Thursday, March 6, 2008

Episode 8 Never judge a book by it's cover.

It's funny now watching episode 8 as I was no longer there. But as one by one the boys came out they'd have so much to share and talk about with me.

Watching Zidov walk back into the room knowing he made it to the 2nd round was still abit painful. I know deep down that I could have been the one in the 2nd round. But no point crying over spilt milk. Hearing JWP talk about my performance was really nice as he is a legend in this sport and his advice and his criticism is one I would take very personally. Also Jabba who said that he'd miss me now that I was out was nice. He was definetly one of my best friends in there. The other guys I met up with after also had alot of good things to say about my fight with Zidov. It all means alot to me especially being the one with least experience in the house. Its good to know I managed to impress people and I made a few heads turn.

Training was getting more intense as more left the house. There was more time with the trainers now for the boys to prepare for the Second Round of the Competition. JWP was down with some infection( I know what it was but I won't ruin it for all of you.) and was getting very worried he would get kicked out. He was definitely upset when he had to be quarantined as it got worse and also he didn't manage to train as hard while in quarantine. As the producers didn't wanna risk having a trainer train him and then the trainer brings the germs into the loft.

The Challenge at the Safra Adventure Club looked fun...yet blooody scary!! haha I remember all of them telling me Soren was pretty bad and after his turn when they interviewed him he was trembling and Naruepol was pretty scared too at then end he was like hugging the post. haha Yoddi was lucky and got to sit out,as the Tiger Kings had an extra player. He actually chickened out. Ahhha we found a weakness in Yoddi!! haha too bad none of the rings for the fights are held 6 storeys high tho?!!

The Tiger Kings won the challenge and as there was only two fighers left,there wasn't a need for Deliberation and Pitu would be fighting Yukay. For their reward which I think was awesome! Was winning a night out at Velvet Undergound!! Was nice of JWP to invite them Im pretty sure they would have invited us if they won too,what fun would it be without everyone at the party! Like Zidov said,"we're in a house all the time no interaction with other people!" and Jabba said,"Stuck in a house with 10 ugly guys!!" hahah Couldn't put the words better myself. We were always in the house all of us sitting around chatting,talking,training,eating,sleeping we didn't have phones,nwspapers or magazines!! The damn big screen tv didnt have network and we couldn't really watch dvds or listen to music aloud when there are cameras around coz it would make it hard for them to edit our voices with noise in the background. The boredom was really killing all of us. So I guess the chance for them to go out and check out the clubbing scene and the chicks at Velvet Underground must have been a relief!! Wish I was there!!!

The night out at Velvet was a pretty crazy one. The stories and the pictures that I've seen from the boys...ohh my god!! haha Lets just say one of them got very carried away and had his shirt off on the podium at Zouk. Hint: He's Asian!! Thats all I can say!! If there's another thing us Thai Boxers are good at apart from fighting....it's definitely PARTYING!!!!!!! Usually after a fight be it win or lose...it's time to forget everything and enjoy the well deserved night out!! The amount of times that I've been to Fight After Parties it's usually gets pretty crazy and funny!!! Fighters usually spend about 6 weeks sometime just training,dieting trying to lose weight and not going out to the clubs and then comes the big fight!! I love clubbing and listening to good dance music so it's really difficult for me to miss catching a good DJ,but Ive got my priorities set straight!! So like what everyone was saying about Yukay drinking 2 nights before his fight did come as a shock to me!! I heard from the boys he didn't just have a beer. He was on a serious mission that night to get smashed!! Naruepol was pretty wasted too and he actually threw up hence the bucket by the side of the bed....GROOSSS!!!

Abit about Pitu and Yukay. Pitu was a really funny guy too. Half the time all of us had a hard time understanding him!! haha He would talk and all of us would just look dumbfounded and then,one of us would just go,"Pitu you seriously need subtitles!!" hahaha He was an awesome cook I have to admit. He made Spanish Omellete (Egg,Potatoes,Cheese,Sausage),Paella (Seafood rice dish) and a very healthy Tuna & Tomato Salad. Yukay as Pitu said,"He is the Ghost of the loft." Yukay is a quiet guy and we all thought maybe he doesn't speak that much english coming from Sweden?!! but no,he's just quiet!! I actually got along with Yukay really well in the loft and we'd chat alot. Til today he's a good friend that I chat with alot with still over the phone and on the internet.

As for the fight. I must say we were all verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry shocked and impressed at the same time!!! As mentioned in the episodes we check everyone out during training and we all saw that Yukay was pretty unfit some days at training. But he had awesome hands on the pads and on the bags. Pitu was pretty unlucky being sick in the house,he had an infection on his chest and an infection on his finger that both times needed a trip to the Hospital. But that never kept Pitu away from training or challenges.

All through out we said to Pitu to take it easy and not to get both too injured just get to the second round as second round fights are just a week away and don't know whos up first?? Pitu looked great in the fight starting off well,moving around punching and working the legs and body with some good kicks. The moment Yukay landed that right cross and Pitu went down. It spelt trouble.....I know he was bleeding from the nose, and you can see already Pitu wasn't there,he had to hold on to the ropes as he walked. Yukay like a shark smelling blood in the water pressed forward. Was only a matter of time before he landed the uppercut. I have to say it was a very SWEEEEET shot,right on the Off switch as Pitu collapsed. I loved how he followed up with a left hook that missed Pitu was faling. Shows he had some awesome hand combinations. Yukay truely surprised all of us. So the term never judge a book by it's cover has alot of truth in it!!!



The Uppercut that hit the spot & the follow up left hook that misses as Pitu falls

I saw Pitu after he came out of the loft and we went for a meal at Newton as he didn't join all of us there last time. Was good to see Pitu again as he filled me in with gossip and all. He was obviously disappointed with the outcome but he was still very cheery and laughed it off. I think as fighters we have all come to learn that winning AND Losing is part of our job and we shouldn't bash ourselves up and take it so hard on ourselves.

On another note I saw Yukay at last years 8-man S-1 Kings Birthday Tournament. It was almost an exact repeat of what happened with Pitu. He walked in there caught him with a massive right cross and that was it. The American guy he fought collapsed and when he got up he was staggering all over the shop so the ref had to wave it over. Pitu who was there that night said,"The american got the same as me man!!" hahah Gotta love Pitu!!

Lastly,as promised the update on Jabbas fight. Jabba fought a Thai guy in Patong Stadium on 3rd Of March the night after me, and he lost on points. He did well pressing forward and pressuring the Thai but the Thai was very technical and calm in his fight. Was a good one to watch!! Had a meal with him after and we both hit Patong for a laugh and a half. Was so much fun to see him again and I look forward to seeing him again soon.

LaterZ

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've really enjoyed your 'inside info'.

I've only just watched episode seven. You were very unlucky.

I wish you all the best in your career. I'll be following it with interest.

cheers

Anonymous said...

I've been hearing GREAT comments about your performance in episode 7. Everyone seems impressed by your techniques and composure. You were really unlucky that night and i'm sure you could have won if that had never happened. Anyways, best of luck in the future, Zach!

nadya.s said...

always love inside note from you la..zach!

jabba came down to KL the next day after the patong fight. wanted to renew visa for a year, but only got for 3 months.

my brother n i take him to klcc, and he was exited to see klcc - in person..like, standing in front of it. a quick run to suria klcc, just to snap few pics..

will update n upload pics on blog soon.. i still hv few posting..pending.

hope to see him again in kedah, end of this month.

come zach..come to kedah's fight! namsaknoi also gonna be there..

Anonymous said...

I wanted Pitu to win... i was sad when he got kod :(