Andy’s Blog

Just returned from Singapore where I was fortunate enough to have the opporunity to do a seminar with the grapplers at Fight G Academy, led by Darren Steven, as well as take in the Contenders Asia finals live.  First off, those of you that have not had a chance to visit Singappore, you have to do it someday.  You often hear about the strict rules and regulations there such as no chewing gum, etc., but they have one of the cleanest and most efficient societies I have ever been to.  The people there have a lot of manners and the food, chili crab in particular, is unbelieveable.

 As for the event, it was held at Singapore Indoor Stadium which probably had about 8,000 people in attendance that night.  They had a couple of preliminary matches, one featuring a 17 year-old girl who took a Thai lady to the woodshed and beat her pretty convincingly.  Since the 17 year old was a local Singaporean, that really got the crowd in the right mood.  The main card featured four bouts from the Asia Contenders show, the main event being the championship between Yosdenklai and John Wayne Parr.  I did not follow the show closely, but was told that these were the two best guys in the competition and everyone was expecting a great fight.  They did not disappoint.

 I knew the main event was going to be a great one when they introduced Yosdenklai and mentioned that he had 212 fights…at the age of 22!  I’m not good with math, but that is a lot of action and he came in with the WBC muay thai belt as well, so you knew he was all business.  John came in with 80+ fights at the age of 32 and you could see he had his work cut out for him, as his opponent was not only younger, but more experienced in the ring as well.

The fight was a great one and while Yosdenklai controlled the action from early on, Parr gained everyone’s respect by not only fighting hard, but also getting up from a couple of knockdowns that would have ended the night for most fighters and continually coming forward with a flurry of punches.  In the end, Yosdenklai won via decision, but there weren’t really any losers in that match as both guys put on a fight that will be remembered for a long time.

The cool part was meeting John Wayne after the event at a bar around the corner from the event.  He had a few stitches but other than that, was more than happy to hang with the crowd and answer questions.  I overheard him say that the first time he was knocked down, he didn’t even remember.  He just heard the referee starting to count!  Tough guy and true gentleman and made a lot of people happy by taking picutres and being gracious in defeat.

I was also lucky enough to meet Yosdenklai the next day and despipte a slight limp, he had no visible damage.  He does not speak English, but I’m sure he could tell how much admiration we all had for him as the room just lit up when he appeared.  Same thing, very gracious in victory and was more than happy to accomodate everyone despite being a bit banged up.  Hard to believe the guy is only 22; he won $150,000 for the Contenders and am sure the sky is still the limit for him.