Are there western boxing gyms in Thailand?

[KennisTheMenace**]

Muay Thai is looked down on in Thailand, and considered a low class sport. It is really only popular with the poor of Thailand. Buakaw is famous, but most Muay Thai fighters are really not very famous. Galaxy is much more famous.

The thing is, Thailand is a class based society, and very dependent on "face". Muay Thai fighters come from poor backgrounds, the same as motorcycle taxis and street food vendors. Middle class and upper class Thais who train MT don't do it at MT camps. They train at places in Thonglor and fancy gyms like that. Places where their hair gel wont sweat out.

Telling a quality Thai girl you are a MT fighter is going to have the opposite effect as it would on a chick in the west.

As far as pure boxing gyms in Thailand, I don't know of any. BKK Fight Club had it in the past, but their boxing trainer is gone now. Some MT camps I'm sure have it, but I don't know which. I believe the Thai national team trains in Ramkamhaeng at the Thailand Sports Authority Complex (think that was the name). I would like to train western boxing here, but haven't came across anywhere in my nearly 2 years here.

I enjoyed reading that thanks for the knowledge. Had no idea it was looked down upon when I see all of this coverage on it, I thought the fighters were really honored there and the tradition had a lot of respect. Really surprised...

 

[Harukaze]

Oh really, can you give me the summary?

Main idea is that prepubescent nak muay lack KO power, and that punches and kicks to the head aren't the ONLY way to win a Muay Thai match.
Even among retired professional nak muay, dementia pugilistica is much rarer than in Western boxers as the majority of nak muay fight as a means to make a living and therefore fight in a manner to preserve their health (so that they can take fights more frequently). And of course, again, there are more ways to win a MT match than to take/drop bombs to the head, and many nak muay fight in such a manner.

I enjoyed reading that thanks for the knowledge. Had no idea it was looked down upon when I see all of this coverage on it, I thought the fighters were really honored there and the tradition had a lot of respect. Really surprised...

It's true, generally speaking, professional competitive MT is seen as a lower class sport, particularly among the middle-aged and older. Like codysweet02 said, it has to do with the general backdrop of poverty that pervades the sport, whether it's the fighters' backgrounds or the fact that it's one of the few legal venues for gambling in the kingdom (and thus attracts a lot of lower class segments of society to the sport). "Hi-so" (high society) types wouldn't touch that scene with a 10 feet pole for fear of being mistaken as being part of the lower class, so again, like codysweet02 said, if they DO pursue MT, they take one of two venues: either MT for fitness in expensive, indoor, air-conditioned gyms (RSM Singha and Petchyindee Academy's non-competition classes come to mind) or MT as an academic/cultural practice (exceedingly rare). In a sense, it's remarkable than younger hi-so Thai's are even considering MT as a means of fitness when their own parents have snubbed the sport for decades.

 

[aries]

do you have an idea about the average purse a boxing world champ could make in thailand ?

No, my guess is not that much in Thailand but the money to be made lies in the fact that Boxing is international. So I'll make a slightly educated guess. Jomthong Chuttawana is in the superfeatherweight division, he's ranked in the top ten and rising. Say he could secure a fight with the current Champion Uchiyama and it was fought in Japan where Uchiyama is a superstar, the purse would be at guess in the $400,000 range and Jomthong might make 25% of that. That's 100,000$. That might not sound like much but when you consider that a Lumpinee MT champ makes 60,000 baht or $1800 a fight then you can see the staggering difference in potential pay.

Imagine if Broner was still at FW and Jomthong managed to get a fight with him!

 

[farfan]

is Chuwatana serious about a career in boxing ?

 

[aries]

is Chuwatana serious about a career in boxing ?

I'd say so. He is the current OPBF champion and he's defended it 2 times already. Ranked no.9 in a relatively weak division he's got a serious chance of eventually fighting for the world title and he's only 24.

 

[Soju]

If you want a good foreign boxing coach, look for a French trainer named Dominique. I believe he's still at a gym in Bangkok called Boxer Rebellion.

 

[Curly95]

I went to 13 Coins gym in Bangkok. They train boxing there too.

 

[Kenjamito]

Srisaket Sor Rungvisai really got it done on Saturday, I guess he is going home a national icon this week over there?

 

[Uchi Mata]

Srisaket Sor Rungvisai really got it done on Saturday, I guess he is going home a national icon this week over there?

I was trying to find out where he trains, and it's not so easy. Anyone know?

 

[j123]

I was trying to find out where he trains, and it's not so easy. Anyone know?

Thailand

 

[Uchi Mata]

Thailand