* Thai Boxers PK Chinese Martial Artists (12/05/2009) (Daqi)
Recently, there was a lot of talk about the Thai boxers challenging Chinese kungfu fighters. First, five Thai boxers challenged the Shaolin Temple, which declined to fight. Then the Ermei School came out to accept the challenge. But the truth is now emerging: This is an officially sanctioned commercial competition which is being hyped up by a pack of lies. The Thai boxers have never issued any provocative challenges, and no Chinese have offered to accept the challenges.
Lie #1: The team of the top five Thai boxers challenges the Chinese martial artists
According to the Chinese media, the top five Thai boxers are: Kaoklai, Fairtex, Singmanee Sor-Seesompong, Naruepon Fairtex and Singhyok Sor-Seesan.
On December 12, the Bangkok Post sports reporter Wanchai Rujawongsant said that the Thai media have not carried a single word about this challenge. He has never heard of a fighter named Fairtex. The only Fairtex that he knows is the name of a famous Thai boxing club. In the Chinese media reports, this fighting club even had very specific characteristics: born in 1986; 65 kilograms; 116 matches with 81 wins (including 36 KOs), 31 losses and 4 ties.
Wanchai Rujawongsant said that only Kaoklai out of the other four fighters is a truly first-class fighter.
Lie #2: The Thai boxing champion promises to knock out the Chinese fighter in seconds
Many Chinese media reports say that "the leader of the five Thai boxes is Kaoklai who said that they will sweep the Chinese 5:0. While the Shaolin Temple may have a long outstanding history, they are nothing compared to Thai boxing."
According to <Global Times>, Thai boxing chamption Kaoklai is currently participating in a tournament in South Korea. According to his website, his next match will be on January 16 in Thailand. There is no China appearance in his schedule. There is no hint as to when (if at all) he ever said that "it would be an insult to ask him to fight Chinese champion Liu Hailong."
Lie #3: The Shaolin Temple refused to fight the Thai boxing champion
Many media said that the top five Thai boxers want to challenge the Shaolin Temple. The reports said: "A reporter asked Kaoklai whether he was being over-confident to say that they will destroy Shaolin. Kaoklin waved his right fist and said: 'Get their master Shi Yongxin inside the boxing ring and see'." The reports then said that Shaolin refused to accept the challenge.
On December 1, Shaolin replied that they have never received any written challenge and they have never had any contact with any Thai boxing group.
... Actually the National Martial Arts Management Centre Free Style Fighting Division is supposed to be in charge of deciding who will be selected for the matches. These competitors have to be registered athletes in this completely commercial competition. The name of the competition is the "Sixth Annual Chinese-Thai Boxing Competition." In the previous five competitions, China won all the matches.
The promoter behind this "patriotic" farce is Xu Rui. It is his typical style to invoke patriotism and nationalistic sentiments to draw attention to his events.
According to Guangzhou Daily, they have a huge difference in opinion with Xu Rui. Whereas they insists on "looking for the objective truth in order to present the bright spots," Xu Rui uses the "typical entertainment news hyping to promote the event." Xu Rui harangued the Guangzhou Daily reporter: "I spent so much time to come up with these ideas, but you have exposed them. Isn't this like revealing how magic tricks are done?"