It has been training as usual for Nong Rose ahead of her fight with golden era legend Kompayak Singmanee. The unlikely duo are set to battle it out for 2.5 million Baht (US$75,300) at Rajadamnern Stadium on Wednesday.
Nong Rose made her debut at Rajadamnern Stadium as a transgender in June of this year. With Muay Thai Stadiums' strict rules requiring short hair, no shirts worn during competition, and with women not even being allowed to touch the ring, Nong Rose’s appearance was huge in Thailand. The entire Muay Thai world stopped for a moment, and gasped as the lipstick wearing, hair braided, and sports bra donning Nong Rose entered the ring.
Nong Rose had competed at Thailand’s oldest stadium once before – but as a boy. She has identified as being transgendered for as long as she can remember, but didn’t really start to fully embrace her identity until high school.
In her debut, back in June, Nong Rose defeated the gamblers’ favourite Sua Yai Chor. Haapayak via points, taking home a 900,000 Baht (US$27,000) side bet. She fought again at Rajadamnern in July, this time against the stadium stable’s Priewpak Sor Jor Vichitpadriew, also winning on points, albeit just marginally.
So when it came time again for magic matchmaker OneSongchai to summon up a fight worthy of the headlines, he first called Olympic boxing gold medalist and former Muay Thai fighter, Somjit Jomjorhor. He was offered 300,000 Baht (US$9,000) to fight Nong Rose, but the gold medalist wanted more money.
OneSongchai moved on, this time reaching out to notorious hardman, and part time fighter Gong Muangmeen. Gong recently made the headlines by taking on a one-round fight for a five million Baht (US$150,000) side bet at Lumpini Stadium. He also declined the offer. While the money was good, we’re guessing Gong might not have fancied getting beat up by the “Ladyboy with the Mean Knees”.
So now former Lumpini champion Kompayak will take his chances against Nong Rose. Originally the fight was set at 114lbs for Nong Rose and 116lbs for Kompayak, but an agreement has since been reached to allow Kompayak to skip the weigh-ins.
the 48-year-old Kompayak will be making his return to the ring after a 20-year absence while Nong Rose is very much in her prime.
The odds are locked in at 3-2 and on August 2, both teams arrived at Rajadamnern to put deposits on the massive side bets required for the fight. Kompayak’s team has agreed, come fight day, to produce one million Baht (US$30,000), whereas Nong Rose’s team are required to put down 1.5 million Baht (US$45,000).
Kompayak is considered to be more skillful and to have a better fight IQ than his opponent – the overwhelming majority are still favouring the youthfulness of Nong Rose.
Congratulations @aaasports! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPVery interesting article. What do you expect to happen in this match and what does AAA Sports think about weigh-ins and what was determined for this upcoming fight?
Nong Rose was just starting to get warmed up when the former champion gave up in the third round. While Kompayak showed some aptitude from his glory days, it was the youthfulness of Nong Rose that left him completely overpowered and caused him to gas out quickly.
Morning weigh-ins added some excitement to the fight, but it was a short lived. Nong Rose easily made the 114 lbs weight limit, whereas Kompayak came in at his normal weight of about 130 lbs. The weight difference however was a non-issue for Nong Rose and her team, as they had agreed prior that Kompayak would not have to make weight.
That morning an additional 2 million Baht per side was placed on the fight, solely dependant on whether or not Kompayak could last the full five rounds. This meant that in addition to the 2.5 million already already put down, there would total of 6.5 million Baht riding on the fight.
So, if Nong Rose were to win the fight via decision, her team would lose 500,000 Baht. If she were to win by stoppage, they would take the 6.5 million Baht home. It sounds crazy, but this is Thailand. Unfortunately come fight time almost all bets were off. We are not sure why exactly, but it was it was a smart move by Kompayak’s team. He had no place being in the ring with Nong Rose.
This whole story intrigued and terrified me. I'll have to watch out not to anger overgrown steroid taking ladyboys with masterful skills in Muay Thai as I walk the streets of Bangkok.
Smart move Techblogger
Hi! I am a robot. I just upvoted you! I found similar content that readers might be interested in:
http://www.thefightnation.com/nong-rose-and-the-rise-of-a-transgender-fighter/