I think you mean "observed."
Indeed, somehow I thought they might have had faced them. So they never fought either of them?
I mean it's still interesting they consider them the strongest farang they've observed though - especially considering I remember the interviewer being French so they could have named some French fighters instead to make him happy.
Here's what Rutten said which I was referring to at 33:30:
Does that line up with your story
@Tayski ?
It's overly exaggerated for sure. He does make it sound like they were dominating the Thais which isn't true, they lost all their fights at first and really had to adjust their style. The first time Thom Harinck took some of Dutch fighters to fight in Lumpini (from memory he took 5 or 6 fighters), they all got KO'd in round 1 and round 2. And that happened many times again when Dutch fighters fought Thais.
The Dutch coaches like Thom Harinck had to live in Thailand and learn from the Thais themselves for a while before bringing the knowledge back to the Netherlands and it's only after that that Dutch fighters started winning a few fights against Thais sometimes.
It's true though when Rutten says that it's the use of their hands that usually got them the victory when they won (+ aggressive style in the early rounds which he doesn't mention), while when they lost it was usually to clinch + knees or elbows or decisions.
I remember in 1990 that Peter Smit knocked out Changpuek in Lumpini with a right cross in 2nd round, and Hyppolite TKO'd Jomhod Kiatadisak champion of both Rajadamnern and Lumpini in 3rd round, also Gilbert Ballantine won by decision against Sangtiennoi (who weighed in 4 kilos heavier than Ballantine), etc. They also won a few times before that too.
That's why I like Thom Harinck's book. He's a lot more honest about when his fighters got owned, or when they got the win, and he describes what happened in each fight, be it a win or a loss. He's not bragging like Rutten or saying the Dutch were owning the Thais, if anything he actually says how much the Thai savaged his fighters especially the first few years they faced them.