Nanfa Siharajdecho

Muay Thai is booming. Today you can find many kickboxing gyms, or Muay Thai gyms, open around the country. Most fitness faciliingties offer kickboxing and cardio-kickbox classes. Many trainers or teachers are former professional fighters from Thailand of excellent caliber, such as Coban Lookchaomaesaithong, Bunkerd Fairtex, and Matee Jedeepitak. But the first and one of the best was Nanfa Siharajdecho.

After he was born, Nanfa’s family moved from the Province of Surin to Nongkai. There he learned Muay Thai from Yong Pathong, and had his first fight at the age of 11. He had several fights around his hometown without a loss.

When he was about 15 years old, he was sent to a Muay Thai camp in Bangkok. The owner/ benefactor of the camp was a man named Decho Tapwasu, a Royal Thai Air Force captain. From there, the fighter Nanfa Siharajdecho was born.

“Nanfa” means the sky, to signify the Royal Thai Air Force that Captain Decho was in. The camp name, Siharajdecho, meant both a battlefield rank of a General from ancient time, or it could also mean “the lion of Decho”.

Nanfa started out fighting in the 108-pound weight division in both Lumpini and Rachadumnuern stadiums. He lost his first fight in Bangkok, but showed great potential. He performed better in subsequent fights by defeating many up-and-coming fighters, including Setsuek Sakpothong, who had changed his camp and his name to Padetsuek Pisanurachan and won the Muay Thai King’s Cup at the height of his carrier.

Nanfa also fought amateur western boxing for the Royal Thai Air Force and won a gold medal in the Flyweight division in 1975.

Nanfa was one of the top fighters in the mid-70’s. He fought as the main event and drew big crowd. He proved himself by fighting all the good fighters at that time, until on February 24, 1977, he became the 27th bantamweight champion of Rachadumnuern stadium by defeating Raklek Chutinavi. Nanfa was able to defend his title twice, then lost it to Kangkarj Kiatkriangkri (the 5 “K’s”), his true and all-time nemesis. He lost because the referee stopped the fight declaring “no contest” because Nanfa did not fight to his full capacity, or, as it was called “not to the prestige of a fighter”. In common terms, Nanfa was accused of throwing the fight.

Everyone knew that switching fighting style between Muay Thai and western boxing back and forth, adopting two different training routines every day, in order to fight western boxing one month and Muay Thai the next month were the cause of this “fighting not to the prestige of a fighter”. Captain Decho appreciated this fact, but he also realized that even though Nanfa could concentrate on Muay Thai alone and able to earn more as a Muay Thai fighter, he was also a precious commodity to the Royal Thai Air Force. In fact, Nanfa had enlisted in the Royal Thai Air Force and earned the rank of Corporal.

In 1978, Nanfa won a gold medal in the bantamweight division in the prestigious “King Cup” event in the amateur western boxing. He went to compete in the World Military Amateur Boxing Event in Yugoslavia, but came home disappointed. He also represented Thailand in the Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada, but was not able to capture any medal. After that he tried to come back as a Muay Thai fighter again to a limited success. He hung his gloves in 1981 and came to America the following year.

In his adopted country, he was able to regain his honor and prestige back as a teacher and a fighter. At first, many critics said that he left Thailand with a glass jaw. Some even teased that now he was so fragile, even if he got hit in the arm, the impact would run up to his brain and knock him out anyway.

He proved everyone wrong by knocking out his first, second, third, and almost every other opponent the promoters could get to fight him.

He married a beautiful and loving wife, Deborah Jean, and together they had a lovely daughter, Malia. They lived happily in Southern California until his death, November 22, 1991, of heart failure at the age of 34.

Many “kru” or Muay Thai teachers still remember him as a good friend, and a great champion. He left a legacy of Muay Thai in many Muay Thai practitioners, who now have become “kru” or teachers of Muay Thai themselves.

Once during a sparring match, his sparring partner asked to take a break before the ending of the round. With his soft voice and simple choice of words he said,

“Do not stop when you are tired; stop when you are dead.”

He explained later that in a fight, no matter how tired you are, you have to go on. Take evasive action, move around, do not stand still, and most importantly, do not show sign of weakness. It is true in everyday life too. Winners never stop halfway. And neither did Nanfa Siharajdecho.