October 3, 2007 --- Rivalries exist wherever competition arises.  In the small Muay Thai community in the San Francisco Bay Area, rivalries keep competition alive and strong.  Muay Thai, or Thai Boxing, is a sport that is growing exponentially in popularity with the explosion of Mixed Martial Arts.  Ten years ago there were but two dominant Muay Thai camps in the San Francisco area – Fairtex (www.fairtex.com ) and World Team USA (www.worldteamusa.com ).  These two Thai Boxing camps competed with each so much in local competitions that naturally a rivalry between the camps developed.  Today there are nearly 10 times as many Thai Boxing camps in the Bay Area, all competing with one another.

One rivalry however has stood out from the rest for years.  Ra Karma Young of Fairtex and Michael Mananquil of World Team USA are young talented Thai Boxing Champions who have fought everybody in their weight class for many years – everybody except each other.  This is the best kind of build up to a climatic meeting in the ring.  There was plenty classic rival “trash talk” and “calling out” in a public setting over the years.  For one reason or another, their planned meeting in the ring fell through several times.  

However, on September 8, 2007 Promoter Extraordinaire Dennis Warner managed to capture this “historic” meeting on World Championship Muay Thai in Gardenia, California.  The event, sanctioned by the WBC, promoted world class Muay Thai fighters from around the world.  Yet Young and Mananquil’s fight was so anticipated by all that it brought a huge crowd from Northern California to Southern California just for the event.

 

In front of a packed crowd, even at midnight, Young and Mananquil did not disappoint.  Their fight lived up to expectations as both fighters showed their talent and well crafted upbringing.  There were no blows left unanswered and no second left lingering.  As the fight went on however, Mananquil slowly edged out his dominance.  With seemingly unanswered elbow strikes to the head, Mananquil showed the judges that he lead the fight and had it under control.  Young did not make it easy and clearly offered his own brand of offensive strikes.  In the end, Mananquil did enough damage to win by majority decision.  For fighters who usually end their fights by knockouts, an end decided by the judges manifested how well fought the fight was executed. Mananquil, who currently holds the IKKC Welterweight World Title, added the WBC International Title with this win.

The Young and Mananquil rivalry embodied competition at its epitome.  Theirs was the kind that had their trainers, their teammates, their friends, their families and their camps wrapped around it.  Thus, not only was it exhilarating it was emotional – for everyone involved.  

For a sport that is slowly but surely planting its roots in America, you can only hope there will be more rivalries such as these to continually invigorate full contact fans.  And you can only hope for the continued development of talents such as Young and Mananquil, as most would hope for more Larry Bird versus Magic Johnson and Joe Fraiser versus Mohammed Ali.

Watch this fight on In Demand Pay Per View (www.indemand.com ) on October 5, 2007. Check your local listings for more information.

Contact:

Brittany Huynh
Title: Director
Company: World Team USA, LLC
Address: 2575 Ocean Avenue, San Francisco, CA  94132
Phone: (415) 333-3496
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