and pasted what had been said by Mike Miles from A/X kickboxing a few years back before the video had surfaced.
It does sound a bit storied they way it was told but the factoids were of interest I thought.
I also have an older Thai magazine that talks about this very fight from their point of view. I could scan the page and post it if it would be of further interest.
Like I said Mike Miles is mostly full of shit. I have had the video for a long time and I have never been a member of the Royal Thai army. The other shit is mostly stories or insane embellishment. But this is what happens when Miles thinks he has such a super secret about a fight that supposedly was confiscated and never distributed.
You guys need to not worry about outside speculation and watch the fight to make up your own mind. That includes what Don himself has to say about it. As much as I respect him I think we can all agree the fight speaks for itself.
Miles comments aren’t relevant at all. A man who has never fought Muay Thai a second of his life doesn’t have anything relevant to say about someone who did. yet by the same token he’ll parade himself around as a ‘Canadian Muay Thai legend’.
There is never any amount of commentary that can overpower the proof of seeing with your own eyes. That’s why the video is up.
I need to add this: I’ll take Wilson’s word over a complete charlatan like Miles in any scenario.
Also from that account you can tell fake ass arjan never saw the fight unless Mile’s just seen the video I put up.
Stack you have quite the collection. You have obviously been in the game for quite some time to have such vintage treasures to offer. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us.
Mike Miles..didn`t that name come up in a Canada rigmaroll concerning Contender Asia qualifier?
I dont know about conspiracy theories, but what I saw was a velociraptor come out in the 2nd round and clinched up Don with fury. I cringed when watching.
ANyway, I know many may not agree but I have to give kudos for Don and other martial art “celebrities” and practicioners, as flawed as they were (yes even Carradine=). When I was a kid and never knew about MT, these guys and their movies kept you entertained and your interest in some form of martial art
Why are you comparing Don (a guy who fought at the highest level of his sport) to a guy who pretended to be Asian by lisping and squinting and spitting back Hollywood’s version of fortune cookie wisdom from a television set?
As far as Miles being at the heart of many things smelling like bullshit – nothing new there. There’s a difference between people like you, me and Mike Miles. People like us love the sport and in our own ways we’re chasing the dream. People like Miles see a way to exploit the love of Muay Thai to go chase their paper. The thing is the smarter people get and the more educated they become the less people like Miles matter at all.
Thanks celtic1967 for the info
I agree with celtic1967 about the roufus fight. I think it was the first fight between an American kickboxing champ and nak muay that I saw. It definitely would have been more one-sided if not for the rule modifications prohibiting knees, elbows, and clinching.video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4927177132680635888 is the link to that fight. I’m sorry that I don’t know how to provide the direct link.
kickboxing? those side kicks and round houses were TKD…..kickboxing is wut the japs turned MT into.
he was using a TKD stance pretty much the whole time
celtic
out of the guys u named benny the jet was the only one who did kickboxing……
u guys study martial arts right? cus holy fuck it sounds like a lot of you have no fucking clue
“he was using a TKD stance pretty much the whole time”
That’s interesting since he hasn’t done any TKD like ever.
ok i looked up his bio…my bad but tell ‘dragon’ that he was using a tkd stance. which can be confirmed. i guess kung fu is the other martial art with that sidekick.
I’ll just tell him you don’t know what you’re talking about and call it good. I believe in compromise.
oh ok
You’re still my boy SE and you know you’re my dog. You’re just wrong this time.
dude but technically he was…..the ‘dragon’ would agree me if i had a chance to explain im sure of this.
This maybe somewhat of a tangent, but I would like to play the devils advocate and assume Wilson’s position in that Thai officials tilted the odds in Samart’s favor. Suppose that *some* of Mike Mile’s account is true and that Wilson had been weakened by all the elements thrown at him prior to fight time. I’m sure we all can think of real life instances where the hometown favorite had a big brother figure looking out for them and the promotion. I don’t think it is out of the question that all on video is what it seems and there were lots going on behind the scenes.
I’m not taking sides as we will never have solid evidence of something that happened 26 years ago, it is just something to ponder since we should not fight biases with our own and advocate fair play.
