Ramon Dekkers, all time great?

[MSieur Le Bossu]

Originally Posted by Viva Italia

Really good post, pretty much covered everything. Ballantine gets no love at all and barely anyone knows about him, same with Kerner. Ballantine beat Joao Vierra three times and Vierra dominated (although not a prime)Dekkers.

Correct. And the few who do know about Ballantine predominantly saw his fights from the late 90s, when he was a shadow of his former self.

It was Ronnie Green who beat Vierra three times (First fight was a quick KO), but Ballantine did beat Vierra once.

I'm sure you know this, but Ballantine also fought Dekkers three times, beating him in the first two fights. The third fight, Dekkers won but had a weight advantage.

Speaking of Kerner, an interesting tidbit on him is he decisively beat Coban by decision after Coban beat Dany Bill (Both fights were around 1994/1995).

There's also Andre Brilleman, who many older Dutch fight fans see as being superior to Dekkers, but Brilleman never fought within Thailand itself so most Thais wouldn't know much about him.

Originally Posted by Viva Italia

Prestia's two fights with Somsong were brutal. I read that Somsong retired after the second fight with Prestia where he split his shin all the way down to his tibia.

I don't know the timeline of Somsong's fights, but I know he retired from MT/KB due to a leg injury and went into boxing for a few matches. Before retiring from MT/KB, aside from his fights with Prestia, he also fought and beat Muzaffer Yamali and a young Stefan Nikiema, among others.

[Cocakillbana]

I love how Dekkers wiki says 30 losses even though if you look at his fight record alone on wiki it shows 33 losses. Lol

100+ other fights that aren't listed and he won em all!!!

[Viva Italia]

Originally Posted by MSieur Le Bossu

Correct. And the few who do know about Ballantine predominantly saw his fights from the late 90s, when he was a shadow of his former self.

It was Ronnie Green who beat Vierra three times (First fight was a quick KO), but Ballantine did beat Vierra once.

I'm sure you know this, but Ballantine also fought Dekkers three times, beating him in the first two fights. The third fight, Dekkers won but had a weight advantage.

Speaking of Kerner, an interesting tidbit on him is he decisively beat Coban by decision after Coban beat Dany Bill (Both fights were around 1994/1995).

There's also Andre Brilleman, who many older Dutch fight fans see as being superior to Dekkers, but Brilleman never fought within Thailand itself so most Thais wouldn't know much about him.




I don't know the timeline of Somsong's fights, but I know he retired from MT/KB due to a leg injury and went into boxing for a few matches. Before retiring from MT/KB, aside from his fights with Prestia, he also fought and beat Muzaffer Yamali and a young Stefan Nikiema, among others.

The second fight with Prestia was on February 16, 1991. Brutal fight http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7o...t#.UMQ2hoNT9mI incase you haven't seen it.

Ballantine on his website lists him as fighting and beating Vierra three times, all by decision. http://www.gilbertballantine.com/page5.php Says first was a savate fight, second was for Dutch MT championship

[MSieur Le Bossu]

Originally Posted by Viva Italia

The second fight with Prestia was on February 16, 1991. Brutal fight http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7o...t#.UMQ2hoNT9mI incase you haven't seen it.

Ballantine on his website lists him as fighting and beating Vierra three times, all by decision. http://www.gilbertballantine.com/page5.php Says first was a savate fight, second was for Dutch MT championship

Wow, thank you for the link to Ballantine's website. That's even more impressive that he beat Vierra three times. It's also impressive he has his entire career listed, most fighters in the KB/MT realm don't have such comprehensive information on themselves.......The career listing is missing a couple fights, though. I noticed his fights with Takehiro Murahama & Kenichi Ogata aren't on there (The Ogata fight was on April 26, 1998).

Do you know what the date was of the first Prestia-Somsong fight?

[RedDawn]

Originally Posted by MSieur Le Bossu

Wow, thank you for the link to Ballantine's website. That's even more impressive that he beat Vierra three times. It's also impressive he has his entire career listed, most fighters in the KB/MT realm don't have such comprehensive information on themselves.......The career listing is missing a couple fights, though. I noticed his fights with Takehiro Murahama & Kenichi Ogata aren't on there (The Ogata fight was on April 26, 1998).

I have created a wikipedia page of Gilbert Ballentine with his complete fighterecord including his missing fights with Murahama, Ogata and Tijarti.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Ballantine

Do you maybe know the full names of the French fighters Espana and Desjardin, which he fought?

[DaysOfThunder]

No doubt Ramon Dekkers is an all time great. He is the first farlung to make it big in Thailand, fighting on their own turf. Probably the most beloved farlung fighter. He made it possible for outsiders to be accepted by the Thai Muay Thai community.
My favorite Thai Muay Thai fighters are Samart Payakarun, Gaensak Sor Plochit, Anuwat Kaewsamrit and Changpuek Kiatsongrit.
Non-Thai would have to be Dekkers and Rob Kayman.