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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 144
ike most people involved in muay
Thai, the promoter Songchai
fought his way up. “My family was
very poor, and, as a boy, I was sent
to live with the monks in the temple,”
he says, si ing in his street-level offi ce,
which is sandwiched between a pair
of large homes that he owns. “I began
as a fighter, but I saw no future in it.
So I began promoting.” Known for his
keen eye, integrity and ability to match
competitive fi ghters, Songchai has spent
the last 30 years promoting bouts in
Bangkok’s two big stadiums, Lumpini
and Rajadamnern, including tomorrow
night’s bout featuring Tee U.S. Adorning
his office is a pair of altars devoted to
Buddha, a wall-size dry-erase board on
which he keeps track of upcoming fi ghts
and four vases that each contain one
fighting fish. “Put these fish together
and they a ack the cheeks, necks, and
eyes,” says Songchai, admiringly. “They
fi ght to the death.”
I run into him at 6 the next morning
inside the arena, where the evening’s
fights will take place. Asked who he
likes in the title match, Songchai hedges
at first, then finally ventures that Tee
U.S. has a be er than 50 percent chance
of winning. As an ace matchmaker in
Bangkok, Songchai knows the fi ghters
as well as he knows his own children. He
spends afternoons scrutinizing them,
observing their form, finding holes
in their strategies. There are no fans
around this early in the morning, but the
stadium is full of anxious young fi ghters
146
JUNE 2011 • HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
“I’M LOOKING AT
IT AS JUST ANOTHER
FIGHT. IF I GET
TOO EXCITED,
I MIGHT MAKE
MISTAKES,” SAYS TEE
U.S. BUT IT’S HARD
TO RESIST GETTING
WORKED UP.
in boxer shorts preparing to weigh in.
Tee U.S., who still needs to trim down,
spends 90 minutes tro ing around the
arena, careful to fi nd a balance between
losing weight and preserving energy for
his match tonight. More running, more
sweating, more liniment oil all combine
to send him to the scale with a sense
of confidence. He steps on gingerly,
watches the diode numerals settle in
at exactly 105. He suppresses a smile
and poses for the local photographers.
Catching his eye, I ask him what he will
be doing this a ernoon. Before he can
answer, his trainer fi res back, “Eating!”
hrough much of the fight, Tee
U.S. seems to be in control. By
the third of fi ve rounds, though,
the momentum shifts. Slowly,
grindingly, Chai takes the lead. Now
he’s the one landing more punches