'Beautiful Boxer' returns to the ring

After a two-year absence from fighting, Nong Toom, the transsexual Thai boxer who had her life story told in the hit movie, Beautiful Boxer made a surprise and victorious return to the ring Sunday, February 26 to celebrate the opening of the new, state of the art Fairtex Muay Thai training facility and sports complex in North Pattaya.

Prior to the fight, Nong Toom swore to knock out her Japanese opponent within three rounds, but she conceded that the sexual reassignment surgery that made her a woman last year had taken its toll.

Nong Toom raises her glove after making a triumphant return to the ring at the new Faitex Sports Club, Pattaya, Feb 26.

“I dare say I’m unsure if I can beat him. The physical changes have taken their toll on me but it’s a matter of dignity. We both need the victory because I was a Muay Thai champion and the Japanese boxer cannot lose to a woman. I will show that even now that I am a woman, I’m still able to punch and kick.” As things transpired, Toom won by unanimous decision after the three-round fight, leaving her rival with a cut near his eye from an elbow in the last round. This coming June, Nong Toom, who works as a Muay Thai training advisor for women at the new Fairtex complex, plans another exhibition bout, this time in the US with a female opponent, Lucia Rijker, who portrayed the lethal Blue Bear in the smash movie ‘Million Dollar Baby’

source: Pattaya Mail