Anuwat Kaewsamrit A profile of Thailands current MuayThai superstar. Anuwat Kaewsamrit was born in Nakon Sri Thammarat province in the south of Thailand on the 17th of November 1981. His road to MuayThai stardom was different to most fighters in Thailand. Most of the fighters start at a very young age, around 10 years old being the norm, and build up a lot of experience locally before being signed up by one of the big camps in Bangkok. Anuwat was a tiny, skinny kid who at the age of 13 came to Bangkok to stay with a friend, who was training at the newly formed Kaewsamrit camp. No one thought Anuwat had the makings of a boxer, himself included and he made himself useful washing the dishes and helping with the cooking. After 6 months, Anuwat started to join in the training sessions and another 6 months later he had his first fight at the age of 14. His first fight was a loss but after that he started to make a name for himself, at small shows local to the Kaewsamrit camp. Two years later he had finally started to grow into a man and after only 35 fights, had such a good reputation, he got the chance to fight for his first stadium title. Anuwat seized the chance on the 18th of November 1998 and knocked out Klangsuan Sassiprapa gym in the 4th round, to take the Ratchadamneon Miniflyweight title. Anuwat continued fighting well and on the 10th of June 1999 he won his second title beating Kayasit Sakmuangklaeng for the Ratchadamneon Juniorflyweight belt. Anuwat’s reputation was growing every fight and he also made a name for himself as a fighter who had the ability to come from behind and snatch a victory, usually by way of his devastating punches. On the 2nd of February 2000 Anuwat won his 3rd Ratchadamneon title, beating Prakaipetch Kiatpailin to take the Juniorbantamweight title. After this win Anuwat was proving to be in demand from virtually every promoter in Thailand as he was guaranteed to draw a big crowd, usually to see if he could K.O the star fighter from the respective promoter. A lot of big wins followed, including points wins against Thailand Pinsinchai and Ngatao Attarungrot and a T.K.O victory over Nungubon Sitlertchai. Anuwat’s star performances alongside those of his Stablemates Watcharachai Kaewsamrit and Khunpinit Kiattawan saw Kaewsamrit get the vote in 2002 as the best camp in Thailand. Anuwat carried on his winning ways crushing top Songchai star Bovy Sor Udomson in 3 rds. Over at Lumpini stadium another star had made a rapid rise to the top. Singdam Kiatmuu 9 got the vote for 2002 best fighter in Thailand and shortly after he received the award in April 2003 Anuwat and Singdam were matched against each other at Ratchadamneon stadium. Singdam took an early lead and looked to be heading to another victory, when in the 3rd round Anuwat landed one of his by now feared right crosses and the fight was over, Singdam was out cold before he hit the canvas. Anuwats next fight was for another title and this time he met another feared puncher Muangfaalek Kiatweechia. Muangfaalek’s nickname is Mr Bang and is also a very technical fighter and held the distinction at the time of being current Ratchadamneon champion at both MuayThai and International boxing rules. This was a fight where the crowd expected there to be only one outcome, one of the fighters would be counted out, but Anuwat won on points to take the Ratchadamneon Featherweight title. The next fight for Anuwat was a rematch with Muangfaalek and this time the fans weren’t disappointed with Anuwat knocking Muangfaalek out in the 3rd round and successfully defending his title in the process. Anuwats next big test was to see how far he would go in the 14th Isuzu cup tournament. This is widely regarded as the most prestigious tournament in Thailand, with the best names at the weight, from both stadiums matched against each other. Anuwat steadily progressed towards the final until he met Duwao Kongudom who’s technical style proved to much for Anuwat and provided him with his first loss in a while. He still wasn’t out of the tournament though and made it to the semi-finals where he faced another of Songchai’s superstars Ronachai Naratrikun. Ronachai started the fight as a big favorite and his camp was so confident the put up a big side bet of 300,000 baht . Anuwat though was also very confident of his chances and put up 40,000 baht of his own money. Anuwat tore into Ronachai from the first bell and put him down twice in the 1st round. The second round had Anuwat again on top with Ronachai in a lot of trouble. Ronachai tried to mount a do or die attack towards the end of the round, but Anuwat connect with a perfect straight right, knocking Ronachai out and taking Anuwat to the finals. The final on the 27th of March had Anuwat up against Duwao again with many not giving Anuwat a chance. Most thought his only chance would be to knock Duwao out, but Anuwat proved he is not just a hard puncher, winning the fight on points in a fantastic all round display, to become the 14th Isuzu cup winner and winning the vacant Omnoi stadium Juniorfeatherweight title in the process. A few days later over at Lumpini stadium Singdam Kiatmuu 9 outclassed Yodsanklai Petchyindee and a rematch was set to decide who would get the vote for the sportswriters of Thailand’s 2003 fighter of the year. This was to be Anuwats biggest test so far, with Singdam growing a fair bit since their first fight and beating everybody put in front of him, including two wins over the legendary Samkor Kiatmonthep. On May the 4th the fight was made at Lumpini stadium and there was a huge buzz around the fight community in anticipation and the fight attracted one of the biggest crowds seen at Lumpini in a long time. Anuwat was again not given much of a chance before the fight by the experts, but from the first bell went on the offensive, testing Singdam’s defences with furious punches. Singdam was answering back with his famed right roundkick and Anuwat started to try and sway back out of range and land with counter rights. In the 3rd round it finally paid off and he connected clean on Singdam’s jaw with a straight right counter and Singdam was again out cold. This prompted huge celebrations from Anuwats corner with the realization he had destroyed again the fighter widely regarded as Thailands finest. His future looks to be in international boxing sometime along the way, but he still has quite a few MuayThai fights in him first. Asked what he wants to do when he hangs up his gloves, he said he would like to go overseas possibly to train foreigners in MuayThai but more to get experience of the world outside Thailand. When asked what his most satisfying moment was so far in the MuayThai ring, a big smile crept across his face and he said the last one, knocking out Singdam to get the vote as number one fighter in Thailand. |
|
