Lumpinee Stadium holds a revered place in the world of Muay Thai, often referred to as the "Mecca" of the sport. For decades, it has been the ultimate proving ground for Thailand's Nak Muay, hosting intense battles to determine the very best fighters in the country.
Every Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday, Lumpinee played host to the best of Thailand’s Nak Muays doing battle in the ring to determine the true best in Thailand in Muay Thai. From miniflyweight to Superwelter weight Lumpinee became the standard for the Stadium ranking system of Thaiboxers. Lumpinee has played host to the literal best of the best and it looked like the old fight venue was going to continue for a long time to come as it reached it’s 50th birthday in 2008.
The stadium is built on names, greats, legends! It defines Muay Thai! It is our Mecca! To this day, I smell it, I taste it, I fear it, I worship it.
One person's experience fighting in Lumpinee Stadium: "I was the Fairtex Bangplee Camp Manager from Dec 2009 - Around April 2011. So one day after training one of the trainers asked me if I wanted to fight in Lumpinee in a couple weeks. To them this is just another fight, but for me, it was the dream fight of my life."
The trainers tell me I’m fighting another Farang (foreigner) and I need to be at 160lbs for the fight. Since the fight was at Lumpinee, we were to have same day weigh ins. I arrive at 6:45 in the morning of the fight for 8 am weigh-ins, just to make sure I was on weight. I step on the test scale and weigh exactly 160lbs.
The promoter then walks up to my trainer and tells him that the foreigner that I was supposed to fight had backed out of the fight, but they have a replacement for me. He then tells me that a more experienced Thai will fight in his place, but I need to lose more weight if I want to fight him.
I was already pretty worn from the cut to 160lbs, but this was the chance to fight at Lumpinee, so I’m going to lose the weight. I had no idea who my opponent was until years later I saw an article about him opening his own camp in Bangkok. As for the fight it was one of the most painful fights of my career. The fight was very competitive but I ate a lot of low kicks. So many low kicks that I couldn’t walk right for 5 days. I lost the fight on points, but it was entertaining at least.
After the fight I go to see the doctors and they cleaned up my cuts. They take me back to a room and they tell me they can stitch me up right there. After about 30 minutes and 14 stitches later I’m finished up. After the doctors, I head over to Accounting room with my trainer to pick up my purse for the fight.
I knew Saturday fighters didn’t make as much as Tuesday and Friday night fighters but I was interested to see how much I was going to make.To my surprise I only made about $100.00 for the fight. They told me that the crowds had been light due to the political crisis in Bangkok. I didn’t really care, and would do all over again for nothing. Just to step in the ring that so many legends had fought in is priceless.
Funniest part of the story is that when I went to go eat with some friends after the fight my head was pounding! I know I had just fought but it was bad. I went into the restroom of the restaurant we were at and peeled off the bandages to look at the stitches on my head. Told my friends I’m going to head to the hospital to get it looked at properly. I am very honored to have fought in Lumpinee Stadium. The fight took place in April 2009.
I was training at Jitti Gym in Bangkok in the lead up to this fight. My good friends from England were also training there at the time such as Liam Harrison, Richard Cadden, Darren O’Connor and James France. Jitti Damriram, the owner, got me matched with a Danish fighter fighting out of Sasiprapa gym. Like a lot of things in Thailand, things were switched up shortly before the fight and my opponent changed to Allan Wold from Norway who was fighting out of Sor Khamsing gym.
Weigh ins were at 6am the morning of the fight and I was a little over the 64kg mark, so I had to jog around the parking lot out back with what seemed like every other Thai fighter on the card. I checked my weight again and we were set to fight. As we got to the stadium that night it began to pour down rain. We all sat watching the beginning of the fight card and the power went out during the fight! Luckily, everything was restored and ran smoothly from there.
I went in the back room to start getting ready and you can just feel the aura of the history of that place, of how many champions had been in the exact same room. It was pretty surreal. Jitti began wrapping my hands and I asked him jokingly “How many times have you done this? As I sat in the waiting area while on deck for my fight to begin, I couldn’t help but think that Saenchai had been sat on this very bench only two weeks prior on a huge Lumpinee show.
The fight that was going on had ended in the 2nd round which meant I’M UP! My corner team consisted of my trainer Camron Sor Vorapin, Liam Harrison, Rich Cadden and of course Jitti. Across the ring was my opponent who had the legend Somrak Khamsing, so between the 2 corners we had quite the team of champion fighters! I went on to win on points in a very technical bout against a worthy adversary.
I will never forget the first time I stepped foot in Lumpinee stadium. It was a huge Halloween show in 2008. The crowd packed into the stadium inside, while there was heavy rainfall throughout the night. Water was dripping from the ceiling in half a dozen places. Saenchai was competing in the main event against a last minute replacement from Laos. Even before I walked out of the stadium, a realization that I knew nothing about real muay thai had come over me.
Since that day, I have been on a seemingly endless journey to fully understand proper muay thai scoring. I have been to Lumpinee stadium countless times now, and have even fought there once, albeit an empty stadium full of echoes.
WBC Muaythai World Champions
Here is a list of WBC Muaythai world champions, showing every world champion certificated by World Boxing Council's WBC Muaythai.
Here's a table showcasing some notable WBC Muaythai world champions:
Muay Thai - Pakkalek vs Rodtang (ปากกาเหล็ก vs รถถัง), Lumpini Stadium, Bangkok, 28.11.17
| Champion | Opponent | Result | Location | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boughanem | Steven Banks (United States) | Decision (5R) | Rajadamnern Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand | Vacant Title |
| McKinnon | Ashwin Balrak (Netherlands) | Unanimous Decision (50-46/49-46/50-45) (5R) | Trelawny Stadium, Montego Bay, Jamaica | Vacant Interim Championship |
| Lamsongkram | Stephen Wakeling (United Kingdom) | Decision (5R) | York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England | WBC Muaythai World Middleweight championship |
| Noppakrit | Anthony Ford (Canada) | Decision (5R) | Rajadamnern Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand | Vacant Title |
| Umeno | Jompitchit Chuwattana (Thailand) | Unanimous Decision (50-45/50-47/49-47) (5R) | Korakuen Hall, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan | Title Defense |