Steve Wakeling new S1 champion

Englands Steve Wakeling just won the S1 championship held at Sanam Luang to celebrate Queens birthday
he won in the final by K.O in last round with a knee to the head of former Muaythai star Pairot Wor Walapon and walked away with 500,000 baht prize

Brilliant news well done Steve (and his dad). Great for British MuayThai.

Well done Steven and Mark, congratulations - knew you could do it!

will have pics up on site later tonight after the womens fights!

always thoughtn you were a good fighter , well done

Congratulations Steve Wakeling, fantastic result.

Were there any other farang fighters in it? WHo did he beat in the other rounds?

he beat a Russian called Sergei first fight and then beat Arslan in the semi finals. Arslan looked out of sorts though and never really got going.
Pairot beat Alex Dally first fight and then a Slovak fighter in semis. The Slovak boxer beat Sean Wright from Scotland in 1st round.

Thanks for the news. You are da man!

well done steve.

Yeah, congratulations to Steve, he really went from it from the first bell in the final and didn't give the Thai any air, throwing lots of elbows which is always exciting stuff to watch! He also had to drop about 3kg's today and was just fighting on Sunday, but done well!

3 guys from the UK in the tournament, great to see! Also good to see a Scot on such a big stage to, so well done to Sean!

Excellent news for Steve and British muay thai, well done, what an achievment!!

Cheers Rob !

Congratulations to Steve.
Rob (or anyone else who was there) - can you tell me more about what happened with Sean's fight, like did he get knocked out or hurt badly? I can only assume he took the fight last minute cos I didn't know he was fighting (which might not seem strange except I'm his girlfriend!), and now I'm sitting at home worrying and waiting for an email from him to say he is okay! Any info would be appreciated!

Well done Stephen and Mark.

That's around £7.2k in real money.

Beers on you then Mark.

I saw the fights tonight live and it was good to see!
Steve and I trained together at Fairtex.
Congratulations to Steve!!!!!

Congrats to the Wakelings.

Nice one Steve lad good work.

Photo of Steve after his win nicked from ChokeMuay...good photo worth nicking.

Nice one fellas! Especially Steven for winning!

Well done!

Smiler

Congrad's, what a tournament to win

Fantastic result, well done Steven and Mark.

Anya he wasn't hurt at all as far as I could see
If anything he could have won his fight but he just didn't push forward enough. He cut his opponent twice with elbows.

Thanks Rob, I actually got an email shortly after posting! Its just when I read this thread first time, I misread it and thought by saying the Slovak beat Sean in the 1st round you meant 1st round of their fight rather than the 1st round of the competition!

Steve v JWP in the Future....

Steve has "apparantly" in the past said he wants JWP's crown !!!

Bring it on..

nice one mate watched it on tv

Thank you Rob for putting thread up so quick. Thank you everyone for your kind words. Stephen you have made me so proud, your not just a son and fighter to me, your becomming my hero. Stephen has just took seven months of Muay Thai no training, he went to Thailand and hes sponser Philp Wong FAIRTEX to get fit for a comeback fight in november. With a week to go a promotor phoned Fairtex and asked for a fighter to fight a Italian fighter the next day, Stephen took the fight and won in the third round, but broke a toe. While chilling and waiting to come home on the 16 S1 called Fairtex a day and a half befor the S1 for a late replacement Stephen took the challange to try and give something back to one of the best training camps in the world FAIRTEX and was pleased to represent them and add a S1 champion to there cv. Stephen started hes Muay Thai training watching and admiring Kevin Harper in England John Wayne Parr Euorpe, And Johmod Thai and dreamed of being as good as them from the age of 14 it has nothing to do with wanting there crowns but respecting them and wondering if when he reaches a high level would he reach theres and share the same ring.

Mark,Kevin was over the moon when i told him last he was very proud as we all are nice good luck.

Great News ! Well Done Mark And Steven .

Thanks Vinny & Kevin and remember without role models like Kevin for young fighters like Stephen to follow none of this would be possible. Hopefully now Stephen will inspire younger fighters to start following him. Then all we need is some money to follow and let all great fighters get what they deserve a decent pay for a very disaplined and hard life. Just think what our great British fighters would achive if they didnt have to work to pay the bills.

just heard from tee in thailand that sean's fight was real close, took it at last minute, and it went to points decision. max respect due. regards from the caley crew.

Well done Steven, and well done Mark, it is a fantastic achievement. Hopefully you can now get on the K1 max and Superleague circuits. Steven's achievements are even more astounding when you think of how many fights he has had, a proud day for British Thai Boxing.

Mark, congrats! I trained along side with Steve at the World Famous Fairtex camp. I am very proud of Steve. Fairtex just posted a story about Steve's S-1 Championship with pics at http://www.fairtex.com/news/news_view.php?n_id=144

Fairtex’s very own, Steve Wakeling Wins the 2005 S-1 Championship Title!
by FTX

Steve Wakeling took the S-1 Tournament invitation on a very short notice to fight on August 12, 2005 at the Royal Ceremony Fairground in Bangkok, Thailand.

