Match game: cataloguing Thai pro boxers real and "fighting" names.

Srisaket Sor Rungvisai - real name Superbad

 

http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/5745

 

Eurgh, we should all use the names they bloody choose to fight under...we let Sugar Ray Robinson be Sugar Ray Robinson, and Tommy Burns be Tommy Burns *sighs before loudly grumbling about the bullt**** confusion boxrec has caused and the lack of respect that wesbite has towards the Thai fighting culture, and the way the names are often a sign of respect*

Anyway...
Knockout CP Freshmart - Thammanoon Niyomtrong
Wanheng Menayothin - Chayaphon Moonsri (the obvious one you missed)
Petchmanee Kokietgym - Panya Pradabsri
Palangpol CP Freshmart - Rangsan Chayanram
Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr. - Teeraphong Utaida [This is whre things get silly as Fahlan Sakreerin Sr is also known as Fahlan Lukmingkwan but was born Thongchai Utaida]
Eaktawan Krungthepthonburi / Eaktwan BTU Ruaviking - Komgrich Nantapech [He fought under a different name Vs Albert Pagara, IIRC it was Tawanrung Eausampan]
Dennapa Kiatniwat/Dennapa Trabaiho - Sarawut Thawornkham
Nawaphon Sor Rungvisai / Nowaphon Por Chokchai - Nawaphon Kaikanha
Suriyan Sor Rungvisia/Suriyan Por Chokchai - Suriyan Kaikanha
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai - Wisaksil Wangek
Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep/Yodmongkol CP Freshmart - Sirichai Thaiyen
Oleydong Sithsamerchai/Oleydong CP Freshmart - Kittipong Jaigrajank “O. Sithsamerchai
Petch C Freshmart / Petch Sor Chtipattana - Tassana Sanpattan
Sukkasem Kietyongyuth - Sukpraserd Ponpitak
Mike Tawatchai / Mike BTU Ruawaiking - Pipat Chaiporn
Teerachai Sithmorseng/Teerachai Kratingdaenggym/Teerachai Or Ekarin - Tewa Kiram

I couldn't work out if Noknoi Sitthiprasert is his real name or not...

Only went through world ranked or recent world title fight type guys

Some interesting articles about Muay Thai naming cultures
http://www.siamfightmag.com/en/muay...hai-en/927-the-nicknames-of-the-thai-fighters
http://www.siamfightmag.com/en/muay...i-en/533-the-first-names-thai-of-the-fighters

 

Idk how they allow someone with over 90 wins fight someone who is debuting lol.

 

Damn so they change their names for money money?

I always imagine "Freshmart" as some grocery store like K-Mart.

 

Great Post & Great thread!

Noknoi won’t be his real or born name it’s a nickname. Noi which means small is often added as a suffix to create a boxing nickname. Yod is the most common prefix which means great or best. Nok is one of the most common nicknames actually for women in Thailand it means bird. So Noknoi means little bird. He’s given name will be a Buddhist Pali name, which sounds and looks very different.

Siam fightmag is one of the best MT websites out there, bursting with info on Thai fighters passed and present.

I kinda agree about using their fight names as opposed to their real names for a couple of reasons. In Thailand most people very rarely use or even hear their first name or surname. They tend to be used only in serious situations when interacting with some form of officialdom. Somewhere you’d need an ID card. When Thais are born they are given a Pali Buddhist first name and their family name. And then through different parts of their lives develop nicknames either given or chosen themselves usual one syllable. Aek, Noon, Ning, Pek, Deang etc and that is the name a person used to introduce himself by and is known by everyday, not his given first name.

And just to confuse stuff even more people have different nicknames for different groups. Example my best friend given name is Katha Intrachai but he is know by Tha in my group, Ann in his Thai Chinese contemporary group and Andy by expats. He is never called Katha. Names are interchangeable in Thailand and many parts of Asia so in boxing it’s no big deal and perfectly normal. So most boxers will never get called by their given name.

While we’re at it a couple of other points that may help with pronounciation and meaning on fight names. Por, Sor Vor or all prefixes to a surname or word that indicates a boxing gym. Sor Thanikul, Vor Vorapin, Por Pramuk etc.

