The Heat from Vegas

Vegas is a hot town. The desert sun scorches the sidewalk even in the early mornings. The lights of the strip glow with the same radiant heat as the daily rays. Between the neon bulbs and underneath the ever present sun light is Muay Thai fighter Kevin Ross. I’d seen Ross at a few events in the Bay Area, most recently conernering for Chaz Mulkey in Mulkey’s excellent fight on the Fairtex War of the Hereos 2 card, and when I went out to Vegas I leapt at the opportunity to sit down with Ross after his training. Ross was in preparation for a WBC title fight against Kang En. He’d previously fought En in Beijing and lost the match by points.

Ross looked determined as he warmed up and then engaged in some light padless sparring with Mulkey (who also had a fight on Dennis Warner’s card at the Hilton). After twenty minutes of light sparring, an equal amount of time honing his hands with his boxing coach and a warm down Ross took the time out to answer some questions.

Lucas: How did you get into Muay Thai?

Ross: I actually saw it on TV. It was a long time ago, probably when I was 14. I’d always want to fight since I was a little kid. I’d thought about boxing but was interested in martial arts too. I never saw any style of fighting that was both, boxing and martial arts. Karate has point sparring, but they don’t really fight, fight. As soon as I saw Muay Thai I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

Lucas: Where you living in Vegas at the time?

Ross: Yeah, I had just moved out here, it was ’94. I saw  Muay Thai on Television. It still took me eight years to start doing it, but once I saw Muay Thai I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

Lucas: So you started at the age of 22?

Ross: Yes, as I was growing up and the years went on I always knew Muay Thai was something that I wanted to do. Muay Thai was always in the back of my mind. I got really into partying, I was a full blown alcoholic at one point. I told one of my best friends that I wanted to be a fighter, he was one of the only people I ever told. I didn’t tell that many people because I wasn’t sure how invested I was into fighting. I told him about wanting to be a fighter and he asked me why I didn’t become one. I would have to give up drinking, partying, and everything. I was never ready to do it. Then my best friend died while waiting for a heart transplant in ’99. (Ross points to a memorial tattoo on his arm) When he died I promised myself that I would become a fighter. When he died I really fell deep into drinking but then one day about 3 years after my friend’s death I was sitting there drinking and it hit me. I was wasting my life, doing nothing. I poured out what I was drinking and two days later I was in the gym. I gave up drinking cold turkey.

Lucas: You’ve been training with Master Toddy your entire career?

Ross: I called around town looking for trainers. There were only a few in Vegas that sounded legit to me. I knew that I wanted to do private lessons as I wanted to learn as quick as possible. That really narrowed things down. In Vegas my options were Toddy’s or One Kick’s. Toddy’s was the only one with actual Thai trainers. I talked to Master Chan and started training out of Toddy’s.

Lucas: How long have you been training at Master Toddy’s?

Ross: It will be 7 years in January.

Lucas: Have you gone to other gyms?

Ross: No, not for training. I’ve been to other gyms to spar but as far as people training me its just Master Toddy’s. I’ve worked with some boxing coaches here at Warrior’s. Whenever I’m out of town I’ll check out other gyms. I got to train with Jongsanaan for the first time when I went to San Francisco but Master Toddy has been my trainer the entire time.

Lucas: What do you do for a living? Do you make money off of fighting alone?

Ross: I’m an artist. I do a lot of freelance stuff. For example the logo up there (points to a mural for Warrior’s). I went to school for computer animation. I was in school when I started training. I graduated about 5 years ago. Muay Thai takes up most of my time. Computer animation demands a lot of time that I can’t really commit to. So I do a lot of free lance stuff, in between fights.

Lucas: Where did you go to school?

Ross: I went to the art institute of Las Vegas. Its a straight art school.

Lucas: This upcoming bout with Kang En for the WBC International Superlightweight Championship is your 13th professional fight?

Ross: This is my 12th professional fight. This will be my 36th fight. I’ve had a lot of pro/amateur fights, full muay thai rules, with two minute rounds, but I wasn’t getting paid. Because of that a lot of people think I’ve had more professional fights than I actually have.

Lucas: What was your amateur career like?