I do think* some * of Mike Miles story is probably true and Don agrees the Thais forced him to shed 8 pounds prior to the fight. Given the size difference I don’t think that was an unreasonable request. The rest is purest speculation from a known bullshitter. Like I said it’s obvious Miles never saw the video and you all have now. After all the Royal Thai army confiscated and hid it under the guard of ninjas armed with nuclear bombs and light sabres. Only by using my lynx like reflexes and my bat mobile was I able to retrieve it. Geezus Miles is such a lying sack of shit.
You do have solid evidence of what happened 26 years ago: the actual fight footage.
Once again I’ll take Don’s word over a complete fraud any day. Even still the fight speaks for itself. Whatever circumstances happened before or after the fight is extraneous. The fight was agreed to. The fight happened and the result is the result. Don never pretended the outcome was other than what it was and unlike Miles never tried to politically manipulate the outcome or make excuses.
“dude but technically he was…..the ‘dragon’ would agree me if i had a chance to explain im sure of this.’
The Dragon has disagreed with this and still does. You’re wrong. Believe it or not quite of lot martial arts have a side stance and a side kick.
The video you posted was captured from my K-1fans account. The beginning has the DVD marker from my recorder. I posted this as well as Benny vs. Narongnoi. I’m not discounting the possibility that you had this fight in a different format but it was hard to obtain and I got some grief from the collector for posting it which is why I had taken it down.
Maybe more fit for another topic, would you argue for or against the actual footage of the Benny fight. We somewhat know that Narongnoi was put at a disadvantage from the rules modifications and last minute changes. Does this mean that what was recorded speaks truly for itself? Is all that one can see with their eyes all that can be taken into account?
I repect your (Stack) opinion and like to consider the angles of debate when there are two sides of the story.
This is your video? I promise you I didn’t knowingly pirate from you. I have this video on old VHS but I did download this video and I promise you not from K-1fans. At any rate if you’d like it removed I certainly can. I certainly don’t want anyone mad at you for it.
In regards to Benny yes! As well as the Chaengpuek video where he too was put at a disadvantage due to rules modifications. You can tell in the fight itself what was allowed & not allowed. I stand by what I said. If either fighter felt they were put in a position to fail they could decline the fight. As Don said in his reply he wanted the money and so accepted.
No problem GK. I really respect you a lot too. And if the video being up causes you any issue I will certainly remove it as I didn’t know it was yours that I downloaded.
Actually I just removed it. Sorry for the trouble this may have caused you GK
As far as rare videos, it hurts a collector when a once obscure (hard to come-by) video is easily obtainable via internet. There are more videos out there that have not come to surface like Samart vs. Dieselnoi in 1982 that are kept in private collections. When something is devalued it is no longer a bargaining item. Anyways, the collector and I are still cool (or so I hope) but I took too much of a liberty sharing it and devaluing it in the process. I’ll let you know if anything comes down the pike from him, but what you do with your youtube account is your right. I appreciate your consideration though.
Also, I hope that you didn’t think I was a Mike Miles proxy, I’ve been following him since the early A/X kickboxing days and his personal site. I’m just in this for a healthy debate on account for both sides. Ofcourse I don’t agree with some but I want to see things play out. I am always out to check myself and would like objectivity.
No worries.
To make up for it: I’ll post another old clip from America’s old days of kickboxers fighting Thaiboxers tonight.
Argh I finally carve out a little time to watch this and it is down. Oh well, guess I need to get on these things sooner.
I have a full recording of the Lumpini fight between Wilson & Samart Prasarnmit. It was completely one-sided. The cash ( 6,000,000 bht ) present was true, police guards were there, a norm at arena, the lousy changing room is still a standard itemnow. The stake for a KO was 6 M. ( 3 M a side ) and 2 M on points. Samart won but was booed by fans for failing to KO the legendary WKA world light heavyweight champion, despite having floored the latter twice in R3 and once R4.
