If Thailand wants to be a contender in Beijing this summer, it will be the pugilists who pound out victory for the Southeast Asian nation.
Willy Blain of France measures Manus Boonjumnjong of Thailand during their light welterweight (64 kg) quarter-final boxing match of the 2004 Athens Games. Boonjumnong was awarded a 20-8 points decision. [Agencies] |
Although Thailand's women's lifters pulled their weight in Athens 2004 - snagging a pair of gold medals, the first two non-boxing golds in Thailand's history - all eyes will be on the boxers in Beijing. Thailand has won at least one boxing medal in every Olympics since 1978, save for the boycotted 1980 Moscow Games.
Thailand has also won boxing gold in three consecutive Olympics, beginning with Somluck Kamsing's featherweight victory in 1996.
But Athens 2004 was a watershed year for Thailand's Olympic fighters.
The country took home a rainbow of medals - gold, silver and bronze in light-welterweight, bantamweight and middleweight, respectively - but it was gold-medal winner Manus Boonjumnong's shocking upset of Cuba's Yudel Johnson that really captured the imaginations of his compatriots.
Manus was able to deflect the boos that rained down on him like a flurry of jabs from Cuban fans unhappy with how the bout was scored, as he sobbed uncontrollably while talking on a cell phone to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who had called to congratulate the new Olympic champ.
"I fought for my king, who urged me to be strong in my final bout," Boonjumnong told the Associated Press, clutching a photo of his king after the fight. "I dedicate the gold medal to my family and to all the people of Thailand. And, of course, to the king of Thailand."
Boonjumnong returned to Thailand a superstar. With a reported $600,000 check in hand, the young boxer set out to live the life of a celebrity - in all its ignominy. According to Thai media and gossip rags, Boonjumnong squandered virtually all of his earnings on booze, gambling and women as he essentially quit boxing for two years.
But as the Asian Games approached in 2006, Gen Thaweep Chantaroj, president of Thailand's Amateur Boxing Association, decided to rescue his wayward star and sent him off to Cuba with nothing more than a suitcase, demanding the boxer return focused and in shape.
"He is our best boxer, but he will only be a winner if he stays with the program," Chantaroj told Reuters at the time.
Boonjumnong's stint in Cuba seemed to pay off as he returned to Thailand in time to win gold at the Asian Games that year. After his triumphant return to boxing, Boonjumnong shaved his head and spent two weeks in a Buddhist monastery, a tradition for Thai males. His career, it would seem, was back on track.
Olympic snags
But Boonjumnong's Olympic return hit a snag last fall at the World Amateur Boxing Championships in Chicago where he failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, not even making it to the quarterfinals.
He was not the only Thai Olympic-champ-turned-slacker, though. All three of Thailand's Athens medalists failed to qualify in Chicago, Worapoj Petchkoom (silver) and Suriya Prasathinphimai (bronze) being the other two.
Five other boxers, including Manus' younger brother Non Boonjumnong, did qualify in Chicago, and all but four of them will be Olympic rookies this year. Flyweight Somjit Jongjohor was the lone Olympic veteran to come out of Chicago. He was outpointed out of the second round in Athens.
Thailand's Olympic medalists made up for their failures in Chicago earlier this month as two of them - Boonjumnong and bantamweight silver medalist Worapoj Petchkoom - booked tickets to Beijing by making it into the finals of the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament in Bangkok.
But Athens middleweight bronze medalist Suriya Prasathinphimai did not attend the tournament in Bangkok. He was forced to pull out due to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident a couple weeks earlier. It is unclear how long his injuries will sideline him.
Fighting in Prasathinphimai's stead was 27-year-old Angkhan Chomphuphuang, who also secured a berth to Beijing in the Bangkok tournament. It will be his Olympic debut.
But it may be a difficult debut for Chomphuphuang as the landscape of Thailand's weight classes is increasingly crowded. It remains to be seen where he will fit in if and when Prasathinphimai returns.
Indeed, Prasathinphimai's absence was a boon for the Olympic debutant as it allowed him to fight in his natural weight class. Formerly a Muay Thai and wushu fighter, the 69kg boxer is most comfortable as a middleweight fighter - or lighter. But with the brothers Boonjumnong occupying the two classes below middleweight and the presumptive Olympian Prasathinphimai as Thailand's likely middleweight entry, Chomphuphuang may be forced to fight in the light-heavyweight class. A 69kg fighter squaring off against an 81kg opponent is hardly anyone's idea of fair.
Thailand has eight boxers already on board for Beijing, but Jantararoj wants at least one more to make sure the country has ample options to take home medals.
"I want to have nine boxers in the Olympics," Reuters quoted the ABAT president as saying after the tournament in Bangkok. "I have two boxers to choose from in the light-heavyweight division."
Thailand's boxers will have one last chance to secure Olympic spots at the second and final Asian qualifying tournament in Kazakhstan from March 15-25.
