RONNIE “MACHINE GUN” GREEN (ENGLAND)

Temps de lecture : 15 minutes

Interview of RONNIE “MACHINE GUN” GREEN

by Serge TREFEU (2014)

(Thanks to Francis Esmond)

Serge TREFEU: Hello Ronnie, thank you for granting me this interview. You are one of the pioneers of the Thai Boxing in England. I believe that you began martial arts, in the 70’s, with Judo and Karate, how did you discover Thai Boxing?

I began Judo and Karate in 1974 and then in 1978 I began Thai Boxing with Master Toddy. At the time everyone was talking about Full Contact Karate and people from Karate and Kung Fu wanted to test themselves in the ring. Kykoshinkai Karate was already doing full contact but just not in the ring. Then I saw people like Don Wilson and of course the great Joe Lewis moving into full contact so I started to entertain the idea too.

I was always a fan of boxing and followed the great stars like “Muhammad Ali” and “Sugar Ray Leonard” and I came across a book one day that caught my eye.

I remember it was red and white and when I opened it I saw it had Thai Boxing in it. I picked it up and I started to read about it.

Reflecting back, at that time Kung Fu, Karate and Bruce Lee was popular and the martial art systems all had their uniforms, “Gi or Kung Fu suit” etc and so to see that Thai Boxers were stripped down to bare chest, boxing gloves and just shorts was a little strange for the martial arts. You normally associate that look to western boxing. It felt foreign to me that this martial art didn’t have a uniform. Because anyone getting into martial arts at the time wanted a uniform and a black belt, but of course in Thai boxing you didn’t have that. But in time curiosity got the better of me. A lot of people back then use to laugh at Thai boxing because they didn’t understand what they were looking at and the music was strange, but sometimes when a man stands alone he’s laughed at but he knows something that they don’t (Laugh)

Then I saw Thai Boxing on TV on an “Alan Wicker show ” called “Wickers World”. He actually went over to Thailand and showed a little bit of fight action. Seeing people going into Full Contact Karate and seeing Thai boxing on “Wickers World” it just drew me in. Everyone was leaving the “mats” going into the “ring” with gloves on and competing. I thought the “Thai’s” must know how to kick and punch in the ring as they have the experience and the history and that’s how I got into it.

RONNIE WITH HIS JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT WORLD WKA TITLE!

Was it difficult to move from Karate into Thai boxing or did you find it easy?

It wasn’t difficult really because I already had some martial arts knowledge like punch techniques and stances from my Karate, everything had a stance, cat stance, horse stance etc. The funny thing was Thai boxing had one stance really, stand up straight with hands out in the long guard. Kind of like the George Forman style with his hands out, or like Mummy marching forward.

But I had to take a look at “Thai history” and the success they had in the ring and I knew they had something. I’m a big boxing fan and you see “Ali” and “Leonard” dancing, stick and move etc and it is all contradictory in Thai Boxing.

The Thai’s never used their hands that much, mainly the elbow, clinching, knees and kicks. They could use their hands but they didn’t use them in the same way as western style boxing. But in Thai boxing it was so simplistic, like you were marching to war to see who was the toughest. That’s how I was looking at it back then. But yet it was drawing me into a sense of bewilderment because they have a winning history in and out the ring. They would stand there and seem to let people hit them but somehow win!

In what year did you have your first Thai boxing fight?

My first Thai boxing fight was in 1979

RONNIE GREEN WORLD CHAMPION

Was Muay Thai well known in England at the time?

No it was “Full Contact Karate”. It was the Thai masters who brought Thai boxing to the UK. They are now famous in the UK. They were promoting Thai Boxing up and down the country, Master Toddy, Master Woody, Master Krin, and Master Sken!

RONNIE WITH MASTER SKEN!

How was Thai boxing viewed back then in the 70s?

In the 70’s everyone was doing a form of Karate or Kung Fu really and having a Karate suit/uniform was a big thing. Even the Thai masters had suits at the time. They introduced themselves into the UK martial arts world through Tae Kwon Do and they use to wear a Tae Kwon Do top with blue Adidas tracksuit bottoms.

