Two Thai boxers make gold medal fights

Two veteran boxers from Thailand with entirely different Olympic experiences made the gold medal round. Manus Boonjumnong, the Athens champion, will take on Somjit Jongjohor, who is five years older than Manus.

Two veteran boxers from Thailand with entirely different Olympic experiences made the gold medal round on Friday. Manus Boonjumnong, the Athens champion who then went into debt because of reported drinking and gambling problems, beat Cuba’s Roniel Iglesias in 10-5 in a light welterweight semi-final.

Boonjumnong is the first Thai athlete to win medals in consecutive Olympics. “My body is still in good condition, so I have no problems,” Manus said.

Flyweight Somjit Jongjohor out-pointed Vicenzo Picardi of Italy 7-1 to earn his spot in the final. Somjit is 33, five years older than Manus, and also was in Athens, where he blew a three-point lead in the final round of a preliminary bout against Cuba’s Yuriorkis Gamboa and lost.

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“Obviously, I got older, but I have gained more experience, technically and strategically in fighting against US, Russian and Cuban boxers,” Somjit said.

He will face another Cuban, Andres Laffita, for the gold medal. Laffita edged Russia’s Georgy Balakshin 9-8 with a last-second punch.

“The Cuban will be more difficult to beat than Picardi,” Somjit said. “The thing that I will worry about the most is his counterpunch. I will have to adjust my style by not moving too fast.”

Moving too fast was one of Manus’ downfalls away from the ring. After winning in 2004, he received a call from the King of Thailand on a mobile phone then received a USD 600,000 bonus for his victory.

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But Manus dived too heavily into nightlife and only began his comeback after asking his nation’s first Olympic boxing champion, Somluck Kamsing, to become his trainer.