.... did not materialise after all.
Instead I went out last night to watch some authentic Thai boxing with K, Briggs and Brennan. We paid £24 each for ring side sofa seats, and saw 8 fights of 5 rounds each. At least they were all scheduled for 5 rounds, but I think onlny 3 of them went the distance, with the rest stopped for a mixture of knockouts / cuts / retiring hurt.
The most emphatic knockout was probably in the first fight, with the red corner fighter being knocked down once, only to get back up and be pollaxed with a straight right to the floor - smashing his head to the floor and knocking him out cold. This would have been brutal enough but even worse when you consider the 2 fighters were in the 'under 33kg' category, and the 'proffesional' fighters were only 11 years old!!!! The westerners in the audience - me included to some extent- were pretty shocked but the Thai's loved it!!! They were betting loads in the standing section all night and this first fight clearly put them in the mood for the rest of the night's entertainment.
Thankfully the kid came round and walked out the ring after a few minutes, and the rest of the evening was fought by (gradually) increasing weight categories. I really enjoyed it and thoroughly recommend anyone visiting Thailand to go to a 'real' fight night. There are loads and loads of 'fight' nights promoted in Patong / Bangkok / Chang Mai but from what we've heard and seen (in Chang Mai) only a handful are real fights, with the rest being for the tourist industry. I guess the rule of thumb is, if there are no Thai people watching and betting then it's not real!!!
I ended up crashing when I got home last night but woke up in time this morning to catch the late stragglers back home - i.e. 9:30 am here - 2:30 am in UK. I played for an hour and banked a £150 profit, which is always nice. As every good player thinks though, I want a lot more this month!!!
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