Ramon Dekkers – the real-life Kickboxer

By Robert Carry

Anyone who has passed through Thailand will have been won over by the nation’s warm smiles, charming outlook and generous nature.

Visitors to old Siam will also know, however, that their famous niceness goes straight out the window when it comes to their brutal national fight sport – Muay Thai.

Ever since Jean Claude Van Damme travelled to Thailand to take revenge on Tong Po for beating the piss out of his brother in Kickboxer, westerners have been hopping off planes in Bangkok with the intention of securing a victory against one of those little Thai fellas.

The fact Thailand’s Muay Thai fighters start training before their balls drop, practice for six hours a day and clock up around 250 fights during their careers, means the average white boy gets beat like a red-headed stepchild. That all changed, however, when Ramon ‘The Diamond’ Dekkers rolled into town.

“I haven’t fought in Thailand for 10 years,” he says, “but people there still know me. My name is in the record books forever.”

Dekkers, who grew up in Breda in the Netherlands, first got involved in martial arts as a young teenager. He tried judo and boxing but when Muay Thai instructor Cor Hemmers opened a gym up the road, Dekkers found the fight style he had been made for. “I went along to a class and I liked what I saw,” he recalls.

Dekkers quickly got the hang of the ferocious fight style, which permits punches, kicks, elbow strikes and knees, and it wasn’t long before the teenager began making waves in the embryonic Dutch Muay Thai scene. He took his first fight at 16 against a fighter in his 20s – and knocked him spark out.

 

Some of Ramon’s best bits – hold on to your seat

Fights started to come in quick succession and encouraged by Hemmers, Dekkers began to develop his own super-aggressive style of Muay Thai. It was beautiful in its simplicity – Dekkers would chase his man down, unleashing a barrage of heavy blows until his opponent was either knocked out or too badly injured to continue. By the time he turned 18, in 1987, Dekkers was Dutch Muay Thai champion, winning by knockout against title holder Ramkisoen in the second round.

In the years that followed Dekkers fought and beat everyone who came his way and by 1990 the 20-year-old had two European Championship titles under his belt. Next up was a world title shot – against a Thai.

Top-rated

Dekkers went up against top-rated Mungkordum Sitchang in France and after a gruelling bout he won on points to claim his first world title. Although the fight caught the attention of fighters in Thailand, the title was dismissed by many on the basis that it was for the International Muay Thai Association (IMTA) belt. To be a considered a true world champion in the eyes of the Thais, Dekkers would have to fight for an International Muay Thai Federation (IMTF) title.

Dekkers secured a title shot against the reigning IMTF world champion and Thai favourate Nangpon in 1990 and Amsterdam was chosen as the venue. Although much of Europe was unaware of the clash, it was beamed live into millions of homes across Thailand with most expecting their champion to easily dispatch the European upstart.

When the bell rang Dekkers threw himself into the fight with characteristic aggression while Thailand held its breath. It wasn’t long before Nangpon began to struggle. He was dropped by heavy shots twice, but the dogged Thai kept dragging himself to his feet. The fight went the distance but there was only one winner.

“It was very strange for the Thais,” recalls Dekkers. “They didn’t know where Holland was, then all of a sudden there was a fighter from this place they had never heard of beating their champions. They didn’t know what to think.”

A rematch was called just two months later and this time Dekkers would be fighting in Muay Thai’s ancestral home. Lumpinee Stadium, a cauldron in the middle of Bangkok, is the Holy Grail for all Muay Thai fighters and it was packed out for the event.

Jean-Claude crapped himself before his fight with Tong Po. Dekkers meanwhile, was enjoying the build up to his clash-of-the-titans bout. “It was a good feeling,” he recalls. “I liked everything about what I saw. I liked the atmosphere, the temperature – it was great.”

Dekkers dominated the bout but when he failed to knock out his opponent and the result went to the all-Thai judges, he knew he would be returning home without his belt.

In the years that followed Dekkers clocked up a stunning number of fights, many of which were in Thailand. By the time he retired he had some 215 fights to his name. He won 175 of these bouts and knocked out 90 men.

Dekkers, pictured with trainer Cors Hemmers

Dekkers believes most of his losses were on poor points decisions, in front of partisan Thai crowds, and his record supports his claim. In 215 fights, he was only knocked out once. “There were times when I fought in Thailand and they told me I lost when I knew I had won,” he recalls. “But I would always be proud of myself.”

Sadly, the bouts took their toll and Dekkers suffered with injuries. He smashed his right ankle so badly and so often that he had to undergo surgery on dozens of occasions. He eventually had to fight while only able to kick with one leg.

One of Dekkers’s most celebrated bouts was against Thai legend Orono Por Muang-Ubol and the fight is widely considered as one of the greatest of all time. However, Dekkers was in poor shape. “I was injured in both of my legs,” he recalls. “I wanted to put some tape on my ankles but the referee wouldn’t let me.”

But despite his sometimes antagonistic relationship with the Muay Thai hierarchy, Dekkers remains full of praise for the country he ranks as his favourite in the world. The feeling was always mutual, and Dekkers became the first Westerner to be voted ‘Fighter of the Year’ in Thailand.

The day finally came when the injuries got too much and Dekkers simply couldn’t fight on. “I didn’t want to quit but I had to. I wanted to keep on fighting but I was only at 50 per cent. I had so much pain in my hands and my legs. It had to stop.”

Dekkers made brief comebacks in other disciplines, but by 2005 his fighting career was over.

However, Dekkers is still very much involved in the sport which with him as its flag bearer has grown exponentially in the west in recent years. He now trains a number of fighters for both Muay Thai and K1 competition, and travels the world holding seminars.

Dekkers believes there is no real secret to how to become a champion: “You need the discipline to train every day and to do the same thing every day, over and over.” He continues, “In Muay Thai you will get hurt, but when you are in pain or have an injury you have to keep going.”

While he might not be a household name in Ireland, everyone who knows Muay Thai knows exactly who Ramon ‘The Diamond’ Dekkers is. His top two YouTube highlight reels have almost six million views combined. A recent Muay Thai version of The Contender, called The Contender Asia, enjoyed an audience of 400million.

Dekkers might have hurt the pride of a lot of Thai fighters during the course of his stunning career, but he also earned the respect of the Thai people – and helped bring their sport to the world.