Boonlai Sor.Thanikul

Chaichan Ramoon (; born: November 11, 1970), known professionally as Boonlai Sor.Thanikul , is a Thai former professional Muay Thai fighter. He is a former two-division Lumpinee Stadium champion who was famous in the 1980s and 1990s. He is respected as one of the most skilled fighters of the Muay Thai golden era who fought a wide variety of opponents.

He won both of his Lumpinee Stadium titles against "The Wonder Boy" Karuhat Sor.Supawan and "Mr. Merciless Knee" Langsuan Panyuthaphum and defended them both against Oley Kiatoneway.

Biography and career

Early life

Ramoon and his twin brother were born into a poor family living in Chachoengsao province on November 16, 1970. At the age of 10, the twins started training Muay Thai at home with their father. They later joined the small Sitmabon gym near their home. After Ramoon fought out of Sitmabon around 50 times, the twins were found by a talent scout from Bangkok and were transferred to the Sor.Ploenchit gym at 13-years-old. Ramoon then used the ring name of Wangyu Sor.Ploenchit. After 2 years of fighting out of the millionaire-owned elite gym, the twins were given to the mafia-owned Sor.Thanikul gym in 1986 as a way for their boss to clear a gambling debt. The twins would adopt the ring names Boonlai and Boonlong Sor.Thanikul and made the rest of their careers fighting out of their new gym.

Despite the fact that the Sor.Thanikul gym was owned by notorious mafia godfather Klaew Thanikul, who was responsible for murder, drug trade, human trafficking, et cetera, Thanikul treated his gym's fighters well and gave them large sums of money. The Sor.Thanikul gym was unusually large and had higher quality training equipment compared to most Thai gyms of the time. Like the other fighters in the gym, the twins trained everyday under headman Pueng Sor.Thanikul in what was considered one of the best Muay Thai gyms in Thailand which produced a total of around 20 champions in the Lumpinee and Rajadamnern stadiums.

Elite career

Boonlai and Boonlong would go on to be the most famous fighters in the Sor.Thanikul gym's history. They would fight under the Onesongchai promotion. In 1989, Boonlai would defeat an elite fighter who the Thai audiences considered a superstar at the time, Karuhat Sor.Supawan. On the same card, Boonlong defeated the renowned pressure fighter Pongsiri "Rambo" Sor. Ruamrudee. Boonlai would face "The Top Master" Karuhat a total of 4 times with Boonlai defeating him in 3 bouts. Oley Kiatoneway cited his first bout against Boonlai as his most painful fight, as Oley was winning on points until Boonlai darted forward with a right cross and knocked down Oley with a series of punches. Oley suffered from a headache after the knockdown and had to be hospitalized. Boonlai won the fight to successfully defend his 115 lbs Lumpinee title that he won for defeating "The Heartless Knee Striker" Langsuan Panyuthaphum.

Boonlai found success with the rope-a-dope style, and at the peak of his career received purses as high as . Boonlai beat a wide range of prominent fighters, including Langsuan Panyuthaphum, Namkabuan Nongkeepahuyuth, Jongsanan Fairtex, Wangchannoi Sor Palangchai, Jaroensap Kiatbanchong, and Somrak Khamsing, but stated that his victory against "The Ring Genius" Namkabuan was his favorite memory, due to Namkabuan's top ranking at the time. Boonlai named Namkabuan and Somrak as the most difficult opponents he ever faced.

Boonlai's final matchup was against Silapathai Jockygym. After it was observed that Boonlai was not performing to the best of his ability, Silapathai threw a question mark kick at his head followed it with a series of punches, knocking Boonlai out. Suspicion grew as Boonlai fell after receiving weak punches, and an investigation concluded that Boonlai faked the KO to intentionally lose the fight. Boonlai was supposedly banned from competition afterward. Despite this, Boonlai is remembered as one of the most talented fighters of the 1990s.