Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

PINOY fight fans know all about boxing champions Manny Pacquiao, Nonito Donaire Jr., Brian Viloria, UFC mixed martial art stars Brandon Vera, Mark Munoz and Phillipe Nover but little is known about a small fighter with a big heart in the world of professional Muay Thai.

FilAm Romie Adanza is the current WBC Bantamweight US Champion in Muay Thai. "It would be great if I could be mentioned with the likes of those guys like Pacquiao and Brandon Vera," said the 29-year-old, 122-pound Adanza to the Asian Journal. "I’m not there yet but I’m hoping to be."

And Adanza will have his chance to be better known.

Next Saturday July 25, he’ll defend his belt and try to reclaim his former title the Intercontinental WBC World Championship Muay Thai belt at the Hilton-Las Vegas. He’s facing a familiar foe Paulo Da Silva.

In their first bout, Adanza defeated Da Silva by decision. In their second bout, Da Silva got the better of Adanza with the referee stopping the bout in the second round. Now, Adanza is out to recapture his belt.

"This is the most important fight of my life so far. I’ll never take my titles for granted anymore, I need my belt back", said Adanza, who currently trains and is a trainer at Team Oyama at No Limits gym in Irvine.

Fighting for Recognition

There’s not a lot of world class Pinoy athletes competing in professional Muay Thai. There’s Christine Toledo, a female Muay Thai champion (who will also fight on the same card as Adanza on July 25) and Bay Area native Michael Mananquil (17-1-1 9KO’s) the IKKC World Champion and WBC International Super Welterweight Champion but other than those two, there aren’t too many Filipinos competing in Muay Thai.

Pinoys prefer watching and competing in boxing or even now mixed martial arts but Muay Thai is just as vicious and exciting as the other two. Muay Thai is a combination of boxing and kickboxing except that the individual could also use elbows and knees on their opponents.

Adanza said that his goal is to excite the crowd to keep them coming back. It’s a reason why he is a known vicious striker in the Muay Thai circuit. He said that his game plan is to try and take out his opponent as quick as possible.

"I got to get to him before he gets me," said Adanza about his opponents.

But Adanza admits that his biggest opponent inside the ring is himself.

From Knucklehead to Champ

It takes a lot of courage to become a professional fighter.

It takes talent, heart, will, and determination.