Steve, initially at 78kg, had only two days to loose the extra 6kgs (approximately 13.5 lbs) to come down to the tournament weight of 72kg. Under the intense coaching of Bart van der Molen, Executive Manager of Fairtex Sports Club and Resort in Pattaya, and that of Mr. Philip Wong, Founder and Chairman of Fairtex Group, Stephen was able to make weight and be in his prime condition at fight day. However, Steve considered the underdog and is unknown by key Muaythai promoters and fight circuits.

The S-1 Tournament is an 8 man Tournament fought in 3 rounds of 3 minute round. The event was televised live on Thai Channel 3 TV.

Steve was one of the first to fight that night against Sergey Makogonov from Belarus. Sergey is a very strong fighter with good hands. Sergey started out very aggressive and strong, making it difficult for Steve in round 1. Initially, it looked as if Sergey had dominated the fight and would go on to the semi-final after round 2. However, in round 3, Sergey was running out of gas. Steve came into the ring with the determination to stay in the tournament and dominated Sergey, punishing him with knees and cut him with an elbow to win by points.

On the semi-final fight, Steve fought against Arslan Mongomedov from Russia. Arslan had recently sky rocketed to fame by beating Australian’s John Wayne Parr. However, tonight would prove different as the new kid on the block has something to prove. Steve controlled the fight and cut Arslan with an elbow in round 3 to win by points.

The final was the best fight of the tournament. Steve fought against Phairoj Vor. Varaphol from Changthai Thailand Gym. Phairoj was the more experienced and skilled fighter of the two. Phairoj is a former Suk Songchai Muaythai Super Star. Phairoj is the crowd’s favorite, having beaten Alex Dally during the quarter final and Jan Mazur on the semi-final. Steve started out strong and took Phairoj by a surprise landing an elbow. Phairoj came back in the second round with hard and strong kicks and punches. In round 3, the two came to a clinch. Phairoj dropped his head and Stephen with the height advantage attacked Phairoj with a left knee high to the head to win the S-1 Tournament. Phairoj was out cold. The crowd went wild as Steve ran around to celebrate his S-1 Championship victory!

Steve wins the purse of 500,000 Thai Baht (approximately US$13,000). Steve credits his win from his hard work and training at Fairtex Muaythai Fitness in Bangplee-Thailand and at Scorpion Gym in UK. He also credits the support from his Fairtex trainers, Mr. Wong, Mr. Ralph Beale, Mr. Anthony Lin, teammates, friends, family and father. Steve is also the WMC World Champion and will be contending for the WBC Muaythai Title soon.

Well done Steve, a promoter needs to get him in the ring with Pete Crooke!

nice one steven!!!


whats next?
JWP?
Bukaow?
Crooke?
Super league?

well done mate!!

Great news, congratulations to you and the wakling family!

Thank you again every one for your comments. Mr C, you have 3 out of 4 Stephen would love to fight these great fighters we just need to find promoters and sponsors to spend the money to get them on. The 4th is a possibility for the future, but for now we want to concentrate on Muay Thai fighting for him.

That'd be a nice poster to have at home!!! :)

I smell a trip to Japan.....

How old is steven now?

Japan sounds nice Rich!!! W.B.C World title will be a nice pice to collect. Then anyone that pays the bills. 21 but getting older by the day!!!!

wow!
Thats fantastic to be winning such things as the S1 at the tender age of 21!!!!



oh, those were the days!!! LOL :)

when will wakeling fight crooke?

Thanks Rich praise and good comments are always welcome. Espeacally when they come from a World class gym like the one you come from.
pinsinchai I personally think that Peter Crook and Stephen Wakeling have both earnt the right to be addressed by there names. Peter Crooke is a class and very tough fighter with great heart.Stephen will fight any fighter in the world that a promotor puts in front of him with a good pay day. As I'm sure Peter would. Maybe you have enough money pinsinchai to pay Peter Crook v Stephen Wakeling. Other then that there just two Great British fighters waiting and training for the next fight.

What a great honour you bestow upon us humble guys from Leeds
kindest regards from the bad co!

your from york.
you haven't even got an ASBO

Yes Mark, i think it works the opposite way though,when fighters are as good and as well known as the ones mentioned above they rarely get called by their full names. Crooke is with an 'E' by the way ;)
I was at the S1 and i want to say hats off to Steve, that Arsalan looks absolutely massive, what did he weigh in at?

S1 World Championships Aug.12.05

* Steve Wakeling S1 World champ Aug.12.05 photo from chokemuay.com

S1 World Championships Aug.12.05


img src="http://www.chokemuay.com/images/08.12.05.one.08.JPG" width="600" height="453">

* Steve Wakeling with elbow techniques

here is my report of the event i just published. check
it!

S1 World Championships Aug.12.05

oops... i'll try that again.



* Steve Wakeling with elbow techniques

here is my report of the event i just published. check it!

Nice write up. great reading and well done to the fighters as well
Thunder

Sorry pinsinchai, I just thought you were haveing a pop at Stephen. And yes he did look really big, but people always question Stephens weight, and he normally fights at 69.8kg so I can belive Arsalan would of made 72kg in the morning.

whats the deal with this WBC title then...is it gonna be big in muaythai. when is steve gonna fight for it?

thanks for your nice comments.

here is one of my favorite shots of the finals:



* after seven rounds of full Muay Thai, Wakeling keeps great form vs. the very experienced Pairot. Seems the Fairtex Gym does a good job, doing what they do.

