Former Thai Boxing Champion Questions National Team Selection Process
Former Thai boxing champion Panapetch Chuanphatthalung criticized the Amateur Muaythai Association's recruitment process after the organization invited prominent ONE Championship fighter Nabil Anane to try out for the national Olympic team,
Panapetch Chuanphatthalung, a former amateur international boxer for the Thai national team, has criticized what he describes as standard practice at the Amateur Muaythai Association in recruiting famous fighters to join the national roster, despite having experienced this exclusion himself despite winning national team trials. Panapetch posted his complaint after the Amateur Muaythai Association recently recruited Nabil Anane, a prominent Muaythai fighter from ONE Championship, to try out for the national team with the goal of pursuing an Olympic gold medal in boxing at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
In his post, Panapetch Puang-kaeo wrote: "Why all the drama? There was a time I won every championship in Thailand, competed in the Royal Thai Army Games, and beat 2-3 people for the national team. People I defeated went on to compete in the Olympics. I won the national championship, defeated a super bantamweight fighter from Rattanabandit University by more than 20 points, but two months later the association hired that same super bantamweight for the national team at 10,000 to 20,000 baht per month. I'm confused."
Panapetch, from Satun, is a former Muaythai boxer and ex-Thailand champion in the 130-pound weight division who switched to amateur international boxing before moving to Pancak Silat, where he won a gold medal at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore and became a world champion.
However, Nabil must first be selected for the national team to represent Thailand in the Olympic qualifying round in order to earn the right to compete in the final Olympic Games in Los Angeles, United States in 2028.