The first R was Wilsons, as the Thai was,as usua,l warming up to his task.Wilson made a good show with his side-kicks, but was forced to back off every time the Thai retaliated with his trademark right flying kicks. R2 saw an active exchange between the two warriors, but Samart was beaming with confidence whilst his foe looked worried at the end of the R. The third was critical, as when the Thai decided to ignore the punchers of Wilson, we went all out to infight with close kneeing. Wilson was down and counted twice. The bell saved him and he looked pretty much bashed up as he walked dejectedly back to kis corner. R4 was a survival exercise. Samart attacked hard, battered Wilson with kicks and knees as the American literally ran for his life. Twice the Thai administered the classic Face Spurning kick on Wilson – a gesture to exhibit provocation and superiority. A hard knee ram send the American almost out of the ring apron under the ropes. The last round was simple – Wilson tried to fight back, yet the Thai was wary and chose to cruise to sure victory.The inverted photo of the high kick( it was actually a right – I have the original film) was taken near the last minute of R5. It landed and stunned Wilson a little. By this time the Thai, outweighed by 24 pounds( his mormal fighting weight being 134 means he could not be more than 150 in the ring , whilst Wilson would have blown up from 172 to 180 by fight time ) and very tired from the grappling with the 6′2 ” American in R3 &4, he wisely preferred not to risk a knockdown, as a late hit by the latter might still overturn the outcome, to incut the fury of gamblers. Thus it was the pressure of the landmark wager, and the remarkable weight difference that had caused the Thai an almost certain knockout. Wilson conceded his lower body was all numb after the knee on the spine in the third, while Samart said he was never in any trouble with the foreigner, who was just too big. To Wilson’s credit, a lesser man would have not lasted the distance.
For the record, after the fight Samart, though having won decisively ( I should brand it the Fight of the Century, comparable to Ali-Foreman in many respects) was not at all pleased, for failing to pot the entire 3 million bahts from the opposition syndicate. Little Smart Payakarun ( 128 ) promptly vitsited Wilson in the dressing room to raise a challenge that was declined. By Dec 28, the two Samarts met in the Fight of the Year at Rajadamnern Stadium, weight 134 to 129, and the lighter Samart, fast as it armed with radar, was superb in form and won unanimously on points.
Khuncherng, Thank you so much for the very descriptive narrative of the fight.
Excellent commentary Khuncherng.
Any chance you might have the footage of the fight between the two Samarts? That’s gonna be legendary!
Thanks for the kind remarks. I dont have a tape on the two Samarts, but have the one on Roufus – Changpheuak ( 1988 ) and Wilson – Fanta (1984) The LVG bout was real mayhem, but real history in terms of martial arts evolution. Changpheuak was out on his feet in R1, but he was real game. In the break, Thai trainer Nanfah ( now deceased ) spilled the ice in the corner, and gained some time, crafty ! Then on, the Thai just went rough all the way, and butchered the kickboxers legs until he fell. The American had his share of bullies, like kicking his foe on the deck. He was 167 to the Thai’s 163, but the latter’s normal
prime weight was only 145. Wilson did not beat Fanta as he claimed. It was a 7R automaticdraw, as the agreed format was a winner will only be declared on a
KO. Wilson actually apologised to the audience, when he says : I was going to retire after this fight, but I am not going out on this ( poor ) performance. The Thai
was 150 at the weigh-in, and Wilson 175. The Thai took all his shots and made faces throughout ( afterwards he couldn’t eat for days ), but he connected well several times, tossing the much bigger rival down 2-3 times. Wilson groin-kicked Fanta once and apologised. He was kicked on the head twice, and took a solid left hook from the Thai southpaw. Not the best fight, only hype. Benny was beaten
up squarely in 6 R of a Katogi fight promoted by the famous Kurosaki on Aug 2, 1978. It was pro karate rules pretty much like K1. To the western world, Benny denied that fight was real ! However, in his memoirs in Japanese, he praised his tormentor, Prayuth Srisompob.
Speaking of famous fights about the old school full contact days. Is there a professional video that exists between Benny Urquidez and Narongnoi that was shot? There was a color version which originates from Mike Miles site. A private bootleg shot was been leaked onto the internet but I was wondering if the professionally shot version is in circulation amoungst the tightest of collectors.