Muay Thai - James Goyder

Muay Thai Phuket
Magazine
Issue Six
by James Goyder
Pak Wing Heung is back in Phuket along
with a huge contingent of 30 students from
the Wunique gym, his gym in Hong Kong.
for me to fight at that weight. They have offered me the chance to appear on Contender
Asia 3 instead, which should be at a slightly
better weight for me,’ he said.
The last time Heung was in
Phuket he was preparing for
an eliminator tournament for
series two of the Contender
Asia. He went on to win that
tournament to book a place
on the show that unfortunately
he will not be taking up, ‘When
I got back to Hong Kong after
the tournament my arm hurt so
I went to see the doctor. It had already been broken by a back
kick when I was fighting in K-1 and had a screw
inside it. The doctor found that the screw had
snapped and he needed to take the screw and
metal out from the bone,’ he said.
However he is not too disconsolate at missing out on the second series of the reality TV
show, ‘I was not that disappointed because
Contender Asia 2 is at 72 kgs and I normally
fight at 60 kgs. Even if I eat a lot I only get up to
about 69 kgs so it wouldn’t have been healthy
At the moment Heungs’ sights are
set on breaking into K-1, an
organization he has already
fought twice for, ‘I want
to fight more in K-1, it’s
a good promotion with
good money. The boss
of K-l likes my aggressive fighting style,
I never move backwards,’ he said.
He has already fought twice in K-1,
drawing with Keiji Ozaki, who broke
his arm with a back kick, and defeating Satoruvashicoba via first round KO.
Both these fights were in 2007 but he
is hoping to fight for K-1 again later
this year, ‘There is a 16 man tournament in Japan in November which
I would like to fight in if my injury is
recovered by then,’ he said.
Pak Wing Heung
The Bomber Returns to Phuket with 30 Students
from his Wunique Gym
Also in this issue :
Queens Cup : All the action from the Phuket fighers competing in Bangkok
Harlee Avison : The Australian teenager who is already a Muay Thai veteran
Jae Hee Cheon : The Phuket fighter making an impression in K-1
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Heung was so impressed by the time
he spent in Phuket that he encouraged his students to come and train
at Tiger Muay Thai. 30 of them made
the trip from Hong Kong and according to Heung Muay Thai is growing in
popularity in Honk Kong, ‘Taekwondo,
Karate and Kung Fu are all very popular but Muay Thai has really grown in
the last two to three years. However it
is still more popular for fitness than for
fighting,’ he said.
Heung underlined his credentials for
the Contender Asia series by defeating Zidov via second round KO last
November. He used a low side kick to
great effect in that fight, which is not
a kick typically associated with Muay
Thai, ’I started learning Chinese Kung
Fu when I was 9 years old and I didn’t start Muay Thai until
I was 16. Chinese Kung Fu gives you all the basic skills so
you can learn other martial arts very quickly. I like to use
a combination of Muay Thai and other martial arts. I can
break your knee cap with that side kick, it is very dangerous,’ he said.
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Heung, who had witnessed a rare
defeat for Saenchai at the Lumpini
only the week before, would relish
the opportunity to take on some of
the Thais, ‘I had the opportunity to
fight Buakaw in a K-1 match in Korea before I got injured and I would
like to fight him or Yodsaenklai. I will
fight anyone who is good enough
to fight me. I want to fight Saenchai
but I am a little bit scared to fight
him, Yodsaenklai and Buakaw don’t
scare me but Saenchai scares me a
bit,’ he said.
The Wunique gym teaches MMA
as well as Muay Thai and Wing Pak
admits he has been taking lessons
but claims he has no plans to make
the transition anytime soon, ‘I am
learning MMA but I am not interested in fighting MMA it is
just for training and to build up my strength. I have been
asked to fight MMA but I think if you are not good at MMA
you can end up getting badly injured so it could be dangerous for me,’ he said.
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Chang Muay Thai
Muay Thai in Phuket is just getting
bigger and bigger with more and
more gyms being built. The latest
Muay Thai camp to open its doors
in Phuket is Chang Muay Thai in
Kata.
It will be entering a crowded market place, with Promthep
Muay Thai due to open next month and another gym in
Nai Harn already under construction. Dragon Muay Thai in
Chalong is also undergoing a large expansion.
