From the WMC


Hello England,

Looks like this was a great show which we are very happy about.

Clearly the English fighters are continuing to improve, something England should be very proud off. Special congratulations to Steve Wakeling as Jomhod is a true legend who has been on top of his game for many years.

Judging.

As there were no title fights, we used English judges. Tony Myers, no doubt about it, is one of the most experienced non-Thai referees in the field. He has worked with IFMA judging for many years, he has taken all the WMC judging courses and has also studied with the Thai Board of Boxing.
Craig O Flynn lives and breathes MuayThai. He has also taken all the WMC and IFMA judging courses and is completely competent to judge shows at all levels.

So, looking at this, England should not have been disadvantaged. To be honest, in Thailand when fights are even, the result will go to the home crowd, the English boys and girls who have fought in Thailand are well aware of this. All the Thais who fought were top-class so for any English boy to go the distance and indeed make it a controversial decision is a great achievement. This is something all the gyms should be proud off.

As Tony Myers suggested, we could ask the Head Referee from Rajdamnern, Lumpini and Omnoi (all members of the WMC technical board) to take a look at a DVD of the fight. But, no decision could change – especially taking into consideration the huge amount of knowledge that Tony and Craig bring to the table - this must be said in all fairness.

Bottom line is, I have seen all the English boys for many years. I was the referee when Steve Wakeling won the WMC World Title against Ying-Yai, I have seen David Paquette going from strength to strength, Kieran I have seen progressing for many years, we have give Damian the chance to fight for the Intercontinental Title in Japan he is such a classy boxer – we should all be proud of them for going so far and with all our support they can go much further.

Supporters and corner-men always see a different fight to what the judges are watching. Emotions fly high at these events - I am sure that when you all watch the tape in peace you will agree with the judges.

In Australia, we have had many close and controversial decisions - Wayne Parr and Bruce McFie lost very closely against Thais for example. But, you would not see the gyms going on and on about judging on the Net. Sure, the boxers are always unhappy to lose but they are professional enough to move on.
The trainers will have a private meeting with the judges to look at the score sheets, everyone discusses it and then they prepare for the next show - during which again the most experienced judges will sit on the table.

This is the way it should be done. We all belong to one family, so problems should be sorted out together – and not on public forums. It seems like this is something which you should consider in England.

So, congratulations to the whole English team for a great performance - with results like this you can be considered as one of the Muaythai power houses

And, to Dan Green – no-one really has yet mentioned him for putting on such a fantastic event, we all know how much work and headache goes into organizing such a show .

Well done!

Stephan Fox