Thailand's reformed playboy Manus Boonjumnong has vowed to shave his head and enter a Buddhist monastery after winning an Asian Games boxing gold medal here.
Manus said he will don the saffron robes as soon as he returns to Bangkok and will avoid making the same mistake he made two years ago after he won the Olympic gold medal.
The handsome Thai fighter became a household name in his country following the 2002 Athens Olympic win in the light-welterweight division.
But he soon abandoned boxing to embark on a celebrity career of partying and gambling, frittering away hundreds of thousand of dollars in prize money.
His taste for the high life made him a staple of the gossip columns, damaging his reputation and straining his marriage.
"That is all in the past now," said Manus, after the 26-year-old clinched a 22-11 points win over South Korea's Shin Myung-Hoon in the final to win the Asian Games 64kg light-welterweight final on Tuesday.
"You will see a new me," he said. "I am going to concentrate on being a good father to my three children."
Thai males are required by tradition to spend a short period of time in a Buddhist monastery, normally around two weeks, and Manus said he would respect the custom.
"I will spend about 14 days in the monastery and then I will resume training. There will be no mistakes this time," he said.
The Thai boxer rose to prominence after winning a bronze medal at the world championships in 2003 and then scoring an upset victory at the Olympics the following year.
He outpointed Cuban favorite Yudel Johnson in the 64kg final to become only the third Thai to win an Olympic gold medal.
But he turned his back on the sport for two years after his Olympic triumph, running through a reported US$600,000 in prize money and forcing his wife to leave him.
He made his return to the ring at the Asian Games in Doha following a two-month training stint in Cuba.
"I would like to thank my coach Juan Fontanills, who trained me hard during my two months in Cuba. There, I could not go anywhere -- no drinking, no gambling. Just training, sleeping and sparring," he said.
He also thanked the Thai boxing federation for giving him a second chance to revive his career and said that from now on, he would focus on boxing.
"When I come out of the monastery, boxing will be my priority and I will return immediately to the Thai training camp," he said.
His next major international event will be the Southeast Asian Games one year from now, a stepping stone towards the longer-term target of retaining his title at the Beijing Olympics.
"I am devoting myself to that goal," he said.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
RSS