Samson takes a fall “for mom’

BANGKOK: Popular Thai kickboxer Samson Lookjaopormahesak has been arrested for allegedly throwing a fight, becoming Thailand’s first boxer to face legal action for suspected match fixing. Samson is one of the country’s most famous boxers, and his fight on the evening of August 5 was highly anticipated. Samson dominated the early rounds, but the referee stopped the fight in the final round when he saw Samson was making no effort to reply to his opponent’s punches. Thai kickboxing referees often stop boxing bouts because of suspected match fixing, but this was the first time a boxer had been arrested. Samson claimed that a local merchant was the brains behind the fix, offering him 200,000 baht to lose. “I thought it would be a good deal because I was thinking about quitting fighting,” said Samson, who has boxed for 12 years. Proving that bar girls have no monopoly on bringing in mom to win sympathy, Samson added, “My 47-year-old mother has cancer and a kidney stone. I just wanted the money to pay for her treatment.” However, boxing promoter Wirat Wachirarattanawong said he sent his staff to check on the condition of Samson’s mother and found that she was in good health. “His mother is fine. We found that Samson was actually planning to invest in a snooker club,” he said. If found guilty, Samson faces up to five years in jail and a fine of up to 100,000 baht.