Such a shame that a guy as nice as he is and as talenetd as his has to live like that.
Poor guy :-(
Yeah bro
The sad thing is, my friend Boyd who owns Phuket Top Team would LOVE to "buy" Buakaw for a year, he'd take great pleasure in using it to promote his gym while putting Buakaw in nice accommodation, letting him make money from seminars at the gym, give him freedom to do what he likes etc...
But like most gyms, he simply cant afford to buy Buakaw from Por.Pramuk. You know, those guys who have their star Buakaw living in a room with 3 dudes, force him to train, have refused to let him retire for three years, restrict his freedom... great eh?
"I wanted to retire in 2009 but Por.Pramuk wouldn't let me"
He avoids answering all questions about money, mumbling about recurring injuries. It's well known that Por.Pramuk take most of his earnings; e.g. when he won 1 million yen in K-1 MAX, he only got 20,000 of it while Por.Pramuk bought 4 houses and other shit.
He's been controlled and owned for years, living in a room with 3 other dudes
I speak Thai fluently and Buakaw says he wanted to retire in 2009 but continued after they changed trainers for him and things have gotten worse. The hosts asks him if it's due to injuries and he is reluctant to talk about it as it's disadvantageous for a fighter to talk about injuries/weakness as it gives the opponent something to focus on.
He says that he left the camp because they spoke rudely to him. The fitness trainer left ahead of him and he followed and left with his current trainer (guy sitting next to him).
He says he has been just relaxing in a secret place and he's confident no one knows where because he's been inside the whole time.
He has left Por Pramuk gym and will not be going back.
The posters who are speculating and saying stupid shit like the gym own lifelong contracts on the fighters should be kicked in the nuts for being an idiot.
if duke is going to house him i hope they can get some security, i wouldnt be surprised if they even got a hit out for him in the US is he can make it there.
It's just the name of the gym. Por Pramuk, is like "P for Peter"; Pramuk means squid, and Por is just a shortened form of the alphabet for "P". So a transliteration of his name would be "S" for Squid.
victorchensky - if duke is going to house him i hope they can get some security, i wouldnt be surprised if they even got a hit out for him in the US is he can make it there.
I think so. "The next Kongsak" - and by that, I don't mean a Sam-A callout vid recipient ;)
Gym recognition is pretty brutal here; example, I mentioned Kaewsamrit as a good gym today, and was corrected "no, no good for many year", I pointed out they had great fighters like Anuwat still in their ranks (Lumpinee AND Raja champ), "no, he finish year ago, finish long time no good"... this is a guy who a couple of short years ago won titles in both national stadiums, in his 20s, and is still on form.
Fucking brutal.
Even in the Saenchai/Sagetdao vid, you can hear some old Thai saying to me "he too short, he old" re: Saenchai. (The guy who then beat Sagetdao - #fail)
warez - Did not say if he will be hanging up his gloves.
Nothing was mentioned about money at all.
The posters who are speculating and saying stupid shit like the gym own lifelong contracts on the fighters should be kicked in the nuts for being an idiot.
sorry, posted from iPhone so writing briefly
Hey, dick head, it wasn't just the vid posted, he was on fucking live television in front of me when I wrote the article, and I had Thais translating it for me there and then.
Anything I mentioned about money too and his contract that he cannot break and that needs buying out, is either common knowledge or has previously been either revealed or strongly alleged. So come to Phuket Top Team and kick me in the nuts then, along with all the Thai trainers inc. former Raja champ Choek (a friend of Saenchai)
Sorry, posting from my laptop so writing at length
1fletch - Gym recognition is pretty brutal here; example, I mentioned Kaewsamrit as a good gym today, and was corrected "no, no good for many year", I pointed out they had great fighters like Anuwat still in their ranks (Lumpinee AND Raja champ), "no, he finish year ago, finish long time no good"... this is a guy who a couple of short years ago won titles in both national stadiums, in his 20s, and is still on form.
Fucking brutal.
Even in the Saenchai/Sagetdao vid, you can hear some old Thai saying to me "he too short, he old" re: Saenchai. (The guy who then beat Sagetdao - #fail)
but is that because of faddishness, like the japanese, or are you only as good as your last fight or what? I do think Anuwat is past his best but to say Kaewsamrit is not a good gym seems lunatic
I really don't know mate. Possibly the latter; it just seems like a brutal lack of appreciation and "what have you done for me lately" mentality.
Then again, some former stars of MT are regarded as heroes, particularly those from the 90s, so no doubt it's not all Thais who are so brutally critical, and there's no doubt that many former champs get the recognition they deserve.
