Vicharnnoi Porntawee

Chucheep Iam-erb (Thai: ชูชีพ เอี่ยมเอิบ; January 25, 1948 – January 31, 2022), later known as Vicharnnoi Porntawee (Thai: วิชาญน้อย พรทวี) was a Thai Muay Thai kickboxer who was active from 1961 to 1981. After becoming a dominant figure in the 112 lbs to 130 lbs (50.80 - 58.97 kg) weight classes, he ran out of opponents and had to fight up to 20 lbs (9.07 kg) above his weight division to receive more matchups and was still successful. Vicharnnoi is remembered for being an fighting at the top competitive level of Muay Thai for an unusually long period of time, resulting in the nickname "The Eternal Yodmuay." He is repeatedly heralded by renowned Muay Thai practitioners as one of the greatest athletes in the history of the sport with the likes of Samart Payakaroon or Dieselnoi Chor.Thanasukarn.

There are different ways to anglicize Vicharnnoi's name such as Wichannoi Porntawee, Vicharnnoi Phonthawee, Vichannoi Phontawi, etc.

Early career

Chucheep Iam-erb was born in January 25, 1948 in Pathum Thani province, Thailand. After he and his family moved to Nonthaburi province, he started his Muay Thai training in 1961 under the tutelage of Chaliew Tinmora who was the owner of the Srimuangnon gym. Vicharnnoi's brothers Cherdsak and Direk were also fighting out of the camp. He then adopted the ring name of Vicharnnoi Luktalatkwan and fought in Muay Thai rules 10 times until he was considered a rising star and the gambler's favorite in Nonthaburi. After changing his ring name to Vicharnnoi Srimuangnon, he would travel throughout Thailand for several years to fight for various awards. During his travels, the Srimuangnon gym disbanded and Vicharnnoi would catch the attention of Boonyiam Sophon who was opening the Porntawee gym in Buriram province. Although the large Porntawee gym was populated mostly by top fighters from its local province, the first fighter to make the gym famous was the Nonthaburi-based Vicharnnoi who was also the gym's first fighter.

In his teenage years Vicharnnoi was considered the best up-and-coming fighter in the Thai circuit and would become famous under the tutelage of Sophon. With the help of assistant promoter Sei Lithavornchai AKA Kong Sei, Sophon would have the Porntawee fighters primarily get matchups in the Rajadamnern Stadium which was the most prestigious fighting venue during Vicharnnoi's rise to fame as the top Muay Thai promoters of Thailand focused their efforts there. The Porntawee fighters would also be frequently sent to the Lumpinee Stadium which would later become as prestigious as Rajadamnern.

Fighting style

Vicharnnoi was an unusual and technical orthodox Muay Maat fighter meaning that he was an intelligient pressure fighter who focused on punches as well as low kicks. He preferred to study his opponents by watching them live in fight venues. He had the movement and rhythm of rope-a-dope Muay Femur fighters on top of his aggressive fighting style, allowing him to be well-rounded and adaptable. He exercised active footwork as he pushed forward or moved backward, allowing him to be light on his feet like a boxer and easily throw punches as he quickly traversed in and out striking range. His footwork allowed him to quickly put power behind some of his punches such as in his KO win against the taller and heavier Huasai Sitiboonlert.

Vicharnnoi excelled at using fast, non-committal attacks such as lead low kicks and jabs to the head and body to control his opponent and manage distance like a Muay Femur fighter. Vicharnnoi would use a variation of the teep, a side-teep, thrown to the opponent's hip which he would use to cancel kicks from southpaw fighters, a tactic that would later be used by Samart Payakaroon. Vicharnnoi would use these controlling tactics in a seamless combination with his aggressive punches and strong low kicks. It is rare for a Muay Thai fighter to use long punching combinations, but Vicharnnoi excelled at it as well as using a wide array of punches to immediately counter his opponents. He used active footwork to control when pocket exchanges would occur as well as being able to pivot away from his opponents, a tactic that he would use to dodge Dieselnoi Chor.Thanasukarn's knees in their first fight. Vicharnnoi also used head movement to dodge punches alongside his angling footwork to create openings for body kicks or punches. Vicharnnoi's slightly crouched stance that allowed him to quickly move in and out was not conducive to being able to quickly raise a leg in order to block kicks, but willingly taking hits to get inside is something that Vicharnnoi embraced as a Muay Maat fighter.

