I stumbled on this fascinating interview off another great Muay Thai website called mymuaythai.
The interview is with Muay Thai legend Samart Payakaroon as he goes in to how gambling is slowly killing the sport of Muay Thai in Thailand and the effect it’s having on the smaller camps.
It’s interesting to see someone with such high stature speak about something many of us have thought for a long time. He discusses the way fights are now scored to favour the gamblers in Thailand and you will notice is now being adopted by the west, even though we do not have a gambling influence.
A huge thank you to Napadon who is the main guy behind mymuaythai and who translated the interview for us. In the interview he talks about power shots thrown, the way I’ve interpreted that is by techniques that show effect i.e knocking off balance or physically hurting the opponent.
Samart Payakaroon if you don’t know is regarded by many as the greatest Muay Thai fighter ever as he won world championships in both Muay Thai and Boxing. He was four times Lumpinee champion along with winning Sports Writers of Thailand fighter of the year and the WBC world boxing title.
Make sure you click on the cog button of the video to access the subtitles.
If you’d like to read up a little more on Muay Thai scoring and the effect it’s having in Thailand or even how business works between boxer and camp please check the links below.