I've always found his icing of ultra tough Lupe Pintor a weird engima. Supposedly all sorts of crooked **** was going on in Samart's corner of Thailand before the Pintor weigh in... The weigh in was post poned (Multiple times?) which really screwed with the aging and struggling with weight Pintor. Once the fight actually happened Pintor seemed ripe for the taking. For the rest of his career Pintor actually fought at above 130 pounds. Anyone have any memories of Samart?
Yes, many. He was about as obviously talented as any fighter I've ever seen. Unfortunately, his career turned out to be one of the biggest let-downs of any I've seen. He was supposedly a great amateur prodigy, and when he turned pro they put him in with an ex-champ in his debut. He only had about 10 fights or so at the time he fought Pintor, and although Pintor was past his peak, he was coming off a good win over Kid Meza and still was considered a good fighter. No one expected him to be outclassed and then flattened the way he was. Payakaroon also had a good win over Kid Meza, then he went down to Australia to fight Fenech for what I thought was one of the most intriguing fights of that year (both fighters were undefeated champions). Instead, it turned out to be a slaughter. Fenech gave the greatest performance of his career and blasted right through him. That KO is one of the most brutal I've ever seen, and it was hard to imagine Payakaroon ever fighting again after that. He did disappear for some time after that, then made a comeback, won a few fights and was given another title shot against someone (I forget who), but by this time he was really fighting on memory and he was stopped again. I've always thought Payakaroon was somewhat like the Meldrick Taylor of his division. Very obviously talented, had some impressive performances, but never fully recovered after being brutally knocked out in a big fight.
Sorry to snip you post but I agree that Fenech fight was a strange one.......it was supposed to be Leonard-Hearns for the little guys but ended up in a massacre!
Great stuff, thank you. There's tons of kickboxing footage of Samart on Youtube right now. He seems to be a legendary figure in the sport.
Samart is said to have trained poorly for the Fenech bout, drinking often and having a good old time in Australia.. His 'Playboy' reputation may have been his undoing as Fenech caught him out very early in the rounds. Having betted on themselves, the Thai's faced some very upset Mob faces upon returning home. Samart went into hiding, becoming a Monk and paying his dues. He is a local hero, has-been pop star and world champ. I'd like to see a book about him oneday with the entire truths exposed.
I think he was a talented boxer but he was a boxer second and a muay thai fighter first. He was one of the greatest Muay Thai fighters of all time and I think its amazing enough that he could reach the level he did in boxing knowing that. In fact I don't know if any other fighter has been able to reach such high levels in two different combat sports.
I never heard of this. I know he was one of the world's premier Muay Thai fighters prior to becoming a pro boxer, which wouldn't really lend a lot of time toward amateur training.
Payakaroon is one of the greatest stand-up/striking type fighters of all time. Troy Dorsey eat your heart out. Payakaroon rose to the top in both boxing and thai boxing. I don't know of anyone else doing that. Russell, that is an interesting allegation. I don't know enough on this subject to opine. I'm actually pleasantly surprised that Samart Payakaroon has a recognizable name.
Samart was very talented and one of the greatest if not the greatest Muay Thai fighter it would have been interesting to see him box more though.
Sahaprom and Chitalada were also top muay Thai fighters who were almost at prime from the minute they turned pro as well.Payakaroon's accomplishments seem to be the norm for the more talented Muay Thai fighters crossing over into boxing.I think Muangsurin was another one. Watanabe was a legendary Shotokan karate fighter.
Ive actually found a lot Thailand's best amateurs dont turn pro. Petchkoom, the Boonjumerong boys, Jongjohor, Ponlid, Kamsing, Umponmaha,..to name a few..All excellent amateurs in recent years who never went pro as far as I know.
I remember hearing about his 'shocking' Knock-out of Lupe Pintor... and wondering,,,,,,,,,just who is this fighter that did that to Lupe. This content is protected