Tway Mashaung with his title belt. Pic: Juliet Shwe Gaung

SATURDAY November 8 was his day, the day Myanmar champion boxer Tway Mashaung beat the Thai at their own game, and made all Myanmar hearts beat a little faster.

The result of the Thai-Myanmar international Letwhay Challenge Fight [see this page] cemented the place Tway Mashaung has in the world of traditional boxing and in the high opinion of his fans and fellow fighters. His victory over the fabled Thai gold belt champion Parvi is one for the archives of Myanmar traditional boxing. As his fans expected, the 25-year-old Myanmar champion clinched the match in the second round with a stunning head butt that left Parvi with four stitches, and forced the ring doctor to call the fight.

The match was among more than 50 five-round bouts fought by the Myanmar champion in which he lost only one, to Kyae Linn Aung in 2004. He started at the age of 16 with interim matches in festivals in his home town of Dawei, winning more than 30 matches with only a couple of draws.

The meet drew a heavy gate, with fans paying up to K10,000 for a seat. But if the champ shared the concern of some of his fans that he might not win, he wasn’t showing it. “Maybe I’m used to big fights,” he said.

He has beaten foreign boxers before, at the SEA Games in Thailand and Indonesia, and in a cage fight in Austria.

The gold belt he won for this latest Thai-Myanmar match, awarded by the Myanmar Olympic Committee and Ministry of Sports, is his second. The first was conferred by the Myanmar Letwhay committee.

A modest man of few words, Tway Mashaung said his opponent was “hard to beat. He’s fast.”

“My aim is to be a freeweight champion,” said the 63kg, 5-foot-5-inch champion, whose rise has pitted him against heavier men, including Thura Ye Aung and Kyaw Nyein, who is more than middleweight, but could not defeat him.

Saw Ngaman, Lone Chaw, Wan Chaing also outweigh him, but he has not fought them yet. Asked what he thought of fighting the 75-kilo ex-champion Wan Chaing, Myanmar’s best, Tway Mashaung just says: “I’m going to die. He’s my favourite boxer... I like him for his endurance, his speed and because he never backs down,” said Tway Mashaung.

The match on November 8, was filled with his fans, as well as close friends from Dawei. “Many friends from Dawei were at that match,” he said afterward. “I already called mum and will go back to Dawei this coming week when I get some leave.”

As a teenager, the rookie boxer would ask older guys about boxing, said the champion about his early days. In 2004, he got the name “Tway Mashaung” from his first teacher U Myint Lwin back in Dawei. His real name was Yan Naing Lynn, and close friends still call him “Yan Naing”. His current trainer is U Kyaw Soe.

Unlike some, he does not let the praise of fans disturb his natural humility.
“Tway Mashaung has all five knockout points – head, elbow, knee, punch and kick, and he is expert in the head-butt. Other boxers have only one knockout point, but he has them all,” said one fan who came to the match on November 8.

To up-and-coming boxers, Tway Mashaung said “everything can happen when you try hard”. To his fans, he says: “Thank you for your support.”