Glitzy setting for PanAm kickboxing contest

Kickboxers from across the Americas competed in Muay Thai Night 2, in a glitzy Hotel Riu  setting on Friday, March 30.

Panamanian Hector Guillen won the Panamerican champion title in the 63k weight class, defeating Costa Rican Rodrigo Camacho with a technical knockout in the first round.

Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand.  It goes back thousands of years to when the Thai were doing battle with the Burmese, with the kings fighting on elephant-back.  The soldiers were armed, but as the fighting went on and they lost their weapons, they would fight with a stylized, brutal martial art that utilized the elbows and knees, as well as the hands and feet, as weapons. 

This evolved into present-day Muay Thai, which is fought in a boxing ring with gloves and sometimes padding.  

Muay Thai has gained international popularity in the last several years, and Friday night’s event marked one of the first Latin American tournaments dedicated exclusively to Muay Thai. 

Fighters flew in from Costa Rica, Venezuela, and the USA to compete with the Panamanian team, who train here in Panama City at the Panama Muay Thai Academy.

Panama’s fighters performed well in 15 fights in different weight classes, as the audience cheered them on from tables in the Hotel Riu’s Panama Salon, which was decked out with a boxing ring, smoke machine, stage lights and a DJ.