Elite career in Bangkok

Vichannoi would take advantage of his adaptable and unique Muay Maat style to become extremely successful from the flyweight (112 lbs/50.80 kg) to the junior lightweight (130 lbs/58.97 kg) divisions. He would win both the Lumpinee and Rajadamnern stadium flyweight titles and defended them both, becoming one of the few fighters who held titles in one weight class from both stadiums simultaneously. His manager Boonyiam Sophon worked to match him up against most of the top fighters at every weight division that he fought in, causing Vicharnnoi to become famous in Thailand. Vicharnnoi earned the Rajadamnern junior lightweight title against Saifah Saenmorakot and defended it 4 times, resulting in the Thai media labeling him as Jonghang Huang Kai ("King Cobra Who Guards His Eggs") in reference to his belts.

Vicharnnoi was praised for his ability to remain successful in the highest competitive level of Muay Thai for an unusually long time as he would fight into his 30s, an age where most Thais would have already retired from the sport. As a result, the Thai media nicknamed him Tao Sarapatpit ("The Venomous Old Man"). In 1973, Vicharnnoi's dominance reached a point where he ran out of opponents in the junior lightweight division, thus he began giving up to 20 lbs/9.07 kg so he could be given a chance to receive matchups once again. He would defeat the 139-pound/63.05 kg Huasai Sithiboonlert (KO), the 150-pound/68.04 kg Somsak Sor.Thewasoonthon (KO), and the 135-pound/61.24 kg Wichit Lukbangplasoi among other heavier fighters. Vicharnnoi's level of fame at this time would cause the venues he fought at to reach full capacity, filled with spectators who came specifically for him.

In 1975 Vicharnnoi faced Poot Lorlek to determine who would win the most prestigious award in the history of Muay Thai: The Sports Writers Association Fighter of the Year. Their bout became the first in Muay Thai history to reach a gate of ฿1,000,000 (equivalent to ฿5,320,535 in 2020). Poot won the fight and earned the award; in addition both fighters received the Fight of the Year award.

In 1977 Vicharnnoi himself would win Fighter of the Year. Around the same time, Vicharnnoi would be awarded 10 baht of gold (151.6 g of gold) by the Rajadamnern Stadium for his performances. From 1976 to 1980, on top of fighting some of his best rivals such as Nongkhai Sor.Prapatsorn and Narongnoi Kiatbandit, Vicharnnoi would get matched up a total of 6 times each against the 6+ ft/1.8+ m elite Muay Khao fighters (knee fighters) Posai Sitiboonlert and Dieselnoi Chor.Thanasukarn. His fights against the two were considered the best in his career, with Vicharnnoi winning 5 of his 6 bouts against them. Vicharnnoi is the first person to defeat Dieselnoi ever since the tall knee fighter started fighting in Bangkok, as well as being the only Bangkok fighter to have defeated him more than once.

Vicharnnoi is described in Thailand as one of the people who "fought everyone," a euphemism for being matched up against most of the best fighters in the weight classes he fought in during his career. The highest purse Vicharnnoi received was ฿250,000 (equivalent to ฿1,188,478 in 2020) which was significantly higher than the usual pay of yodmuay (elite fighters) of the 1970s.

WBC boxing champion Sagat Petchyinee (formerly Sagat Porntawee) and boxing gold medalist Chatchai Sasakul (Nuengthoranee Petchyindee) are both Muay Thai champions who excelled in punching and practiced techniques taught by their teacher Vicharnnoi. Hippy Singmanee cited Sasakul to be the most skilled fighter he ever faced, stating that his movement made it difficult to catch him as he used evasive footwork tactics that most probably stemmed from Vicharnnoi's. Sagat recalls that when he was 10-years-old, Vicharnnoi scouted him in Nakhon Ratchasima province and took him to the Porntawee gym where he would become a Rajadamnern bantamweight champion (118 lbs/53.52 kg).

