Asawindum Stadium Bangkok

The owner of Pinsinchai Gym is also a well known promoter in Bangkok. He is known as the Black Knight. In the past he was working a lot at the well known stadiums, such as Lumpini or Ratchadamnoen Stadium, but now has gone on his own. He has his own boxing stadium;The Asawindum Stadium. Needless to say that the fighters from Pinsinchai fight here very often. It is not just any boxing stadium but also a television studio, just like the channel 7 studio.

On a very hot and sunny Sunday, I was invited to watch as three of my fellow boxers had been scheduled to fight. It was 10 am when we left for the stadium. The boxers all prayed to an altar standing next to the gym and we were of. As we were with a lot of people and we went in a pick up truck, I was put in the trunk together with three other supporters. The fighters got the best seats, as it should be. On arrival it was dead quiet, like a ghost building. Only a few members of staff were setting up the cameras and preparing the boxing gear. However, more and more fighters and their coaches came in and installing themselves in a giant space functioning as dressing room. It is a great experience to watch how this all goes down behind the scenes in preparation for a fight. Especially because I have been to the process several times in Holland, it gives me the chance to compare and at the same time learn from the process.

A really big difference is the way the fighters do their warm-up. In Holland, we get massaged a little bit, stretch and make your muscles loose and afterwards your trainer will put you through some light to medium pad work. Sometimes I see fighters being pushed a lot by their trainer in this pad work, with as a result that the fighters spends an enormous amount of energy on the pads. Not such a good idea in my opinion. My trainer in Holland, Said Ahrazi, always let me go on the pads until I was sweating, but not tired. I owe a great deal to him for his patience, knowledge and guidance. After this, you are ready to go. In Thailand, you will get a very thorough massage, and I mean really thorough. Because of this, your muscles are warm and you are ready to go, but you haven’t wasted any energy. When the massage is finished, you feel relaxed and ready because you have been lying on a bench with a shirt over your face so you can focus as you are being massaged. Plus, they use the really good boxing oil and they put it on the fighter’s body together with Vaseline. Can you see the advantages of this? Then the fighter enters the hall but has to wait some time in the back of the room. Here you see your opponent face to face, as you both sit next to each other, waiting to enter the ring. Finally the fighters got up, after ten minutes or so. Then they were put on the camera with a commercial image in their hands, as they will be introduced on TV. After this whole circus, they get into the ring, where they first will start the Wai Kru.

The first fighter of Pinsinchai got in the ring and I have to say that I did not quite know what to expect. I had seen him on the training and he has a very good technique, like all the fighters here. He actually met my expectations and rose far above them. He kept really cool, watching his opponent’s every and used his technique at the right time. I was amazed and also kind of proud. The whole crowd went nuts for him. No doubt many people probably had placed a bet on him. He impressed me particularly with his guard, keeping his chin tucked in and his arms up. His clinching game was also superb and his opponent was not a bad fighter, but it was clear who won the fight.

Next was another fighter from Pinsinchai. The funny thing is that these  guys are very sweet and shy when you know them outside the ring. However, in the ring, they mean serious business! Sen, the fighter from the gym that was up next, had not had a fight over three months, so he was a little rusty, the trainer said. He did not look rusty at all, showing a clear and threatening ring presence. He was putting pressure on the other fighter without actually doing anything. Soon was clear that the other boxer hand the really good hands, he threw some good punches, although, a little wild. In the second round, Sen got hit by a wild swing on the jaw, leading hem to fall unto the canvas. He did not stay there, in fact, he barely touched it. He sprung back up and got a standing 8 count. After this, there was still one minute left in the round. The other boxer thought he could finish Sen and went all out. This did not cause any serious problems and then the bell rang to signal the end of the round.

The third round began and I was anxious to see whether he had recovered from the knock down. Now I don’t know what they said to him in the break between the rounds, but he ran towards his opponent, grabbing him in the Thai clinch and let it rain knees on him. This was so ferociously done that the other boxer went down, after Sen had gave a perfect demonstration of the Thai clinch as it should be. What a turnaround! I was stunned and more than a little impressed. As the third boxer from Pinsinchai made his way to the ring, I was still thinking about these knees. The third boxer was apparently a little less important, while he was fighting, they already started cleaning the room, putting away all the cameras and leave the building. He fought a good fight, but made the mistake to go for the Thai clinch and his opponent knew this and caught him with many elbows and punches on the way in.

After that, we went back to the gym where some of the fighters went to bed or just played with their telephone. I had a cup of coffee with the owner of the gym and the manager of the boxers and after that, I thanked them wholeheartedly for a great experience and said goodbye. This was an awesome day…