Thailand’s boxer shuns London for pro ranks

Reuters/Bangkok

Thailand’s rebellious former Olympic boxing champion Manus Boonjumnong talks to Reuters reporters in Bangkok yesterday. Boonjumnong is refusing to contest the London games after a spat with his coaches and plans to turn professional — and fight Filipino phenomenon Manny Pacquiao

Thailand’s former Olympic boxing champion Manus Boonjumnong has shunned an opportunity to compete at the London Games, instead opting to clean up his bad boy image, turn professional and take on Filipino phenomenon Manny Pacquiao. Renowned in Thailand for his party lifestyle and addiction to gambling and girls, Manus told Reuters on Tuesday he had lost sight of his Olympic dream after bitter rows with his coaches and ugly media headlines about his wayward antics. “I’m sorry for all Thais who want me to fight but I can’t go to the Olympics and fight without spirit,” Manus said in an interview at a suburban Bangkok coffee shop. “It’s regrettable, but sometimes, when an athlete doesn’t have the heart, he’ll be depressed and there’ll be no success, so I’ve decided to quit amateur boxing with honour. Whether right or wrong, it’s my decision.” Manus, 31, shot to fame in 2004 when he won the light-welterweight (64kg) gold medal in Athens and famously broke down in tears when he received a congratulatory phone call from Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej. However, after lavish celebrations in the wake of his triumph, he gained a reputation for being an ill-disciplined playboy, squandering much of the $600,000 his gold medal earned him on drinking, betting on soccer and entertaining women. Thailand’s boxing chiefs worked hard to straighten Manus out by sending him into exile to train at a boxing bootcamp in Cuba without money or credit cards, then persuading him to become a Buddhist monk for a few weeks. Manus enjoyed a spectacular rebirth, at least for a while. He won gold at the 2006 Asian Games and followed up with a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he lost out to Dominican Felix Diaz after breezing through earlier rounds. Now, he says his delinquent days are over. He no longer drinks alcohol, plans to marry his long-term girlfriend and open a humble grocery business in northern Thailand, investing his Olympic medal earnings that are remitted to him in monthly trickles to stop him from going off the rails. “I’ve quit everything,” said Manus, accompanied by his bespectacled girlfriend and dressed in a polo shirt with a bunny logo on the chest and “Playboy” emblazoned across the back. “I just want a normal life.”