Monday, July 23, 2012

HongTongLek Team Quest Thailand Title Run


I know most of you have seen some of these fights already but I figured I would put them all together for people who haven't watched them. For those of you that haven't followed along, Team Quest Thailand just produced our first Thailand Champion after only being open for 8 months. You guy's can see how HongTongLek Chor Farpleansee's championship run unfolded.

HongTongLek Chor. Farpleansee
It all started back in March, 2012 when HongTongLek was called to take a fight the next day as a last minute replacement. He literally was given 20 hours notice. He hadn't had any fights scheduled so he hadn't trained hard in about a month. But he can take fights on short notice because he has what is considered a “I.Q. Style”, meaning he uses his brain and not his strength. He literally packed his bag and left for the airport 2 hours later. This fight was live on national television on channel 3. HongTongLek was a huge underdog going into this fight.

HongTongLek Chor. Farpleansee vs Phetchartchay Chaoraiooy

Before this fight, HongTongLek's career was coming to an end. He has been fighting since he was 6 years old and has had over 350 fights. Before the short notice fight against Phetchartchay, HongTongLek had just been previously knocked out by 16 year old and up and comer Songkom Sahomsin. After this was talks of HongTongLek retiring. But after the channel 3 fight his spirits had been lifted.

The promoter was so impressed with HongTonglek's willingness to take the fight against Phetchartchay on short notice that he awarded him with another big fight. This time against a young and hungry fighters named Kong Esarn. The difference for HongTongLek in this fight was that he had a full training camp. Again, HongTongLek was a huge underdog though.

HongTongLek Chor Farpleansee vs Kong Esarn

This fight was very close but HongTongLek edged out a close victory. At this point, people started talking about HongTongLek as a legit contender again. It was his experience that won him this fight. It's true what they say, you are only as good as your last fight.

Once again the promoter called and asked HongTongLek to fight on 3 days notice. This time it was against a fighter named Rocko (same as Rocky in Thai). HongTongLek never refuses a fight and with no training left to Bangkok the next day. Rocko was supposed to be tougher than his last opponents but HongTongLek's style is designed for clinch fighters like Rocko.

HongTongLek Chor Farpleansee vs. Rocko

This turned out to be a fairly easy fight for HongTongLek. It was never close at any point and HongTongLek finished Rocko with a flying knee. After this fight the promoter told HongTongLek that he might be fighting for the title next.

HongTongLek didn't end up getting the next title shot but he did win the chance to fight the toughest fight of his championship run. Rungsak Pansomboom had been on a tear leading up to the fight with HongTongLek. Rungsak had won 7 straight and again, HongTongLek was considered a underdog. Lucky for us, HongTongLek had a full training camp. So he went in 100% into the fight.

HongTongLek Chor. Farpleansee vs RungSak Pansomboom.

You can see in this fight that HongTongLek had one of his best performances ever. He literally defended everything including the kitchen sink. As the fight progressed he started to take over. After this fight the promoter was so impressed with HongTongLek's performance that he promised him the next title shot on the spot. The next day the media was buzzing about it.

The media was classing this as one of the greatest Muay Thai comebacks in the history of the sport. For those of you that don't know, HongTongLek retired at age 22 and came out of retirement at age 28. He was a huge superstar in his day but at this point in his career he was considered only a gatekeeper for up and coming superstars to fight so they could make a name off of him.

Before coming to Team Quest Thailand, HongTongLek's results were sub par on his comeback. He had won about half his fights . When we brought him in to Team Quest Thailand, it was our highest priority to give him the best training environment. If fighters are happy, it directly effects the students experience while training.

During HongTongLek's run, another fighter had been putting together a nice winning streak. Phetchartchay Chaoraiooy, who HongTongLek originally fought to start his streak. Phetchartchay put together a string of wins. The belt was vacated at this point so it only made sense for them to fight for it. This time though, HongTongLek was the favorite. Here is HongTongLek's championship fight for the Thailand title at Lumpinee stadium.

HongTongLek Chor. Farpleansee vs Phetchartchay Chaoraiooy II

HongTongLek surpassed all of his last performances . This was one of the most lopsided championship fights I have ever seen. HongTongLek dominated the entire fight.

On August 7, 2012 HongTongLek will be fighting once again at Lumpinee stadium. Check back soon to get the video and fight results.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Share

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More