Ross: It was good. My first fight I lost. I went up to Utah to fight, up at Saekesam’s place. The guy I was supposed to fight didn’t show. The only other guy they had available was 20 pounds heavier and had about thirty fights. I didn’t care. We had driven all the way up there. So we fought. He ended up stopping me in the third round. He didn’t knock me out but they stopped the fight. I was basically standing in the corner getting beat up.  It was really hard for me but it was the best thing, losing that first fight, getting the fight out of the way. Knowing what it feels like to lose really motivated me to train harder. We actually got to rematch about 2 years later and I knocked him out in the second round. That was my first fight. I don’t think I lost another amateur fight. I got to fight about every month. I was really active. A lot of the guys I was fighting had a lot of experience and were supposed to beat me. Fighting tough guys had me improve quicker. I’ve always wanted to fight tough guys. I’m not worried about a perfect record. I want to fight the best there is. I always want to have tough fights. I don’t care if I lose every time. I just want to fight the best there is. I always want to get better.

Lucas: You’ve competed in boxing before correct?

Ross: I’ve had four boxing fights. There was a year where I had a really hard time finding Muay Thai fights. I had something like 30 fights fall through. It was getting ridiculous. There was a boxing trainer who told me he could get me a boxing fight. I went to a smoker for a Muay Thai fight, they had boxing fights on the card as well. They offered me a boxing match so I took that.

Lucas: You’ve competed in professional boxing as well…

Ross: I’ve had two amateur boxing fights and two professional.

Lucas: Did the training differ from your Muay Thai fights?

Ross: I took both of my professional fights on short notice. So it was hard for me to transition between the two. Boxing and Muay Thai are so different. The first guy I didn’t have too much trouble with. The second guy I fought was real slick with his movement. It was really hard for me to adjust to his style. I lost the decision, it was really tough especially with short notice. Boxing has never been my main focus. I love boxing but its not the same as Muay Thai for me. I feel like I’m sparring when I’m fighting in a boxing match. I’ll do whatever I have to to stay busy though.

Lucas: Were the boxing matches four rounds?

Ross: Yes.

Lucas: How many times have you been to Thailand?

Ross: Twice.

Lucas: Where did you go?

Ross: First I went to Sitkuanim, its affliated with Sit-O gym. I was there for two months and then second time I was at Sasiprapa for a month before my fight for the king’s birthday.

Lucas: How do you feel your training compares between here in the U.S. and in Thailand?

Ross: Going over there I wasn’t sure what to expect, I knew it would be hard. I think the biggest difference between there and here is being surrounded by other serious top of the line fighters. Most people out here are doing it for fun, as a hobby, or to get into shape. People out here aren’t doing it because they don’t have any other options. Being surrounded by great fighters, and the mentality the fighters have, that’s really the biggest difference. The training is hard but I train hard here too. For the fighters over there its not a joke, they’re not doing it for fun.

Lucas: What does your training here in the U.S. consist of?

Ross: Well I go over to Toddy’s everyday for my Muay Thai and do my strength and conditioning over here at Warrior’s. I do strength and conditioning three times a week. I started doing that just last year. Its taken my game to a whole new level. I’ve never done any strength and conditioning before. I train with Norm Turner. I always saw him working with MMA guys and then I started working with him. Its taken my conditioning to crazy levels. Sometimes I’ll do some boxing padwork over here with the boxing trainer. I spar regularly here and at Toddy’s. I train six days a week. I’m over at Toddy’s for a couple hours every day and over here for a couple hours. Its about 6 hours a day.

Lucas: You run regularly as well?

Ross: I snapped my ankle in a previous fight with Kang En. I was in a cast for six to eight weeks. I’ve been in rehab ever since then. I was finally feeling better before this last fight. I wasn’t able to kick until two months ago. So I actually haven’t been able to run at all. Norm had me doing some exercises as substitutes for running because I couldn’t run. Now I’m back to running.

Lucas: Do you imagine you’ll stay in Vegas?

Ross: As long as I’m fighting I’ll be here or in Thailand.

Lucas: Where do you think your fight career will go, and or where would you like it to go?

