Recently, the 43-year-old Dega Dann and the 38-year-old Sam A-Guyanhadao have announced their retirement, and the two 81-year-old Muay Thai legend boxers have left classic fighting images for boxing fans in their 30-year careers, showing the courage of Muay Thai boxers to constantly challenge themselves. Looking back, they deserve the name of "legend".
1. 9 years old on stage, with a gold belt to interpret talent and courage
Choose to become a boxer and life is all about fighting. Dega Dann, like Sam A, went into the ring at the age of 9. As children of poor families, they punch to survive. Dega Dann remembers that when he first trained, he didn't even have a sandbag, but played an old rice bag full of sand. Fortunately, both of them have played their own era with outstanding talent and hard training.
Sam-A means "3 aces" in Thai and symbolizes his boxing position. Sam-A has won 370 victories, won multiple gold belts at different levels of The Lumpini Arena, was named the Best Boxer of The Lumpini in 2011, won the ONE First Flyweight Muay Thai World Championship, and won the Kickboxing and Muay Thai "Double" in the Grassweight.
Dega Dann won 282 victories at Muay Thai, winning 3 classes at The Lumpini Arena and the Omni Arena. After moving to Singapore, he took to the mixed martial arts arena, winning 12 victories, winning the original ONE Championship And GrassWeight World Championship, becoming a national hero and inspiring more Muay Thai boxers to take to the MMA arena.
Second, they all gave up Muay Thai at one time, but regained the heart of the champion
No one can succeed casually, and behind the golden belt is a silent struggle. Even geniuses like Degasdon and Sam-A would have thought about giving up.
At the age of 19, Sam-A won the Lumpini Arena, but because of the unfair treatment, he gave up Muay Thai and came to Bangkok to become a construction worker. Every day I get up at 4:30 a.m. and go home at 9:00 p.m., earning only 220 baht a day, and I can still bear the hard work of my body, but I lost the goal of struggle, which made him unbearable. In the end, he stopped thinking about gains and losses, returned to the arena, and used his Muay Thai skills to conquer boxing fans and become a king again.
Dega Dann's departure from the Muay Thai arena seems logical, he is only 160 centimeters tall, more than 30 years old after the weight loss difficulties, it is difficult to fight with young and physically superior boxers. After becoming a Muay Thai instructor at Evolution Boxing Gym, he was exposed to mixed martial arts, rekindling his desire to fight and trying out muay thai in the MMA field. At the age of 35, he practiced mixed martial arts, and in 2015 Dega Dann was able to stand in the position of world champion in mixed martial arts, showing his heart of champion.
Third, the legend will not be blocked by age, and it will still create brilliance after the age of 35
A long career is a challenge to the limits of the human body and a tug-of-war with injuries. Sam-A and Degas Dann have both entered a trough due to age and status problems. In 2019, Sam-A lost to the young "General" Jonathan Haggetti in the defending world championship in flyweight Muay Thai. In that game, he was exhausted and some said that sam-A's era was over. Sam-A made a bold choice, downgrading to grass weights and starting all over again at the age of 36. He defeated the 24-year-old "Golden Boy" Wang Junguang with defensive counterattack tactics to win the grassweight kickboxing world championship gold belt, and less than 3 months later defeated the WPMF world champion Rocky Ogden, who was 16 years younger than himself, to become the grassweight Muay Thai world champion, and since then the grassweight class has given birth to the "double champion".
Degas Dann's defeat was even more tragic than Sam's. In May 2019, 40-year-old Dega Danen was directly knocked unconscious by Miao Litao's left swing punch, and was ko-killed in one round. In October 2020, he was once again defeated by the wrestling tactics of Chinese boxers Steppenwolf and Higtu. Because of the two defeats to the Chinese boxer, when Dega Dann encountered the "Prince of Fighting" Ban Ma Ji, who was 13 centimeters taller than himself and 18 years and 8 months younger, few people looked up to him. But Degadane was by no means a stepping stone, taking Banma to TKO in a violent knee combo in the second round. The dignity of the veteran should be seen by the whole world.
Fourth, complete the inheritance, no regrets to wave away from the field
No matter how long the journey has an end, when the boxer has done his best, he can say goodbye calmly. Sam A lost to 26-year-old Prajanchai in his last battle to defend his title at grass-weight Muay Thai world championship. It wasn't a game with a huge gap, and Prajan guessed to be a narrow victory by a majority. But Sam-A knows that the future belongs to young people. Prajanchai is considered one of the best boxers in Thailand by average weight, and this golden belt has been a perfect legacy for him.
Degas Dann's last match left the boxing fans with a bloody figure. The 28-year-old WMC Muay Thai world champion Daniel Williams is very sharp in knee and elbow, and his explosive punch has exceeded the limit of what Dega Dann can bear. Inside the cage, losing to a younger Muay Thai world champion, Dega Dann completed the handover of two generations of Muay Thai fighters on the mixed martial arts arena.
The legend has left us with unforgettable memories, but also a huge imagination of the future baton bearers.
Thank you Sam-A, Dega Danne, you guys have worked hard, put your fists down and start a whole new life.