The Unforgiving Kicks Part 25 - 1990’s Age of Epic Drama

Soon the 80’s were gone, as was the reign of the once most celebrated King Kneer, Dieselnoi C. Thanasukan, who had to retire involuntarily due to the lack of opposition.

In his shadow, fresh and vigorous combatants took center stage, to vie for the highest spot in the realm of muaythai – the Yodmuaythai (Top boxer) title.

In the past, that premier position in the kingdom had been called, at various times, Champion of Siam, grand champion, national champion, top boxer and No.1 Fighter, or Lord of Muaythai. From the reign of Apidej Sidhiran onwards, the term Yodmuaythai became accepted as a reference to the title equivalent to the King of muaythai (Chao Muaythai).

The best prospects, after Dieselnoi were Nokvid Devy, Krongsak na Tirawong, Wanpadet Sitkrumai, Saengtiennoi Sitsurapong, and Charry S. Vanit. Nokvid, upon defeated twice by Saengtiennoi, was out of the picture. Krongsak had found his future in France for good. Wanpadet had the misfortune of losing to Lucien Cabin, the pride of the Netherlands, so was not so popular as heir apparent to the Yodmuaythai throne. (The muaythai community was still unaccustomed to seeing their top star being beaten by a foreigner at that time, and rating for losers would go down in the critic’s eyes).

With the two best candidates left being Saengtiennoi (Deadly Kisser or the Black Widow) and Carry S. Vanit (Black Shark), a top-level showdown seemed most promising, as fans eagerly await to see, which one of these two prime knee-brawlers should prevail in the end. Saengtiennoi was in the opinion of many, the fighter of the year 1986, but was out-voted in the Sports Writers Association of Thailand (SWAT) award nominations, by Panomtuanlek Ha-Palang (author: Payap Premchai was actually the best performer in the year on a 10-1 record).

But he was most popular, for being very strong with a southpaw hit-man style, ever so persistent with a whiplash left kick, supported by sharp left straight (rear-hand) punches. He prefers to trade while in-close with the rival, and his nickname “Deadly Kisser” – a personal trademark for kissing his foe after the 4th round, to signal he was sure the guy was or should be a dead man.

Charry, likewise, was an unrelenting brawler but predominantly capitalizing on his non-stop knee-work, executed to wear the opponent down for a knockout. He took the spotlight in Paris (end 1989) when he outscored two top French pugilists in a one-on-two handicapped setting. Prior to that, he had won the highly-publicized Chao Palang Sua XDM3 Tournament (1988), took the Ministry of Interior Cup by beating Namporn (1989), captured the LPN 130 title belt on a victory over veteran Saencherng, and outscored the talented Golden Boy Charnthong, on the stupendous Queen’s Birthday program, LPN Stadium (15.8.1989). Many had praised him to be the No.1 fighter in the land.

However, when all was expecting a grand conflict between these two maulers, some unforeseen events intervened in 1990. First, Charry fought Ramon Dekkers in Amsterdam on 27 May, and suffered a stunning first round knockout. It was right after the Dutch star had beaten Namporn (with whom Charry had three previous draws) and lost a hair-thin decision, in Bangkok, to Superlek. A flurry of dynamic right and left hooks at the cornered Charry put him to instant dreamland.

The defeat of Charry shocked the Thais, and whilst some argued that Charry had only just recovered from a cold, hence was not in best form, or that 62 kg. was not his best fighting weight, one thing was as certain as gold : Dekkers kayoed the No. 1 LPN fighter was a fact, and the public’s negative view of the potential of foreign fighters (especially the Dutch) had to change accordingly.

Next, Saengtiennoi fought in Amsterdam, on October 14, in a huge gala and was surprisingly outpointed by Gilbert Ballantine (The Bull Terrier) in a WMTA lightweight title bout. It was a close battle, and the Dutch Chakuriki star protégé of Thom Harinck had the world going for him on that night.

The two upsets to the two top fighters – each representative of the two rival stadiums in Thailand – really took the exquisite colour out of the projected Yodmuaythai title match….. until, eventually, the show was on, 4 January, 1991.