And remember when saying a Thai name what you read is very often not what you hear. Thai is a Pali/Sanskrit alphabet so when romanised or written in English can be spelt many different ways. Siri and Sri for example are said the same but romanised differently. Ls & Rs, Vs & Ws are often swooped when said (think hello into herro) and s at the end of a name is silent. There are loads more anomalies but these are the basics.

But the most important thing when saying the name (and this is why every western commentator who is calling a fight has a different pronunciation), is that Thai is a monosyllabic language which means unlike us they stress every syllable. We in English only stress the important syllable. If you look at a Thai name it is actually easy to pronounce if you keep this in mind. ie Suriyan Sor Rungvisai - Su-ri-yan Sor Rung-vi-sai ....stress every syllable in an even manner and you’ll say it spot on.

Hope that helps a bit cos I know they look like a mouthful.

 

Kinda, you have to remember the gym is mostly where they live, I don’t mean spend a lot of time I mean actually eat sleep etc. Amenities, food everything is paid for by the gym owner or sponsor and has been since the fighter was a kid and not earning. Most fighters have a 50 50 purse split and have almost no input in negotiations or plans and most will not have a written contract. They are usual in the dark on every aspect of their career down to the details.

Freshmart is exactly that a convince store like 7-11 up and down Thailand.

CP are a massive grocery food supplier.

 

These are some hellacious scrabble hands.

 

I get where you coming from IB and it’s a good place, but the sponsorship thing with the surname comes out of the long tradition of a fighter taking the name of his gym once he joins. Remember usually when a fighter joins a gym he is a kid and this gym will become his home, family and primary care giver for sometimes 10 to 20 years. This gym becomes his home, it teaches him a vocation, it feeds him, clothes him, manages him provides everything a person will need in life.

The camp owner is often seen as the group father sometimes distant sometimes very hands on but the allegiance, respect and in many cases fondness a fighter feels for the owner can last long after a career is finished. Some owners are good some are terrible and totally corrupt, but on the whole the system works, sure usual for the benefit of handlers more than the fighters, but with out this system MT & hence boxing would die in Thailand and a lot of make Thais would lose the chance to make more money than they would have otherwise. Truth is the whole system only exists because of gambling anyway but I digress.

Just to get back on point about sponsor names taking over from gym names. In Thailand you could count the pro western boxing facilities on one hand. Olympic amateur boxing is well taken care of but only at Olympic level there is no other amateur boxing in Thailand at all. It has a couple of full time Cuban coaches and full time facilities but this is only for the National team and the fighters never go pro. But pro Boxers once encouraged or told to switch from MT to boxing often still train alone still in their MT gym unless they get on that M150, Redbull, CP level where they get some specialist facilities if they want them and better sparring etc. So basically once the fighters stopped fighting MT they need sponsor money to pay for daily upkeep etc, and this gets paid to the MT gym so hence the name got changed from a gym to a sponsor or sometimes a particular product. I’m pretty sure this is where it came from, a mix of practicality and commercialism.

I know I’m rambling a bit but I’ll finish with an anecdote just to show you most fighters don’t mind the name thing. I was close to a boxer called Saohin n’yoko when I knew him as he was sponsored by a Japanese soap company. He was an ex MT fighter from the gym I trained in Sor Thanikul which in its day was the primo camp with most of the best MT fighters run by a legendary mafia figure called Mr. Kleaw Thanikul. Anyway Saohin changed sponsor quite a few times and had had offers to go and train with the red bull (Krietendeang) camp which would have given him great sparring, better facilities and better career management rather than being the only western boxer in an MT camp. Anyway due to his loyalty to Mr Kleaw who had long been assassinated, the camp, his long term trainer and his brothers he never went. And one of his biggest gripes was not that he couldn’t fight under his real name but he couldn’t fight under the Sor Thanikul name. Anyway, he was a great guy and good fighter. He fought Paulie Ayala to a brave 12th round loss and fought Linares after already having a detached retina.

http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/34362

One last thing for all those interested in the Thai fight scene both MT and western boxing, amateur and pro you need to know about Mr Kleaw Thanikul and how important he was to the Olympic amateur team, Boxing internationally and MT all round. Read this it’s s great read!

https://sports.vice.com/en_uk/artic...aew-thanikul-the-mafia-godfather-of-muay-thai

 

3 amazing posts there man. Really is interesting how different places have different systems, and how...alien they seem to different people. Genuinely thanks for all 3 of those posts