there's a fight night every friday in patong, on sundays quite often as well, sometimes mondays and wednesdays. i've been to seven or eight of them so far but tonight's was special. it was a fight night put on by sinbi gym, so five of the ten fights were with sinbi fighters. it was great to watch; there's always a large group of people from sinbi who go to watch the fights, but with so many sinbi fighters on the card, the sinbi section was absolutely packed.

i got there about twenty minutes late and i had already missed three fights ! all first and second round knockouts, two for sinbi fighters. everyone was in good spirits because of this, naturally, but there was a definite nervous energy because there were still three more fights for sinbi to go.

watching a teammate lose is depressing and draining in a way that is untranslatable, particularly if you've sparred with them or grown close to them. last week, the main event was a guy from the gym named shane, a big, well-liked 240lb fellow. he was fighting another big guy, and right from the start it was a hard-fought war. shane's opponent was landing some good punches, but shane was going to work on the guy's lead leg with kicks that were adding up. shane was dropped in the second round but showed a ton of heart getting back to his feet and fighting into the third, and even looked like he was starting to out-work his opponent when he landed a punch awkwardly and injured his shoulder. i don't even know the guy well and it was incredibly deflating; you want your teammates to win so badly, especially in the brotherhood of shared hard effort. watching someone work so hard but come up short is ugly stuff and i can only imagine how much more difficult it was for the people actually close to him.

i've sparred with the three guys who still had fights to come; kion, who i don't know well but enjoyed working with and respected a good deal, brendan, a thoughtful australian who's laid back and very friendly but with a piercing scrutiny who works very hard, and oron. the idea of any of watching any of these guys lose makes my stomach twist uncomfortably, but they're all talented guys and i'm confident in all three of them.

brendan's fight is first. he fights a thai man who abuses brendan's leg with kicks; brendan wades through them for the first round and a half, then lands a fight-ending flurry of punches. i'm excited and relieved to see him win; brendan's a good dude and he worked hard for this.

oron's fight is a very thai affair; slow, technical and patient. oron slides into the pocket smoothly to throw more hand combinations than one usually sees from a thai fighter, but he is also active enough with his legs and lands good knees from the clinch that the judges won't penalize him (they don't like boxing !). his opponent is overmatched the entire fight and never really mounts much of an offense, and oron doesn't abuse him for it. oron takes a one-sided decision and the cheers are loud and delighted for the much-beloved trainer.



the next fight features nobody from sinbi but is easily the best fight i've seen at bangla so far; an absolute tooth and nail battle that more than anything is a display of tenacity and heart. the technique is just magnificent and they are throwing counters to counters to counters. the level of skill on display from both fighters is immeasurable and the crowd appreciates the performance with waves of applause and shouting. neither man hits the floor despite the absolutely vicious nature of the contest, and while one man was declared the winner it would be absolutely backward to call the other a loser.

kion enters the ring and prepares to fight the last fight of the night. his opponent is a brit; he's relaxed and composed. traditionally the last fight of the night at these events is a squash match where one opponent grossly outmatches the other and is just putting in some ring time.

this was not the case here. from the opening bell it is a case of kion's aggressive boxing vs. the movement & heavy kicks of the brit. kion eats a number of leg kicks and mostly defends himself with smiles and nods at his opponent. he's definitely game but solidly outpointed in the first round.

in the second his boxing begins to get a little wild; lots of power but less tight. the brit uses the clinch a lot and lands some good elbows. near the end of the frame kion eats a vicious shot and his legs go stiff, he takes a couple of awkward steps but manages to stay vertical, covering up well as his opponent attempts to capitalize.

kion's survival gets everyone in the crowd going and the excitement in our section becomes a physical thing; heavy and electric like the air here gets in an afternoon thunderstorm. at the start of the third kion presses forward relentlessly and his heart for battle is incredibly inspiring. he wears down his opponent landing good strikes and beginning to out-muscle him in the clinch. the brit is staggered and kion throws him to the mat where the referee waves off the fight. i've never felt the level of infectious enthusiasm sinbi showed as its fighters went undefeated, showing both technique and incredible heart.