I came across an article in the Bangkok Post about a week ago about the Thai National Amateur Boxing Team in Chicago. One of the fighters profiled was this guy Amnaj (um-nart). He earned his way onto the Olympic Team by finishing in 2nd place at the Championships.
It was believed that Amnaj had the least chance of making the team as he only started boxing two years ago while in prison. 2 years of boxing… and he’s on the Thai Olympic Team? I know the Thai team isn’t as decorated as the Cubans… but they’ve got a lot of talent on that team. 2 years of boxing in prison and he makes the Olympics?
Here’s where the story gets interesting. Last night while training with Neungsiam I was telling him the story… he was like yeah I lost to that guy…
What? You lost in a boxing match? Neungsiam said before Amnaj went to jail for Robbery? (I’m not sure) he fought under the name Petch Por. Burapa! He’s a veteran of about 200 Muay Thai fights and was one of Samart Payakaroon’s rising fighters.
Neungsiam said he knew him when they were younger. He said “you think I was a trouble maker?” “This guy was really bad” I guess he was right.
Anyway I guess he can qualify because he’s technically never “Boxed” but I think that would be bending the rules a bit don’t you think? If you’ve had 200 Muay Thai fights, I’m sorry you’ve been in 200 fights you’re going to be pretty damn capable in the ring.
What do you think? Is it fair?
5 responses so far ↓
1 Tommy Hackett // Nov 20, 2007 at 3:59 am
Yeah, I’ve wondered how common it is in Thailand. I know several pro’s came from Muay Thai, but what about their amatuers? I know Somluck Kamsing did some Muay Thai.
It’s happened twice that I know of with MMA stars: PRIDE veteran Rogerio Nogueira represented Brazil this year at the Worlds in boxing, and I believe Cro-Cop had his K-1 debut a year before he represented Croatia at the worlds.
I like it because it gets people excited about amatuer boxing, which is a totally different world from the pro’s and a great sport in its own right.
2 Tong Po // Nov 20, 2007 at 12:12 pm
I think it is a good way to get exposure into another combat sport. Because they are not the same sport, but the other guy should also do there homework on who they are fighting. There are differences in one style that is not in the other.
3 Doug // Nov 20, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Muay Thai fighters have always been extremely strong in Western Boxing. Just look at Sot Chitalada, Kittakasem, Payakaroon, etc. There’s a number of ranked pro boxers that come from the Muay Thai ranks at this time. Heck, even our own JWP was Australian Middleweight boxing champ at one point. This is all quite a feat when you take into consideration the extreme difficulty jumping between both sports.
4 Nate // Nov 21, 2007 at 2:19 am
Suriya did that in 2004. Suriya was the southpaw who beat Masato. He ended up winning bronze too. Bending the rules, yeah?
5 Stack // Nov 21, 2007 at 4:35 am
I don’t think the same skills always translate over. BTW fellow Thai ex-convict Samson Siriporn defended her WBC world title against a Japanese opponent recently.
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