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Watch With Me | The Samson vs Lakhin Trilogy (1992)
🕑 Added 2019-12-12 14:27:51 +0000 UTCThe Watch With Me series is something I've done in the past, sharing my experience of watching Golden Age awesomeness, fights of legends in the Library. You can see the YouTube Playlist of those here. This is a trilogy of Watch With Me, the second two fights only for patrons.
Trilogy of 115 lb Monsters
There are some fights between Legends of the Golden Age of Muay Thai that seem like the stuff of fantasy. Almost as if people came up with the "Fantasy Football" version of fighter matchups, except they really happened... and in this case, it happened 3 times.
Samson Isaan was Fighter of the Year in 1991. He was Rajadamnern Champion at 115 lbs, and Lumpinee Champion at 118 lbs and went on to an impeccable career in Western Boxing, going undefeated in 43 fights with 36 KOs.
Lakhin Wasantasit was Rajadamnern Champion at 115 lbs and Isuzu Tournament Champion at 115 lbs. He also went on to an undefeated career in Western Boxing with nearly 29 fights, 27-0-2 with 18 KOs.
The two fighting each other is awesome because they are both relentless, so rather than the aggressor vs. the evader that is so popular in more contemporary matchups, these fights are so exciting the viewer (me) stops breathing before the fighters even get out of breath. Kevin and I wanted to do this trilogy - which all happened within a single year, the year after Samson won Fighter of the Year - having just shot with Samson and Lakhin, separately, for the Muay Thai Library. Standing in front of each of them, there's this other level of understanding to what I'm looking at when I watch their fights on video. Like, "yeah, they're so relentless," but with the actual experience of how scary that is, as well as how each of them approaches it differently. So this Watch With Me is actually quite fun, because you have these three incredible fights and then you can go watch the Library sessions and study what each fighter is like, how he thinks, what he does, how all that works.
If you haven't watched the Samson sessions (there are 2) or the Lakhin session, I recommend you do so both before and again after watching this trilogy. There's just nothing else like this, anywhere.
Watch the Lakhin and Samson sessions here:
Samson Isaan 1 - The Art of Dern Fighting (64 min) watch it here
Samson Isaan 2 - Muay Khao & Western Boxing Excellence (59 min) watch it here
Lakhin Wasantasit - Boxing & Muay Thai Organized Destruction (76 min) watch it here
Extra Credit Study:
2x Fighter of the Year (1989, 1990) Kaensak Sor. Ploenjit - Explosive Defense (55 min) watch it here <<< the reason to watch this session is that Arjan Gimyu, who guided Lakhin through these 3 fights, was also Kaensak's trainer for his two Fighter of the Year awards. In Kaensak's technique you can see something more of the distance controlling style that Arjan Gimyu teaches, and which helped Lakhin win the 2nd fight of the trilogy.
As it so happens Samson was coming to my gym for a few days to be part of the Legends in Residence project I've started with the help of my patrons, just after I did this watch with me with Kevin. Arjan Gimyu, Lakhin's trainer for these three fights now is in residence at my gym now on a semi-permanent basis, so this was likely the first time they have been together in a very long time, perhaps even since these fights. It was very cool to see them together 27 years since this 3 part war. Two photos Kevin took of them sitting together. You can see Arjan Gimyu in the video footage between rounds. He is now 78 years old:
Thank you to everyone for helping me preserve the legacy, bringing together the men and knowledge of Thailand's Muay Thai, and documenting the history of the sport before it fades away.
Comments
JP
Samson got counted twice before being TKOed by Veeraphol (not that that takes away anything from him) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_heI3S99ozs
fshalor
Highlights: "How did you edit this, Kevin?!" ... "get a snack".. Samson tossing a dominant, post final bell headlock after the last fight, and also hugging from the back as they walked away to seal it. What an awesome trio of fights. They belong together as a full story of their encounter. Sometimes; 5 rounds isn't enough to tell everything.
Shell
Okay.... AWESOME! and more of this please guys! So good!!!
Great stuff. Have you considered doing (or maybe have done and I just missed it) a viewing of the Kaensak - Karuhat fights? That would be terrific given how experienced you are with both of them.
Ilias Kantzaris
When you mentioned the Lakhin-Samson trilogy I remembered watching one of the fights and then immediately thoughy how cool it would be if you did a "watch with me". Synchronicity can be such a wonderful thing!
Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
Roi Et, where he's from in Isaan, is nicknamed L.A. So he introduced himself to me (years ago) as "Sam from L.A."
"Hi, My name is Samson Issan, and if you knee bar me I'll just pick you up and throw you to the ground." :D Love this series.
This made my day to see this! Can't wait to go home and watch it. Thanks Sylvie.
