Muay Thai Fight Night featuring Rhona Walker and Joe Le Maire
Our most recent Muay Thai fight night took place on Wednesday and saw visiting fighter, Rhona Walker and sponsored fighter, Joe Le Maire in the ring at Bangla Boxing Stadium.
Rhona Walker from Scotland was first to fight. She faced a Thai opponent in her second bout for Sumalee. She utilized her fast-paced, aggressive style to take her opponent out of her rhythm early on in the fight. Rhona has been working on with Khru Keng. In Round One she used her new skills to set up her body kicks which visibly stunned her opponent.
The second round saw Rhona keeping to the same game plan but switching to low kicks to stop her opponents evasive movements from her high kicks. With most of these shots being absorbed by her opponent, she was able to use her other strikes more effectively.
In the third round she tested her clinch further as in Round Two she was dominant in this area. From this was able to score a sweep. As the round progressed, Rhona applied relentless pressure throwing teeps and long knees. She also tested out a new feint technique taught to her by Khru Keng.
The bout was called to an end by the referee after several unanswered blows saw Rhona’s opponent unable to continue.
Next up we had sponsored fighter Joe Le Maire in his fourth fight of his sponsorship. He also faced a Thai opponent.
Joe started off the fight fast landing a solid left hook. His opponent answered with several strong body kicks and overhand right punches. As the round went on, Joe’s taller opponent used his range well to land a left elbow which stunned and cut Joe.
In between rounds, Joe was struggling to see out of his left eye or to hear any instructions, leaving him at a great disadvantage. As this was the first cut of his fight career, Joe was visibly shaken and his opponent was quick to see this. He had found a chink in the armour and he was determined to use this, understandably!
In the second round, Joe’s opponent capitalized on the damage done in the first, rushing in with a barrage of elbows and landing a knockdown. Despite this Joe maintained his composure and continued to press forward, taking the fight to his opponent. Again his opponent scored a knockdown with heavy elbow strikes.
With his opponent becoming over-confident, Joe was able to land precise left elbow and right head kick which surprised his opponent and almost turned the fight around. This very much gained Joe the full support of the crowd who were from then on right behind our young sponsored fighter with every strike he landed. Joe’s Thai opposition managed to land another clean right elbow which knocked Joe back into the ropes and the referee called the fight.
A great performance from both our fighters, with obvious improvements in technique from Rhona and Joe, despite the loss for Joe. Both are very much looking forward to their next fight. Check out the fight videos below.