Myanmar Boxing
Date
22.04.16
Information
Another sport I covered on my recent trip to Myanmar was a local from of kick boxing called Lethwei. I asked my fixer to find me a good local gym in Yangon. There we found around half a dozen boys and young men engaging in one of the toughest work outs I've ever witnessed. Punch bags weren't hard enough so the trainer had a frame built to hold truck tyres to that the boys would have to kick and punch.
Moe, my fixer, had managed to get me a ringside pass to a Myanmar-Japan tournament that weekend. As a great coincidence one of the boys was fighting in it and I was able to follow him into the ring.
It was the most brutal fighting I've ever seen that's actually legal!
Myanmar won all of the fights. I don't think the Japanese visitors knew what had hit them!
Moe, my fixer, had managed to get me a ringside pass to a Myanmar-Japan tournament that weekend. As a great coincidence one of the boys was fighting in it and I was able to follow him into the ring.
It was the most brutal fighting I've ever seen that's actually legal!
Myanmar won all of the fights. I don't think the Japanese visitors knew what had hit them!
Tun Lwin Moe resting during some sparring in training for his fight at the weekend. He'll be representing Myanmar against japan.
Training at the gym with a punchbag made up of four truck tyres.
Training at the gym
Neck strengthening in the gym.
Tun Lwin Moe preparing for the fight in the changing room. He's representing Myanmar in a completion with visiting Japanese fighters.
The fight.
In the corner after the first round.
Tun gering instructions from his trainer after the second round. The fight was eventually stopped after Tun opponent was too cut to continue.
Another one of the Japanese fighters after the first round.
Having just lost the fight the Japanese fighter congratulates his Myan opponent.
One of the Japanese boxers being consoled after losing his fight.
