On August 14th at the Saugus Speedway Numpon "Tornado" and Lom-Esan "The Destroyer" will meet for what is set to be a ground braking fight. It will be the first time that two Thai fighters fight on U.S. soil.
We can thank
Push Kick Promotions for bringing us this monumental show. Who are the masterminds behind Push Kick Promotions? Dr. Joseph Vivo, and Pong San. We were lucky enough to have Dr. Joseph Vivo take time out of his busy schedule and answer some questions for www.MuayThaiAuthority.com, and it's with pleasure that we can say Push Kick Promotions is here for the improvement of the sport of Muay Thai.
What was supposed to be small local show grew into the event extravaganza it is today. Push Kick Promotions was presented with the opportunity to bring a fight as monumental as the main event between Numpon "Tornado" and Lom-Esan "The Destroyer", and they seem poised to take advantage of that great opportunity.
"It all eventually grew to this size, this magnitude after exploring several different options. We started off small it was just going to be a local fight, because of my partner who is the former two time WMC world light weight champion of Thailand." Dr. Joseph Vivo said. "After we realized his connections with Thailand that is when we came up with the idea of bringing over some Thai fighter"
Numpon "Tornado" and Lom-Esan "The Destroyer" should be enough to carry any fight card. This will be their rubber match with each fighter splitting a pair of previous fights, and the fact that they do not genuinely like each other, and that those sentiments are felt by their camps as well adds fuel to their fire. However, Push Kick Promotions goal isn't just to make a quick buck with their promotion, they are here for the growth of the sport of Muay Thai in America.
They will hold a concert in conjunction with the event that will feature (hed) P.E. and Urban Assault. You might ask what their thinking behind this was, but their answer is simple. They want to bring Muay Thai to the masses, and bring in new fans. For the most part at Muay Thai shows the audience is there because of a relationship to a particular fighter on that card. You don't really see new fans attending the shows, and that is what Push Kick Promotions wants to change.
"The thought behind adding a concert is we want to attract more than just Muay Thai enthusiast. We want to attract a young audience who has never seen fights like these before." Dr. Joseph Vivo said. "We know that they will be convinced this is a great and exiting sport, once they see the fight, and the only way to get them to see the fight is to draw them with a big name concert."
MMA has grown tremendously over the last couple of years and that has been great for Muay Thai, but at the same time it has had its drawbacks. People here in the U.S. see Muay Thai as a part of MMA and not as a sport in-itself. Being able to make the sport stand out on its own here in the United States is the driving force behind Push Kick Promotions.
"Our vision is to separate that, we want Muay Thai to stand on its own just as it does in Thailand as Thailand’s national sport." Said Dr. Joseph Vivo.
The way to change Muay Thai here in the U.S. starts with the way promotions are run, this is a sentiment felt by Dr. Joseph Vivo and Push Kick Promotions. They don't want fighters just seeing Muay Thai as a stepping stone for their MMA career. They want it to be the fighter's career, they want to as Dr. Joseph put it "
change the business model of marketing, find, and discover talented fighters."
Any true Muay Thai enthusiast would love to see Muay Thai go mainstream. Push Kick Promotions looks like they could be leading the charge to make that happen. Their goal to bring in new fans to the sport and try to make sure everyone is aware that the sport can stand on its own is exactly what is needed.
So not only for the love of Muay Thai but for the growth of the sport, make sure you support Push Kick Promotions and you go watch what is poised to be a great fight between Numpon "Tornado" and Lom-Esan "The Destroyer" for the WMC welterweight title.