It was still a big attraction, for a clash of two of the most fearsome knee-brawler of our time. Charry had redeemed some of his lost prestige upon winning three fights in a row. This match, set at 129 pounds, had both overweight (130.5 : 132.5), was destined to be a thriller. After a pitch battle for two rounds, the RDN dynamo (heavier of the two), finally bored in, shifted his gravity to the right, and unloaded an angular left knee flush on the chin of the Shark. It was one of the best knee-KO’s the author had seen in a premier confrontation, It was, without question, muaythai at its best !

The Kisser rode on that triumph, flew to Tokyo to outpoint Dekkers on March 22, at 138 pounds. Then on June 8, at Lumpini Stadium, the world witnessed one of the most awesome KO’s of a Thai champion by a farang fighter, when Ramon Dekkers captured the admiration of the entire fight community in the Kingdom of Thailand, with a dramatic and explosive display of fury and power in a deadly opening round. It was so sensational, as no foreign fighter had ever managed to impress the Thais to this astonishing extent... Some, inevitably felt, it was humiliation of the Thai race being beaten in their own game, but to promoter Songchai “Mr. Diamond Brain” Ratanasuban, it was nothing less than damn good business.

Came September 3, it was Songchai Day Special at LPN Stadium, the premier attraction being Saengtiennoi - Dekkers II. The stadium was jam-packed to capacity, and the popularity of the fight was reflected aptly by the record gate receipt of 4.7 million baht…. It was clash of the Titans, on muaythai terms.

At the weight 143 pounds, the Deadly Kisser was strong ( the poor guy had been forced many times, to cut weight by 15 pounds or over, to fight featherweights) and he took everything the Dutch Hell’s Turbine threw at him, punches, right kicks and elbows. Shielding behind a tight guard, he fired his left punches and kicks on a reactionary mode, to outbox, and outscore the dangerous foe. His rear left punch upset Dekkers time and again, with timing of delivery and precision, and that rear foot (left) spurning, sporadically, was equally disturbing. Dekkers, donning deep blue shorts sewn with a glittering diamond insignia in front, tried his malign high right for more than ten times in all, but except for one that grazed the Thai’s face in the third, all were either blocked or flew past without causing harm.

The boxing game went on theatrically. At the sound of the gong ending the third, the Thai, with right hand placed around the Dutchman’s neck, was about to deliver his trademark smacker, but the latter bluntly turned away. The fourth also went the Thai’s way, as Dekkers simply had no answer to those left kicks from the awkward southpaw. At round’s end, Dekkers one arm extended, taunted his rival, seeming like saying, “You want to kiss me ?” But this time, the Thai ignored him.

Saengtiennoi was leading convincingly into the fifth and last round, when Dekkers showed his unrestrained purpose for mayhem, crashing in to trade punches and elbows, when one such blow opened up a cut on the Thai’s forehead, and crimson flowed. Saengtiennoi wanted to return the compliments, and Dekkers responded with action to show he wanted more. That electrified the crowd, as much as the two fighters, who then engaged in a fierce exchange of punches and elbows, right until the end… definitely one hell of a round.

The official verdict was unanimous, for the Thai (rightly in author’s view), and it was such a great drama of all times. The two fighters embraced, as the Kisser bestowed his blessing on both sides of Dekkers’ face, a very heart-warming scene and what a radical contrast to the earlier game of destruction they played. It shows, after all the sweat and blood, that fans were taking visitors seriously, as worthy bets, a thing that had never been occurred in the past. If Fujiwara was the first alien to capture a Thai champion title, the Dutch Diamond was certainly the one who managed to change the wind on equal chances for farangs in gambling.

The two met again in the last of their triology in 1997, in Amsterdam. It was evidently Saengtiennoi’s fight again, for despite having lost the opening round, he must have slammed, in aggregate, over 30 left kicks to the midsection of Dekkers, who, once again, found no means of resolving the assault. In the end, it was nonetheless the local hero who took the nod of the judges.

So long on the Thai Kisser and the Dutch Diamond, it is time to return to the episodes of the wonderful kickers. They were Jomhod Kiatadisak, Sakmonglol Sitchuchoke, Pairoj V. Walaphon…. and Yoddecha Sityodthong.