CAPE TOWN - Muay Thai fever is back in the Mother City. And hopefully it’s here to stay!
Thaiholics Fight Promotions (TFP) have put together an exciting fight card playing out in Sunningdale, Cape Town this Saturday.
The card will consist of nine fights with the main event being a title fight between Rafel Wozniak and Nedo Gomba for the WMO African welterweight title.
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TFP1 is a first of its kind in Cape Town since the Covid-19 pandemic, which had a devastating impact on so many industries and lives.
The combat sport industry received no favours with countless gyms and promotions closing down and fizzling out starving fighters of opportunity and careers, too.
With the world slowly starting to open up again, Muay Thai South Africa co-president, Nicholas Radley is excited at the prospect of bringing Muay Thai to the masses and helping the combat sport landscape grow.
“My vision is to build Muay Thai in this country and on the African continent,” says Radley.
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“We have incredible talent, but a lack of funding to allow athletes to dedicate themselves to the sport and focus solely on training,” says Radley who also feels the market is far more lucrative in Europe and the east.
“I do however have plans to fly a few fighters from Europe over in March 2022. I would like to see fighters earn good money that can sustain them between their fights.
“There are no Thai boxers (and little to no fighters) who fight full time. They all need a primary source of income. Most fight for the passion of the sport or because it’s a hobby. This needs to change and I plan on doing this. As an ex-fighter, I know exactly what sacrifices are made to become a professional fighter and they deserve to make a solid living out of it and to be looked after by a promoter. That is where TFP comes in. A promotion run by fighters for the fighters!”
For the moment, TFP will look to host four events annually. There are also plans to host more amateur and super-am events to grow the pool of fighters which will then “hopefully increase the number of events to one per month," says Radley who has an eye on taking this promotion not only nationally, but across Africa, too.
Due to Covid-19 protocol, no fans will be allowed at the venue on Saturday, however, fans can live stream the event on the TFP YouTube channel.
The event will kick-off at 2.30pm on Saturday.
Stay tuned to the TFP Instagram page for more information.
@juliankiewietz