Boonyiam Sophon was an avid gambler and lavish spender. He would ask for loans from his friend Virat Vachirarattanawong, a Muay Thai aficionado and Lumpinee Stadium promoter. Sophon had to spend 3-5 million baht for every election campaign he had and eventually ran out of money. Because of this, instead of receiving cash as a form of debt payment, Vachirarattanawong asked Sophon for the Porntawee fighters to be transferred to the Petchyindee gym, a Muay Thai camp that he opened specifically to accommodate incoming members of the Porntawee gym. Ruengsak Porntawee was the Petchyindee gym's first fighter, with numerous others following suit. Vicharnnoi and Sagat Porntawee were the last fighters to make the transfer. Vachirarattanawong paid Sophon ฿550,000 (equivalent to ฿2,614,652 in 2020) to purchase Vicharnnoi in 1980. Vicharnnoi would then change his ring name to Vicharnnoi Petchyindee.

Retirement and later years

In the final 2 years of this Muay Thai career, Vicharnnoi would lose 5 times in a row with his last fight being against Kengkaj Kiatkriangkrai. In August 14, 1981, he tearfully announced his retirement from Muay Thai in a formal ceremony in the Rajadamnern Stadium, causing the usually noisy fight venue to quiet down.

After his retirement he became a real estate trader and successful businessman, becoming a millionaire by owning several-hundred-million baht businesses as well as making good investments. Vicharnnoi continued to involve himself with Muay Thai by being a trainer in the Petchyindee gym for several years as well as sponsoring fighters who would include "Vicharnnoi Store" in their ring names in reference to a textile store he owned. He was also close to the community of his native province where he was involved in its municipal association.

Vachirarattanawong and Vicharnnoi's relationship grew to the point where they considered each other to be like brothers; he continued to follow the Petchyindee gym, citing that in the era where Muay Thai was rapidly declining due to gambler-induced corruption and harmful rule changes, Vachirarattanawong's gym was still headed in the right direction. The Petchyindee gym would later serve as the training grounds for future yodmuay (elite fighters) such as Yodsaenklai Fairtex, Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy, Rittewada Petchyindee, etc.

One of Vicharnnoi's nicknames given to him by the Thai media, Yodmuay Amata, translates to "The Eternal Muay Thai Great" or simply "The Eternal Yodmuay." This was in reference to the unusually long period of time he spent fighting under Muay Thai rules.

Death

Vicharnnoi's older brother Cherdsak Iam-erb disclosed that he had taken his last breath at 8:45 pm of January 31, 2022 in Paolo Hospital in Phaya Thai district, Bangkok. His death was caused by renal failure complications at the age of 74. His funeral ceremony held at the Bang Phraek Nuea Temple had numerous attendants including various yodmuay such as Samart Payakaroon and Samson Isaan as well as former rivals Dieselnoi Chor.Thanasukarn and Pudpadnoi Worawut.

• Lumpinee Stadium
  • 1967 Lumpinee Stadium Flyweight (112 lbs/50.80 kg) Champion
• Rajadamnern Stadium
  • 1968 Rajadamnern Stadium Flyweight (112 lbs/50.80 kg) Champion
  • 1974 Rajadamnern Stadium Junior Lightweight (130 lbs/58.97 kg) Champion
• Awards
  • 1975 Fight of the Year
  • 1977 Sports Writers Association of Thailand Fighter of the Year
  • 1980 Fight of the Year
  • 2014 Siam Sport Hall of Fame (Muay Thai)
  • 1977 Yodmuaythai (Best of Muay Thai) trophy
  • 1978 Yodmuaythai trophy

• List of Muay Thai practitioners