Ross: I don’t know. I want the big fights for sure. As far as Muay Thai goes things are slowly getting bigger. The big stand up fights would be good like K-1. I’d like to get over to Japan. That’s definitely where the money is. Fighting for this title, the WBC, has been one of my dreams. I don’t think there’s one specific goal for me. I want to keep getting better, keep fighting better fighters.  Obviously it’d be great to make some big money but its more important to me to fight good people. I’ll see what happens.

Lucas: Do you have any end point in mind or do you want to fight as long as you can…

Ross: I’m going to fight as long as I have the passion to fight and for as long as my body will hold up. Hopefully when I retire it will be when I want to instead of due to an injury. I don’t have a specific date, I want to be in this sport for as long as I can.

Lucas: You’ve fought Kang En before in Beijing, what do you expect with this fight?

Ross: I expect En to be more prepared for me. The last fight was a tough fight for both of us. He knows he lost that fight, he told me, his trainers, all of the spectactors told me. I think he’s really coming to fight with a will. He wants to show that he deserves the title. I think he’s going to come as hard as he can. I don’t think he realizes how good I actually am. I only trained for five days for our last fight. I know he’s tough and strong. If its going to be a five round war, I’m ready for that too. I think it will be a great fight.

Lucas: Do you have a game plan you are going to implement?

Ross: My game plan is always the same, to pressure people and go forward. The biggest thing for me is some stylistic things that threw me off last time. I think as far as a game plan goes I plan on taking it to him, pressure him and stay on him. I stayed on him last time and I wasn’t in shape at all. I’m going to push the pace. I want to make him quit. That’s my goal, to make him quit.

Lucas: How do you prepare for your fights mentally?

Ross: I do some visualization stuff. I picture myself winning the fight. Fighting for me has never been a problem for me. I don’t get nervous. Its what I love to do. I’m always there, ready. Actually for me I have to get more pysched up then calmed down. I’m at the other end of the spectrum. Being too nervous is bad, but being too calm is way worse. I’ve been in a couple fights where I didn’t have any adrenalin going in. It was rough. You feel everything. I really have to amp myself up.

Lucas: Do you have any particularly memorable fights?

Ross: Fighting for the King’s birthday in Thailand. Being able to fight on that was such an honor for me. There’s only been a handful of Americans that have fought on that card. Fighting in front of 100,000 people in Thailand, it was a really great experience. That was my most memorable fight.

Lucas: Have you fought Thais in Thailand or foreigners?

Ross: The first time I fought a Thai. I remember the announcer saying that he had over 100 fights as I walked into the ring. It didn’t hit me at the time but afterwards I was like “How many fights did they say he had?” I actually broke my hand with the very first punch I landed, in the first round. It was a five round fight. That was rough.

Lucas: Was he stylistically different than the other Americans or foreigners you’ve fought?

Ross: Oh yeah. He was a southpaw. They way fight over there its like night and day compared to here. The Thais are so skilled and smooth. Definitely the kicks are different. Its just no joke. I think putting Thais up on such a high level, looking up to them, sort of threw me off, instead of realizing that I belonged there. For me I just wanted to earn the Thai people’s respect, not neccessarily win the fight.

Lucas: Do you feel like Muay Thai is growing here in the States?

Ross: Yeah, its growing, slowly. The problem here in the states is with MMA. Everyone is going into MMA. On one hand it helps Muay Thai because MMA guys need to train in Muay Thai but the problem is that there are so many more opportunities with MMA, getting fights more often, better, money, getting sponsorships, big pay days. People switch over. There’s so few shows here in America that are one: Top level and two: are going to make you any real money. Its really unrealistic for any Muay Thai fighter here in the states to make any money just fighting. That’s why so many people switch over. Mauy Thai is growing, I think its going to take a while but its growing.

Lucas: Do you like traveling for fights?

Ross: I love traveling, being able to travel the world, go places people have never been to. Travel wears on you especially right before a fight but I love it.

Lucas: Do you have any upcoming bouts?

Ross: Nothing set. There’s a Fairtex card in October that I would like to do. There’s also a possible card in South Africa I’d like to do. I’m looking towards October.

Ross went on to KO Kang En in the fourth round with a knee to the head. He now holds the WBC Muay Thai International Super Lightweight Championship along with the WBC US Welterweight championship.