I hope so Liam, from what I have heard the King of Thailand is backing them along with the W.M.C and it was the W.B.C and others that made boxing really big, lets just hope they accive a fraction for Muay Thai what they have for boxing and all great fighters like you and all over the world get a living out of the sport, you all really deserve atleast that!!!!! If every thing goes ok Stephen hopes to fight for one in January.

good luck to your son mark , i have never met him only seen a couple of his fights but he is quality and exciting to watch and i agree with what you say about the fighters deserving pay days to match the training and effort they put in. would be only good for the wbc to be fully involved.

has stefan fox got anything to do with the wmc world title mate?
I agree with you mate, Steve does look big but at this level they are the masters of deception. Coming in at 69kg looking like 80kg the next day, i need some of those skills!

Steve holds the 69.8kg W.M.C World title and Stefan has something to do with it, but the one Stephen is fighting for next is W.B.C.

Arsalan weighed in at 71kgs.

Great respect to you all brilliant.

i liked watching Steve's fighting techniques, it was very entertaining. the guy fought 8.5 rounds of full muay thai and i noticed his consistency. very consistent.

i def would like to see a Wakeling vs. Arslan rematch, in full muay thai.

is Steve still in BKK, and if he is, how long will he be here for?

you think he would be up for a rematch with Arslan?

No Stephen is back in England. Stephen loved shareing the ring with great fighters like Arslan and Changthai and Sergei and to beat three fighters like these under full Thai rules in less then two hours to win the S1 World championship has made him a happy man. He now has a couple of big fights in the pipe line, and should be Consertrating on these but if a promotor offered a exspenses and payday he would be honured to fight these fighters again.

wakeling far too clever for arsalan

oops sorry i should have put Stephen, no disrespect intended i assure you.

Congrats to Stephan. Just curious who is he fighting for the WBC belt and where will it be held?

Hi Angela I was asked if Stephen would fight for a WBC belt in January in England, I agreed as to who is he fighting for a WBC belt whoever they put in front of him, they havent told me yet. Just that theres a pay day and belt to get ready for. I will let you know when I do.

Congratulations to you Mark your son is doing you and himself very proud he is being talked about everwhere and fighting extremely well.

Cheers Mark Pease.

I know its a world title and if fought in England it would make more sense if it was England v Thailand or England v Australia or whatever but i think there are a couple of English fighters (Peter Crooke and Kevin Harper) that have prooved they are worthy of the same international recognition. Would love to see Stephen against top domestic opposition now he has beaten some of the best from around europe and the world.

harper rematch. Shame how the last one in London ended.

crooke would be a big test....but also get the WORLD recognition. Pete's got the long term reputation and steve is the hot new prospect. good fight between two great fighters.

Congratulation on a job well done, winning the S1 is special, winning it on such a short term notice entry even more. Something to be very proud of.

Best Regards,

Guy Paret
Team HTK
Superpro Belgium

noi how about crooke v harper title eliminator! lol

now you know that wont happen!

well it should.

id certainly get my money out of my pocket for a ticket

u'd probably be judging :) ;) LOL

in all honesty i think Pete would be far too strong for either of them and i cant see any fight happening as Pete is contracted to the superleague. Its a fantastic achievement by steven winning the S1 and maybe over the next few years he may go on to even greater things but right now there isn't anybody at any weight in the uk who fights at the standard Pete is fighting at! There are lots of good up and coming fighters doing really well all over the world but Pete has been fighting at the very top for years now and at 70kg he'd beat anybody! When he fights the best 9/10 he beats them!!

someone's bound to think otherwise and thats fair enough, im not saying these guys aren't any good, its great for the uk that steven won the S1 and likewise if (when) Kev beats Balisha next month but i think right now he's out in a league on his own!

Maybe Pete should enter the S1 then you normally get £15,000.00 pounds for some reason this time Stephen only got £7,500.00 I'm sure there isnt many British fighters earning this amount of money in 2 hours if any. I don't mean to be disrespectful but I personally think that Kevin Harper or Stephen Wakeling would more then give Peter a test. If there are any sponsers or promotors out there Stephen will fight Peter for £2,500.00 and if like said its so easy a task I'm sure Peter wont need much, so lets get the battle of great Britan on and give two great British fighters a extra pay day. And if the pay day matches the task in hand Stephen will fight anyone in the world in hes weight divisions and under Muay Thai rules.

If Peter is interested I'be be willing to talk about doing it next year.

If another promoter did it I'm also prepared to back Steven in a side bet ;) (dependant on judges)

I'd like to see it FTR and proper judges and reffing as this would give steves style the advantage. However i cant see him going the 5 rounds with pete without getting KO'd. JMO 20quid a ticket sell 300 theres more than enough for both fighters pay days.

that`s a fight everyone want`s to see.
cant see why wont happen if any one would put that fight on it would be a sell out venue for sure.

LOL @ Dan.
"depending on judges"