Over the course of a week I covered an annual Mon bare knuckle boxing event in Thailand near the Burmese border. The Mon Village was founded by a monk 30 years ago and is composed mostly of Mon, Karen, and Burmese refugees. The event is dedicated to a monk who first organized the event and commemorates his birthday.
A Mon fighter gets treatment after the match, going toe to toe for 3 rounds. Burmese boxing values heart above skill. Fighters that are willing to go blow for blow are rewarded with tips from the crowd during the middle of the round as well a greater prize money.
The main event of day four was a transexual (ladyboy) who fought a homosexual from the village. The transexual was touted as a Burmese boxing champion.
An 8 year old Thai boy gets treatment from his father between rounds.
Fighters are responsible for wrapping their hands and often share shorts and cloth.
So is a 19 year old Karen refugee living in Sangkhla Buri, Thailand. He has no citizenship only an ID card that allows him to attend college where he studies structural engineering. He is extremely lucky compared to the other refugees in the village, who are working full-time by age 15. His first bout lasted only a few seconds as he moved his opponent head into his left elbow making contact with the brow, knocking him out with so much force that it caused the other fighter to have a seizure. Ten minutes after the match So shook my hand and asked if I would take a picture with him. His hand felt feeble and frail like an old person. He was so thankful and excited that we were there covering the event. It was hard to believe that a kid so kind and delicate was capable of inflicting that much damage onto a human.
