Samukawa (left) from Japan and Myanmar’s Lone Chaw after their drawn bout on May 3.

CULTURAL exchanges don’t normally involve beating people senseless but that was the name of the game at Thuwanna Indoor Stadium last weekend, when four fighters from Japan took on Myanmar’s finest boxers.

The result was a resounding victory for the hosts. Tway Ma Shaung and Saw Nga Man defeated Crazy Hill and Jin Ka Wa Hiroaki respectively, with the other two fights both ending in stalemates.

Tway Ma Shaung and judo black belt Crazy Hill opened proceedings on May 2, the local fighter entering the ring to the tune of Myanmar Pyi Thar (Myanmar citizen), which sent the crowd into a frenzy.

In the opening round Crazy Hill used his dangerous “catch and floor” move but struggled to land any blows on his opponent. Soon Tway Ma Shaung gained the ascendancy and his withering counterattacks, a combination of straight right punches and let hooks, left Crazy Hill sprawled on the canvas.

One minute and one second into the second round and the fight was over – Tway Ma Shaung floored Crazy Hill for the third time and, according to the competition rules, any competitor who has to be counted three times automatically loses the bout.

“I planned to use the “catch and floor” move as my strategy to win. But I pretty quickly realised that my technique was not effective on him,” Crazy Hill said after the match. He added that he was disappointed the referee had stopped the contest because he wanted to contin-ue to fight Tway Ma Shaung.

Karate black belt and kick boxer Kurenai Toshiya was the next to enter the ring, holding up a placard professing his love for “my mother land Japan”. Unfortunately for Toshiya, who has studied Muay Thai and Myanmar traditional boxing for 13 years, he had to be content with a draw against Kyal Linn Aung.

When Toshiya went down heavily in the fourth round, after a withering series of right-left punches from Kyal Linn Aung, it looked as though it might be 2-0 to Myanmar but Toshiya showed the Japanese fighting spirit by getting up off the canvas and forcing the bout into a fifth and final round.

“I can’t say that I prefer Myanmar boxing over Muay Thai,” Toshiya said afterwards, “but it is sure that Myanmar traditional boxers have big hearts, they are very brave.”

In the first fight on May 3, Saw Nga Man – recently crowned as the best boxer in the country – made short work of opponent Jin Ka Wa Hiroaki, flooring his rival for the third time – thus ending the bout – just one minute and forty seconds into the first round.

Hiroaki, a kick boxer and judo black belt, just couldn’t match Saw Nga Man’s continuous body blows.

“Saw Nga Man has become a free weight champion recently and he was determined not to settle for a loss or even a draw,” said his coach U Tin Oo.
Determined to register a victory for his country in the last fight of the competition, judo and karate black belt Samukawa entered the ring wearing a rising sun bandana and urged the crowd to raise the noise level and inspire the fighters.

The 79-kilogram Japanese fighter went five rounds toe-to-toe with the slightly lighter Lone Chaw in a brutal and bloody contest that took it out of both competitors.

Samukawa showed a real aptitude for Myanmar boxing and earned the respect of the crowd by wearing some withering blows from Lone Chaw, one of Myanmar’s top fighters. In the third round Lone Chaw looked to have the advantage over Samukawa, tying him up in the corner several times. The Myanmar boxer couldn’t land the decisive blow, however, and by the fifth round, with Lone Chaw tiring, Samukawa appeared on top.

He hit Lone Chaw with a flying knee to the face three times before the bell rang to signal a draw.