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After wrapping her thumbs and wrists in material, the 19-year-old with cornrows slid her tightened fists into black and purple gloves. She stood up and, inside moments, fired just a few punches earlier than rapidly shifting right into a guarded stance to dam incoming blows.
The teenager fighter is Kullanat Yoohanngoh, aka Aida Looksaikongdin, who simply shattered almost a century of custom by turning into the primary Thai lady to step into the ring at Thai boxing’s most historic establishment – Rajadamnern Stadium. On Friday, the world’s first Muay Thai stadium noticed change extra vital if much less apparent than its snazzy makeover when it ended a 77-year prohibition on ladies boxers.
“This battle means a lot to me,” she mentioned with a smile about 10 minutes earlier than making historical past. “It exhibits the world that I don’t must be a person to field Muay Thai at this stadium. Anybody can, no matter their gender.”
Previous to Friday, ladies weren’t allowed to enter and even contact the ring.
As part of its Rajadamnern World Collection, the venue on Friday hosted six bouts by male boxers, however the spotlight of the evening got here on the finish when the feminine athletes battled.
Aida’s match was the primary, and she or he fought Iranian fighter Zahra Shokouhi. The pair set foot into the ring to loud cheers from the viewers. Aida stepped out of the ring hailed as “the primary Thai lady to win at Rajadamnern” in Thai-language media.
“I really feel so proud and honored,” Aida mentioned. “I’ve been at this stadium so many occasions to see males battle. However I by no means imagined that I might be boxing myself right here immediately.”
Aida’s disbelief was shared by friends akin to Ranee Klinratree, who fights as The Star Sitcho.
“I’ve heard that Rajadamnern was so strict no ladies might go in and battle. That’s altering immediately, and I nonetheless can’t imagine it,” mentioned the 23-year-old from the beachside metropolis of Pattaya.
The ring that had been off-limits to ladies now welcomes fighters from world wide. To this point, these have included Milagros Andrea Lopez, a 26-year-old Argentinian, who battled The Star Sitcho on Friday.
Solely six years after she took up Muay Thai again dwelling, Lopez mentioned she “felt a calling” and adopted it to Thailand.
“I can’t imagine it. I simply arrived on the stadium and I really feel so excited, prefer it’s a dream,” Lopez mentioned by way of a translator.
‘It’s time’
In contrast to different boxing arenas that permit ladies to battle, Rajadamnern Stadium has by no means hosted a ladies’s match because it opened in 1945.
For many years, conservative perception – deeply rooted in patriarchal norms – mentioned the boxing venue was “sacred” and thus shouldn’t be “contaminated” by ladies who menstruate, a persistent taboo and superstition that to this present day is taken into account an indication of their “impurity” in components of Asia.
However now’s the time to name out gender bias and discrimination towards ladies, says the stadium’s new administration crew.
“It’s 2022, and the world has modified loads,” mentioned Thainchai Pisitwuttinan, CEO of World Sports activities Ventures. “There are feminine boxers on the market who’re as competent because the male fighters. It’s time to adapt and permit ladies to enter the ring.”
And it’s about time, mentioned a Canadian lady with a long time of expertise within the trade who has skilled younger feminine fighters on the northeastern gymnasium she runs along with her husband.
“Seeing them compete on the mecca of Muay Thai and receives a commission adequately is satisfying and creates a rippling impact in the neighborhood,” Frances Watthanaya mentioned. “The younger ladies at my gymnasium who get to observe them now can aspire to compete at Rajadamnern Stadium.
Nonetheless, she mentioned extra must be accomplished to assist and create a pipeline of girls fighters on the native stage.
“The younger ladies within the nation nonetheless battle to e book fights and lack enough tools and apparel required for coaching,” she mentioned. “Regardless of this, they proceed to battle. Their grit and dedication are mind-blowing.”
Gender parity is simply one of many modifications at Rajadamnern Stadium, a run-down and sweat-stained facility previous its prime that clung to a classic enchantment.
Earlier this yr, World Sports activities Ventures introduced that it could “revolutionize” the stadium for a brand new era and world followers by updating it for the occasions. A few of the upgrades included a renovated exterior, trendy branding, ringside cocktails, a brand new sound system, and the form of dazzling lighting tech you’d anticipate at an MMA present.
The musicians who careen by way of conventional music throughout every battle have been supplemented by a ringside DJ spinning lure, techno, home, and extra throughout breaks.
“We moved on with some diversifications, however on the identical time we stored the core spirit of Rajadamnern: Muay Thai,” Thainchai mentioned.
Rajadamnern allowed feminine bouts lower than a yr after one other prestigious stadium. This previous November, Lumpini Boxing Stadium hosted a ladies’s mini flyweight championship – the primary time feminine fighters entered the ring because it opened at one other location in 1956.
Similar guidelines, identical rounds, identical prize
The Rajadamnern World Collection carries a THB1 million (US$28,000) purse for champions of every weight class.
The 112-pound ladies’s class counted eight fighters – 4 Thais and 4 foreigners – vying for the belt and money prize.
In contrast to conventional Muay Thai matches of 5 rounds, the match encompasses three rounds scored on a 10-point system. The ring can also be lowered to six×6 meters. The brand new ruleset applies to each female and male fighters.
“It’s an excellent child step for girls to have the ability to battle beneath the identical guidelines, identical rounds, and identical prize,” Aida mentioned. “I’m not asking for any favors. I simply need the identical rights [as the men].”
Rising up in a household of boxers – her dad and 16 siblings all battle – Aida began coaching when she was seven. Not solely did she battle with discovering a lady of the identical age to spar with, Aida usually met insults and disrespect.
“Individuals say we’re weaker, and we are able to’t battle like the lads. That’s not true,” she mentioned. “We’ve the identical endurance, self-discipline, and talent that they do. And I imagine that we are able to make the fights simply as enjoyable and pleasurable.”
Since she first heard that she could be combating at Rajadamnern, Aida mentioned she rescheduled her coaching to start out at 5am with 10-kilometer runs. The routine continued within the night with coaching from 4pm till 6pm. She mentioned she’s has stored it up day by day since.
On Friday evening, Aida triumphed over Shokouhi, scoring 29-28 from the three judges.
Requested about her future, she mentioned that she wish to go world and problem opponents world wide. She additionally goals of girls’s Muay Thai rising as in style as the lads’s.
“This match is so necessary to me and my household, as a result of it exhibits feminine boxers that they will dare dream large, identical to I do,” Aida mentioned.
The Rajadamnern World Collection will happen each Friday by way of September.
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