Chang Muay Thais officially opened on 15th August with a
ceremony featuring ten Buddhist monks. The head trainer
Krai is a veteran of more than 200 fights including ten in
the Lumpinee and six at Ratchadmnern.
Almost every other tourist sector in Phuket is still suffering from an unprecedented year long low season, caused
by the recession and exasperated by last years airport closures and the continuing political instability in Thailand.
However Muay Thai on the island is going from strength
to strength as fighters flock to Phuket to learn the science
of the eight limbs.
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Harlee Avison
The Australian Teenager
Who is Already a Veteran
By James Goyder
Most fighters come to Phuket
for a Muay Thai holiday but for
this Australian teenager,
Muay Thai is no holiday, it is
his life.
Harlee Avison first started training at the age of five. He
lost interest until, aged 13, he got in trouble with another
boy at his school, ’Like most kids, you start something and
never follow it through, but this kid was giving me a hard
time at school so I went and trained really hard and then
challenged him to a fight but he didn’t want to know.’
This time Harlee continued with the training and a year
later, aged 14, he came to Thailand for the first time to
train at Rawai Muay Thai. He returned to Thailand on holiday and, aged 15, had his first professional Muay Thai fight.
During this trip he visited the Por Pramuk camp where he
clearly made a big impression, ’The promoter really liked
my style and he asked me to stay so I finished school and
moved to Thailand.’
Harlee might have been living his dream, training alongside Buakaw every day, but life at Por Pramuk was not easy,
’It was hard, all I had for entertainment was a lap top. We
were only allowed out of the gym on Sunday to go to Big
C and we had to be back in the camp by a certain time. The
rules applied to everyone, even Buakaw, although sometimes if he didn’t have a fight coming up he would sneak
out to go to a disco and then sneak back on his motorbike
in time for the morning run.’
‘Everyone is treated the same there, Buakaw doesn’t get
special treatment. If the promoter would walk around
with a stick and if he thought we were being lazy he would
hit us with it.’
Eventually, after a year and a half, Harlee had had enough
of this treatment and moved back to Phuket to be with his
uncle, Danny Avison. Danny was the co–owner of Rawai
Muay Thai but is currently building his own gym,
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Promthep Muay Thai, which should open later this year.
‘I came here to train with my uncle but unfortunately he
doesn’t actually have a gym yet, there is only a punch bag
at the moment. My Dad is going to be working here as
well, helping with the management, so I am going to be
living and fighting in Phuket.’
Harlee has fought three times in the Lumpini but is now
mainly fighting in Phuket, ‘It’s a very different crowd in
Phuket and there’s a few les rules. At the Lumpini you have
to wear certain types of shorts and when your hands are
wrapped they are checked and signed. Also the weights
have to be exact, I had to run round the Lunpini car park
just to lose 300 grammes. I actually get more money for
fighting in Phuket though’
Harlee was scheduled to fight in the Queens’ Cup but with
no gym or training partners he was forced to turn down
the fight. He should be fighting for an Inter Continental
Championship in Australia later this year. So what are his
ambitions for the sport? ’I would like to be a champion,
not just of Phuket but a real champion, but at the moment
my main ambition is to get a good trainer and to actually
start to win fights again.’
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Harlee has already fought for a world title once, in Malaysia, but it was too much too soon, ’It was a real mismatch,
the guy had had 63 fights and it was only my seventh
fight. My promoter in Phuket is talking about sending me
to the Lumpini again, but I don’t think it will be for a while.’
So does Harlee, who sacrificed his education to com and
fight in Thailand, have any regrets? ’No. I love the sport and
if I ever got an injury and couldn’t fight anymore I would
want to stay here and be a trainer. Living in Australia just
doesn’t compare to living in Thailand.’
Harlee is happy in his chosen career, although his priorities have changed, ‘My schoolboy dream was to be a
champion and that hasn’t changed. The only difference
is, back then it was all about the glory, whereas now the
money plays a part.’
Harlee posing with his Dad before a fight at Patong Stadium.
“ The promoter really liked my style and
he asked me to stay so I finished school and
moved to Thailand. ”
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The Queens’ Cup
Claire was delighted to have won her first world title,
‘Hopefully having the title will open doors for me and help
me to get some more fights at big events. I was a bit nervous before the fight because I’d told quite a few of my
work colleagues and students up at Rajabhat University
about it and I didn’t want to make a complete fool of myself in my first appearance on Thai national TV but once
the fight started I was fine,’ she said.
