Interview with Siriphop Ratanasuban

The Ratanasuban family of One Songchai Promotions has been involved in the promoting of boxing and Muay Thai for over thirty years; October 4th at Bangkok’s famed Rajdamnern Stadium, the patriarch of the clan, Songchai Ratanasuban, celebrated his thirtieth anniversary with an event that will showcase some of Thailand’s greatest Muay Thai fighters.

Songchai’s son, Siraphop (Songchai Jr.), and daughter, Pariyakorn (Nong O), have slowly begun the transition of taking over the reigns of One Songchai Promotions. Siraphop handles the management and matchmaking of fighters while Pariyakorn takes care of the promotional and sponsorship matters.

On October 28th, One Songchai Promotions will open their own stadium, the Bangkok Boxing Stadium. The stadium will be used for Muay Thai shows as well as world championship boxing and women’s boxing. The first event set to be held at the stadium is the Mitsubishi Muay Thai Tournament, a round-robin tournament between some of the most popular Muay Thai fighters in Thailand.

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TSS: Hello Khun Siriphop, nice to speak with you again. Recently, one of your fighters, Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo, won a unanimous decision over Yoddamrong Sityodtong. Sityodtong is a former world champion and was his toughest fight yet. How do you feel about the win and how would you rate his performance?

Siraphop Ratanasuban: Of course I’m glad he won but I was worried he might not have done enough to get the decision. So you thought he did well?

TSS:  I thought it would be a difficult fight for him and knew Yoddamrong would provide him with a good test – and he did. But I thought Chonlatarn beat him pretty easily actually.

So what’s next for him? There are rumors that he’ll fight the winner of the Rudy Lopez – In Jin Chi? Is this true?

Siraphop Ratanasuban: He might but I don’t think he’s ready to fight either of them. What do you think?

TSS:  I think he needs a few more fights and needs to work on building more power in his punches. He could have knocked out Yoddamrong if he had a little more power. He’ll never have one punch power but he might be able to wear down his opponents and knock them out in the later rounds.

So do you think he’ll fight again here in Thailand before challenging for a title?

Siraphop Ratanasuban: He’s scheduled to fight again here in Thailand in December but we don’t know who his opponent is yet.

TSS: If he does fight the winner of Lopez and Chi, who would you rather see him fight?

Siraphop Ratanasuban: I’ll have to take a close look at the tapes of them but at this point I think he needs a few more fights before he’s ready.

TSS: You’ve got quite a stable of fighters. Who do you have fighting for you now and who do you currently view as your top fighters?

Siraphop Ratanasuban: Right now we’ve got Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai (3K-Battery), Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo, Saddam Kietyongyuth, Pongsith Wiangwiset, Somchai Nakbalee, Suttisak Samaksaman and Pichitnoi Sitbangprachan.

Chonlatarn and Yodsanan. Saddam Kietyongyuth is also on his way up. He’s 11-0 with 7 KO’s now.

TSS: What’s going on with Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai (3K-Battery)? Last I heard he was supposed to fight Manuel Medina and then Acelino Frietas in Rio. Frietas is fighting Julio Diaz in November in Brazil so I guess Yodsanan won’t be fighting him? What happened?

Siraphop Ratanasuban: We’ve actually been trying to get Yodsanan a title fight at 140 but it now looks like he’ll be fighting at 135. Banner Promotions has Yodsanan under contract and we’d love to get a title shot but for whatever reason it hasn’t happened. Banner Promotions allows Yodsanan to keep busy fighting in Thailand.

TSS: So tell us about your gym and stadium.

Siraphop Ratanasuban: Sure. Our stadium is called the Bangkok Boxing Stadium and the gym is the Bangkok Boxing Gym. The stadium holds 2000 people and the gym is big enough to allow thirty people to train together at any time. The grand opening is on October 28th. We were planning on having the grand opening on October 7th but changed it to October 28th because the 7th is a holiday, Buddhist Lent.

Our first show will be the Mitsubishi Triton Millions Baht Muay Thai Tournament which is a tournament between some of the best fighters in Thailand. Once the stadium is opened we’ll have Muay Thai and boxing shows on a regular basis. Every Saturday we’ll have women’s boxing and Muay Thai and the shows will be televised on UBC Cable TV.

TSS: Sounds like you’ll be busy. Are you busier with boxing or Muay Thai?

Siraphop Ratanasuban: It’s hard to say but its close, fity-fifty.

TSS: Is your father still involved in promoting or is he retired?

Siraphop Ratanasuban: He’s still involved but not as much as in the past. My sister and I would like to see him take time to relax but he needs to be involved.

TSS: I’ve heard from a reliable source that one of your fighters might be going to the UK to fight in a King’s Birthday card. Is that true?

Siraphop Ratanasuban: Well, I’d like to see one or more of my guys fight in the UK but at this time nothing has been finalized.

TSS: Siraphop, a pleasure as always. Thanks for speaking with us.

Siraphop Ratanasuban: No problem. Make sure you come and check out the stadium!

News and Notes

October 4, 2006: Somsak Sithchatchawal (46-1-1, 37 KO’s) will make approximately $150,000 for his title defense against Cellestino Caballero (24-2, 17 KO’s), his first since winning the title from Mahyar Monshipour in France. Caballero will make approximately $100,000. Both fighters have excellent knockout power and the bout promises to be explosive. The fight takes place at the Wat Ban Rai in Korat, Thailand in a birthday celebration for eighty-year-old Thai monk Luang Paw Khun Parisutho.

October 5, 2006: In another excellent matchup, WBC Youth Flyweight Champion Lito Sisnorio (5-2, 2 KO’s) defends his title against undefeated Asian Boxing Council flyweight champion Panomroonglek Kratingdenggym (14-0, 8 KO’s). Sisnorio won his title in shocking fashion when he destroyed undefeated and highly ranked Fahpetchnoi Sor Chitpattana in May of this year. The fight takes place at Wat Bang Plee in Samut Prakarn, Thailand.

Thai Tidbits

September 30, 1978: Sung Jun Kim of Korea knocks out Thailand’s Netrnoi Sor Vorasingh in three rounds to win the WBC Jr. Flyweight Title.  Kim went on to make three successful defenses before losing to Shigeo Nakajima.

Sor Vorasingh was the youngest fighter to ever lose a world title. The 4’10” southpaw was all of nineteen years and 5 months old. Just four years later he was killed in a motorcycle accident.