A Lethwei champion, arrested
We are quite saddened to read the recent news that the Lethwei middleweight champion Too Too was arrested yesterday by the military, in Munbu township, in the centrally located city of Magway. The military charged him with participating in a non-violent protest last year. Some listeners may recall our recent interview with Dave Leduc, where he talked extensively about his bouts with Too Too in the ring. Following is an excerpt in which Dave describes what led him to his first fight with Too Too, which was also his first Lethwei match ever in Myanmar. Further in the interview he goes into much more detail about the fights that developed following this one.
“I did a couple of trips back and forth from Canada to Thailand, and ended up getting called after after a series of wins, which became my first catapult into some type of fame. I guess was identified as a prison fighter.
For those who don't know, they can look it up, but it was very controversial. It's run by the Correctional Department of Thailand. They offered this chance to inmates who were previously fighters and who had made some bad decisions, maybe they got caught selling stuff or one fighter actually killed a man because he was looking at his stuff. Basically, they got a second chance by fighting, and if they win enough fights, they get a sentence reduction in this crazy, movie-like scenario.
So I get called, along with another Canadian, Mexican, Iranian, and Uzbekistan. It was quite interesting. We go there and it was it was like a movie, and actually I got approached recently to make a movie about this, so we'll see how it goes. But I went to fight, and the same promoter who was organizing this prison fight, well a year later I'm really looking for money. I had met my wife Irina, and we're struggling. I need a big break in my life. So I'm calling whoever I can call. My last resort is to call the prison fight promoter who I met here a year before.
But he’s like, ‘I'm sorry, I don't promote fights anymore in Muay Thai in Thailand. But I promote Lethwei.’
Are you kidding me? This is like, what is happening? And he tells, ‘Yeah, we're now in Myanmar, in Yangon. And if you want, I know that you were pretty game back in the day, when you were behind a maximum security prison to fight this guy in Lethwei against Too Too in Yangon for the first World Championship.’
I’m like, ‘Sign me up, let's go!’