Cyrus Washington in action at the Queens Cup in Bangkok.
A large contingent of fighters from Phuket made the trip
to Bangkok to take part in the Queens Cup last week. Some
of the best farang fighters from the island were invited to
participate in the annual event held in Sanam Luang Park,
in front of the grand palace in Bangkok.
The most interesting match up saw Claire Haigh, one of
three fighters representing Tiger Muay Thai in Chalong,
face off against former training partner Chantal Ughi.
The match was broadcast on national television with the
WPMF >63 kgs world title at stake.
Chantal had previously held world titles at a higher weight
prior to her acrimonious departure from Tiger Muay Thai
but it was Claire, from Luxembourg, who controlled the
fight from start to finish. She relentlessly worked the body
of the Italian, who was unable to use her reach advantageand offered little by way of offence.
In rounds three and four Claire sent Chantal to the canvass
with a series of well executed sweeps as Chantal looked
increasingly reluctant to fight and the referee called a stop
to the fight in round four to prevent her from taking any
further punishment.
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Namwan and Cara perform their Wai Krus.
There were two all Phuket clashes on the card. Cara
Nodwell, representing Sinbi Muay Thai in Nai Harn, was up
against Thai fighter Namwan from Rawai Muay Thai and
Teresa Wintermyr representing J.Prapa in Kata took on
Dalia Hosny, also of Rawai Muay Thai.
Cara from England won a decision victory over her Thai
opponent, ‘It was harder than I thought it would be but I
knew I would be fighting Namwan so I knew what to expect,’ she said after the fight. By contrast firm friends Dalia,
from Egypt, and Teresa, from Sweden, had no idea they
would be fighting each other until that very night. ‘I only
found out when I arrived at Sanam Luang that I would be
fighting Dalia but we are both a similar weight and we
were both scheduled to fight on the same day so I knew it
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was a possibility. I was not nervous about fighting in front
of such a large crowd. I lost a contact lens in the first round
so I couldn’t see anything outside of the ring anyway,’ she
said.
The other two fighters representing Tiger Muay Thai were
less fortunate with Jonny Betts from England, who has
lived in Phuket
for the past two
years, and Cyrus
Washington
from the United
States, both losing via KO to
opponents from
Brazil and Sweden respectively.
Also on the card
teenager
German
teenager
Nico Meier, fighting for Sinbi
Muay Thai, lost
to a Brazilian opponent by KO.
About Muay Thai Phuket
Magazine :
MTP Magazine is a monthly magazine
distributed free of charge in Phuket.
You can view the online version at :
www.mtpmagazine.com.
For advertising and all other enquiries
contact : jamesgoyder@yahoo.co.uk.
Find us on facebook to see a selection
of Phuket fight pics.
Got an idea for a story? Get in touch.
Editor : James Goyder
Design editor : Thitiwat Luechaudompan
Johnny Betts in action against
Brazilian fighter Leo Monteiro
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Phuket Fighter
Makes K-1 Debut
Jae Hee Cheon, better known in Phuket as Jackie, made an
instant impression in his first K-1 appearance in over two
years, knocking out Kid Yamamoto after only 80 seconds
of the very first round.
Jackie was appearing on the same card as the K-1 World
Max Final 8 event in Budokan Japan last month alongside
Buakaw, Andy Souwer and Albert Kraus
Better known as an MMA fighter Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto
has defeated the likes of Genki Sudo, Caol Uno and Royler
Gracie.
Yamamoto landed a big right hook early in the round
which staggered Jacky and he moved in for the
kill unleashing a barrage of punches. Jacky showed good
composure to use his head movement to evade Yamamatos’ blows before countering with a right uppercut, left
hook combo which sent the ‘kid’ to the canvas. It was a
devastating knockout which left a dazed Yamamoto unable to beat the count,
Jackie is only the second man to have ever knocked
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Yamamoto out and K-1 were clearly impressed by Jackies’
performance as he fought again the following month, this
time at the K-1 World Grand Prix in Seoul, winning a decision over Tae Hae Kim.
Jackie recently spent seven months living in Phuket and
training at Sinbi Muay Thai and his success will give other Phuket fighters confidence that they too can go on to
compete on the world stage.
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