Lone Chaw at home, August 29. Pic: Aye Zaw Myo

FROM a humble village background in Ayeyarwady Division, Lone Chaw has risen through the ranks of Myanmar kickboxing to become the country’s most feared and respected heavyweight champion.

Having demolished opponents across the country – and several times overseas – over the past decade with his thunderous leg strikes, splitting jabs and an ability to stay cool amid all the hype and rage of battle, it is reassuring to find the sinewy Kayin fighter is a good, old-fashioned nice guy.

As he approaches his 31st birthday next month, the one-time rice farmer reflects on his childhood in Sinhtone Auksu village with a quiet maturity born out of the discipline he honed through his ascent from poverty to national fame.

“When I was young I would help my parents work on the farm while I went to the village school. I dropped out in ninth standard and worked fulltime on the farm for about three years,” Lone Chaw says, sitting cross-legged on the floor of the comfortable yet spartan Yangon apartment he shares with fellow kickboxer Saw Swe Lay.

Unlike many young competitors today, Lone Chaw came to the sport as an adult, entering a tournament at a nearby village being held to mark a monk’s death. He made it to the final, which ended in a draw.

“It was my very first experience kickboxing, I’d never done anything like it in my life. I got K150 in prize money… but the important thing was that my devotion to boxing started from that day on.

“I used to drink, but after I started boxing I quit alcohol. Still, I haven’t managed to quit chewing betel and my coach doesn’t like it,” he says in his slightly shy, boyish way.

First to spot the emerging talent of the lanky youth was Lone Chaw’s cousin, Saw Ayeyar, himself a former kickboxer.

“Under his training I fought many times in the region around my home. My second coach was U Daung Nyo from Twentae township (in Yangon Division). He urged me to enter the first Myanmar traditional boxing state and division tournament in 1999,” Lone Chaw recalls.

He walked away with the gold medal as a middleweight.

“After I won that title, U Daung Nyo told me I had better move to Yangon to get more experience. I’ve been living here since 1999.”

A sharp learning curve in the big city resulted in a series of losses and hard-earned draws, a period Lone Chaw says he looks back on as the time he cemented the respect of fans and opponents.

On September 9, he enters the ring again, this time as favourite in the Golden Belt heavyweight title bout at Thuwunna Indoor Stadium.

Under trainer U Win Zin Oo, Lone Chaw goes up against the spirited Zam Htoo of Kayin State, who like Lone Chaw has moved up the weight divisions – he won the light-middleweight title at the national championships in May 2006 – in his bid for Myanmar kickboxing’s most revered crown.

The pair fought to a draw in a brutal match at Kandawgyi Park, Yangon, this May, largely thanks to Zam Htoo’s remarkable staying power in the face of heavy punishment.

“He can endure so much,” Lone Chaw says. “He fought well against me so this time I’ve prepared to my best. I never underestimate him because he’s a really good fighter – and he's younger than me.”

Lone Chaw insists he has no plan to retire anytime soon, saying he will continue fighting “as long as my fitness allows me”. But in the meantime, he has additional concerns on his mind.

“I would probably like to get married one day,” he says with a smile, “but I still have to get a girlfriend.”