Most American’s work the typical 40-hour work week, we get up we go to work, then we either go home, the gym, or a try to find a happy hour some where. Most fighters have to pay their dues, especially in Muay Thai by working the 40-hour work week and then training on a whole different level than the average person, something you won’t be able to experience at your local LA Fitness.
It is something fighters do for the love of the sport, it’s not a hobby for them, it’s a way of life, and Luis Bio is the perfect example of this. If you live in the United States you can find at least one MMA gym that will teach you Muay Thai in your area, even if it isn’t the best. Luis Bio doesn’t have this luxury, he hails from Ensenada, Mexico. One hour from the U.S. border, and as far as gyms that teach Muay Thai go, well simply put, there aren’t any.
Unlike in America the average work week in Mexico is anywhere from 50-60 hours. Luis works as an industrial engineer and business analyst in a GPS and Sonar manufacturing plant in Ensenada, Mexico called NAVICO. After finishing his 50-60 hour long work week Luis drives one hour to Tijuana to cross the border into the United States, then he drives another 30 minutes to The Boxing Club in San Diego to train with his coaches Caine Gayle, Ron Casper, and Glenn Salud. This is something that Luis does every weekend in addition to training 2-3 hours a day during the week after his 10-12 hour work day.
They say hard work pays off, and for Luis it has already started. Luis Bio and Alejandro Nunez just competed at the 48th annual WBC World Convention which was held in Cancun, Mexico. This was the first time a Muay Thai fight was held as part of the convention, and up for grabs was the WBC Mexico National Title.
“It was truly an honor to have fought at the WBC convention” said Luis. “I would have never thought of getting a shot at Mexico’s National title at that venue. It was a double surprise.”
Getting the title shot wasn’t enough for Luis as he defeated Alejandro Nunez with relative ease by TKO in the 2nd round. The hard training and discipline is what Luis attributes to being able to beat his opponent with such ease, but bio isn’t ready to slow down. Winning a WBC Mexico National Title was great for him, but he is already focused on his next task, and that is a 4-man tournament in China starting on Dec. 17th. The training has already begun and to win the WCK tournament Luis will have to win two fights in a span of three days.
As always he will be representing Mexico with pride. Not many Mexican fighters get recognition in Muay Thai. Being one of the few fighters representing Mexico in Muay Thai is added pressure, but Luis loves it.
“Every time I fight internationally I feel the weight of my country on my shoulders! I love it” said Luis. “Mexico is known for its incredible boxing champions. I also want to be known as an incredible Muay Thai champion one day.”
Luis is ready to continue his quest to be known as an incredible Muay Thai champion, he has his eyes set on the WCK World Title in December, and in the future would love to compete for a WBC World Title. Now as far as whom Luis would like to fight in the future, well he just wants to fight the best because as he put it, he can only be measured against those he fights. However, one man he does name is Xu Yan. Luis dropped a split decision to him, and would love to get an opportunity to avenge that loss in a Muay Thai rules bout since their first fight was not Muay Thai rules.
You can’t help but expect Luis to accomplish his goal of going down in history as an incredible champion. You can’t question his dedication and work ethic, his mission to be known as a great champion has started and something tells me he is going to finish it.
“Muay Thai has meant sacrificing most if not all of my free time for training. There are no Muay Thai gyms in my hometown and for the past 5 years, I’ve been driving 150 miles and crossing the USA-Mexico border every weekend to get quality training” said Luis. “But I’m not complaining! Muay Thai is what I love doing…it’s my passion.”
It has been very difficult for Luis to get fights in Mexico due to politics, etc, but he would like to thank promoter Dennis Warner and his manager Dennis Leung, who have made it happen, as well as Don Jose and Mauricio Sulaiman for believing in and promoting Muay Thai.
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