Robert Carry meets Ramon ‘The Diamond’ Dekkers, the Dutch fighting sensation who helped bring Muay Thai to the world’s attention – and shook Thailand’s fighting hierarchy to its core
“I haven’t fought in Thailand for 10 years, but people there still know me,” says Ramon ‘The Diamond’ Dekkers, a Dutch Muay Thai fighter who showed the world that a Westerner could fight and win against Thais in their national sport. “My name is in the record books forever.”
Dekkers, who grew up in Breda in the Netherlands, first got involved in martial arts as a young teenager. He tried judo and boxing, but when a Muay Thai instructor called Cor Hemmers opened a club in his hometown, Dekkers found the fight style he had been made for. “I went along to a class and I liked what I saw,” he recalls.
The devastatingly effective South East Asian martial art of Muay Thai permits punches, kicks, elbow strikes and knees. While the sport has been deeply engrained in Thai life for centuries, in the late 1980s when Dekkers first discovered it, Muay Thai was a relative unknown in the Western world.
However, it wasn’t long before the teenage Dekkers began making waves in the embryonic Dutch Muay Thai scene. He has his first fight – and first victory – at just 16 years of age, when he knocked out an experienced older fighter.
Fights started to come in quick succession, and encouraged by Hemmers, Dekkers began to develop his own super-aggressive style of Muay, which involved chasing down his opponents and unleashing a barrage of heavy blows until he knocked them out or left them too badly injured to continue. By the time he turned 18, in 1987, Dekkers became the Dutch Muay Thai champion, winning by knockout against title-holder Ramkisoen in the second round.
In the years that followed, Dekkers fought and defeated everyone who came his way, and by 1990 the 20-year-old had two European Championship titles under his belt. Next up was a world title shot – against a Thai.
Dekkers went up against the top-rated Mungkordum Sitchang in France, and after a gruelling bout, the Dutchman won on points to claim his first world title. Although the fight caught the attention of fighters in Thailand, the title was dismissed by many on the basis that it was from the International Muay Thai Association (IMTA). To be considered a true world champion in the eyes of the Thais, Dekkers would have to fight for an International Muay Thai Federation (IMTF) belt.
The young fighter subsequently secured a title shot against the reigning IMTF World Champion and Thai favourite, Nangpon, in 1990 – and Amsterdam was chosen as the venue. Although much of Europe was unaware of the clash, it was beamed live into millions of homes across Thailand, with most expecting their champion to easily dispatch the European upstart.
When the bell rang, Dekkers threw himself into the fight with characteristic aggression while the whole of Thailand held its breath. It wasn’t long before Nangpon began to struggle. He was dropped by heavy shots twice, but the dogged Thai kept dragging himself to his feet. The fight went the distance, but there was only ever one winner.
“It was very strange for the Thais,” remembers Dekkers. “They didn’t know where Holland was, then all of a sudden there was a fighter from this place they had never heard of beating their champions. They didn’t know what to think.”
A rematch was called just two months later, and this time Dekkers would be fighting in Muay Thai’s ancestral home. Lumpinee Stadium, a cauldron in the middle of Bangkok, is the Mecca for all Muay Thai fighters and it was packed out for the event, but Dekkers was enjoying himself.
“It was a great feeling,” he recalls. “I liked everything about what I saw. I liked the atmosphere, the temperature; it was great.”
Dekkers dominated the bout, but when he failed to knock his opponent out and the result went to the all-Thai judges, he knew he would be returning home without his belt.
In the years that followed, Dekkers clocked up a stunning number of fights, many of which were in Thailand. By the time he retired he had some 215 fights to his name. He won 175 of these bouts and knocked out 90 men.
Dekkers believes most of his losses were on poor points decisions, in front of partisan Thai crowds, and his record supports his claim. In 215 fights, he was only knocked out once. “There were times when I fought in Thailand and they told me I lost when I knew I had won,” he recalls. “But I would always be proud of myself.”
The gruelling bouts eventually took their toll and Dekkers began to suffer with injuries. He smashed his right ankle so badly and so often that he had to undergo surgery on dozens of occasions. Towards the end of his career, he had to fight while only able to kick with one leg.
One of Dekkers’ most celebrated bouts was against Thai legend Orono – the fight is widely considered as one of the greatest Muay Thai clashes of all time. However, Dekkers was in poor shape.
“I was injured in both of my legs,” he recalls. “I wanted to put some tape on my ankles but the referee wouldn’t let me.” But despite his sometimes antagonistic relationship with the Muay Thai hierarchy, Dekkers remains full of praise for the country he ranks as his favourite in the world.
Sadly, the injuries caught up with Dekkers and he simply couldn’t fight on. “I didn’t want to quit but I had to. I wanted to keep on fighting but I was only at 50 per cent. I had so much pain in my hands and my legs. It had to stop.” Dekkers made brief comebacks in the lucrative Japanese mixed martial arts K1 tournament, but by 2005 his fighting career was over.
However, Dekkers is still very much involved in the sport which – with him as its flag-bearer – has grown exponentially in the West in recent years. He trains a number of fighters for both Muay Thai and K1 competitions. One of his men recently went up against Muay Thai’s current poster boy Buakaw Por Pramuk, and lost narrowly on points.
Dekkers believes there is no real secret to how to become a champion: “You need the discipline to train every day and to do the same thing every day, over and over… In Muay Thai you will get hurt, but when you are in pain or have an injury you have to keep going.”
Buakaw is celebrated as one of the greatest fighters of recent times, and while Dekkers rates the Thai highly, he feels that he went up against better: “I don’t think [Buakaw] is as good as some of the fighters I’ve fought. I think I would have beaten him.”
Ramon ‘The Diamond’ Dekkers might not be a household name in Ireland, but everyone who knows Muay Thai knows exactly who he is and what he has done for his sport. There’s a clip of highlights of his greatest fights on YouTube that has had nearly a million views. Dekkers is to Muay Thai what Pele is to football. He went to Thailand and fought the best fighters on offer in their sport and under their rules – and he beat them. But while he might have hurt the pride of many of Thailand’s fighters during the course of his stunning career, he also earned the respect of the Thai people – and helped bring their sport to the world.
