Somrak Kamsing’s Comeback Trail
By Mike LNg
Somrak Kamsing, Olympic Boxing Champion
Somrak Kamsing has been a busy man. Few nak muay past or present have been where he has. Somrak has been a gold medal Olympic boxer, an actor, a singer, a gym owner and now his life has come full circle and Somrak has made a return to Muay Thai.
Somrak first stepped into the ring at the age of 13. With an impressive performance that resulted in a tie, Somrak joined his first camp at 14. Somrak won often enough that they tried him in boxing where he was mismatched against a pro who knocked him out. Afterwards Somrak’s focus shifted purely on to Muay Thai where he continued with wins in Rajadamnern stadium. After school ended Somrak focused once again on international boxing. He fought well and won often enough that he was chosen to represent Thailand in the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain in 1992. Ultimately, he would lose but the loss served only to drive Somrak to train harder. His renewed focus gained him gold at both the Asian Games and ultimately Olympic gold at flyweight in international boxing at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996.
Very naturally, Somrak returned to Thailand a national hero and promptly began an acting career in Thai soap operas, which have since spun off careers in singing and acting but Somrak’s love of Muay Thai remained a constant in his life.
Somrak opened a gym some years back and has been fighting sporadically since and has since beaten the likes of Kamel Jamel, David Kira, and Deiski. Recently, Somrak helped break attendance records at Rajadamnern Stadium with a fight against 51-year-old Yodwanpadet Suwanwichit. The fight had the largest ever side bet on a fight. Somrak staked 5.27 million baht on himself. Somrak called out Buakaw and Kem Sitsongpeenong leading up to this fight though he now admits he would needs some warmup fights prior to fighting either. The likelihood of a meeting with Buakaw in the ring happening has been thoroughly ruled out though by Sport Art Company, the parent company of Thai Fight. Somrak ended the fight against Yodwanpadet by stoppage. And now has officially settled on Jomhod Kiatadisak as his next opponent. Jomhod versus Somrak is scheduled to take place at Lumpinee Stadium on Dec 7th, 2012, the birthday anniversary of the famed Muay Thai stadium.
King of the Ring
Jomhod “King of the Ring” Kiatadisak is a name even casual Muay Thai fans know and know well. The “King of the Ring” title is a fitting one because Jomhod has won a world title 14-times. There’s even been mention that he may pursue a 15th, which would make Jomhod a Guinness World Record holder. Among some of the titles he’s won are WMC, WKN, ISKA and Rajadamnern and Lumpinee Stadium titles.
Jomhod Strikes
Jomhod got his start in Muay Thai in his home town of Phang Nga, just outside of Phuket, Thailand. Jomhod next fought in Bangkok and made a steady ascent in the rankings. After 17 fights Jomhod won the Lumpinee Championship in 63.5kg weight class. In 1994 Jomhod won the Rajadamnern Stadium Championship in the same weight class and then won the 67kg championship the next year. Jomhod achieved his first world championship in the weight class of 67kg by defeating Ramon “Diamond” Dekker in 1996.
Jomhod then moved to Finland of all places for the next 11 years in which he earned the nickname “King of the Ring”. Jomhod fought often and won the majority of his world titles at this time. Jomhod then returned to Thailand.
Somrak has signed a six fight deal with Wanmitchai Promotions and is set to receive a purse of 300,000 baht per fight putting him among the elite for highest paid fighters of Thailand. Somrak has reportedly made a four million baht side bet and this will mark the first time that Jomhod has fought in Bangkok for more than five years.
Jomhod will be a much younger opponent than Yodwanpadet Suwanwichit at the age of 42 and appears to be in good condition due to his time as a trainer at his own J.Prapa gym in Phuket. He also still fights on occasion having fought and beat Cyrus Washington in 2011. It could be interesting to see if Jomhod launches after another world title quest at the age of 42. But first Jomhod will have to find a way to fight and beat Somrak at the Lumpinee Birthday fight before that movement can gather much momentum behind it in my opinion.
Jomhod Kiatadisak
Here’s a video interview with the man himself from his gym.
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