At the time the Thai masters didn’t think that anyone over here would take part in Thai boxing because it was full contact fighting with knees and elbows to the head, it’s a tough sport. And this was the reason they introduced it through Tae Kwon Do competitions doing demonstrations and they became very popular.

Martial artists were saying that Karate is the best and better than Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do and Karate etc, so each system was trying to prove its effectiveness in the ring, like today really. You have MMA basically saying “Well if you are a good fighter jump in the cage and prove it”. Truthfully Full Contact Karate was the first MMA concept because Full Contact Karate in a sense put all the other martial arts together, in the ring, so as it evolved it didn’t matter if you did Tae Kwon Do, Karate or Kung Fu anymore because you had gloves on.

This new sport called “Full Contact Karate” came from the USA. It put an equaliser out there, you could kick hard, punch hard etc. Back then under some rules you could throw, sweep, use back fist and takedown. Over the years the rules just changed and they slowly started taking the weapons away. I guess it gravitated from a martial arts format to a boxing format.

What do you like about Thai boxing, what attracted you to this sport?

Everything really, the effectiveness of the techniques, simplicity of movement, people, music and culture and morality

RONNIE VS KYOJI SAITO !

Where did you grow up in the UK and were there a lot of gyms in your area?

I grew up in Manchester, England. In the 70’s an area of Manchester called Deansgate became the centre of martial arts community. There were plenty martial arts masters in the area teaching various different styles as well as boxing

Tell me about when you began training in Muay Thai and who were the fighters from your gym?

I was in a dance group at the time and the Thai masters were in “Deansgate” and I began going and training. When I stopped dancing I began going 5/6 days a week. When the Thai masters started teaching they were together but they would teach on different days. Which was great because I got to meet all of them Master Toddy, Master Sken, Master Woody and Master Krin. The first night I went I met Master Krin then Master Toddy, Master Woody and Master Sken. Some of the champions back then in the gym were Howard Brown, Keith Nathan, Owen Comrie, Lance Lewis, Peter Hopkins, Steve Holt, Kevin and Michael Morris, Lisa Howarth, Ann Quinlan, Kash Gill, Ella Yee, Ann Holmes, Dawson Burgundy, Steve Tabbener, Leroy Atkinson…..

How did you end up continuing to train with Master Toddy?

I had trained with all but when Master Sken moved to Holland Master Toddy became my trainer.

RONNIE GREEN CELEBRATES WITH MASTER TODDY!

What was the first title?

British Full Contact Title

In your career you fought in Kickboxing and Full-contact, how many fights did you have in these disciplines?

We’re going back some time and all my fights were full contact but in full contact kickboxing probably 8 from the UK. I fought Bill Judd, Godfrey Butler, John Everarrd, Mick Garrity, and people like that but it was hard to get fights because nobody really wanted to fight me. The rest was in Europe, I fought in France but cannot remember all the names at the moment. I was mainly fighting Full Contact Karate (above the waist kickboxing), WKA kickboxing (below the waist kickboxing), and Thai Boxing.

I was just fighting as often as I could, I was hungry for experience and wanted to be versatile. Whatever was going on in the ring at the time I was competing in it. I knew Thai would help me in all the areas so in a sense I was the very first person from the UK who was out there representing Thai boxing.

Every one of the fighters I’ve fought were champions from the start of my career because they challenged “Muay Thai” because it was new. The Thai masters themselves got challenged and they said “If you can beat our students then we’ll fight you”. So I never had an easy fight as a novice I was put against people at the top of their game because they were champions in their own field.

How many fights have you had in total and how may victories and defeats?

Out of 98 fights I think I’ve had 8 defeats

RONNIE VS JOAO VIERRA!

You gained a lot of victories by KO?

Oh quite a lot but I don’t remember exactly how many, it was a long time ago (Laugh)

In what weight categories did you fight?

Between 58k and 63k. I fought at Super Featherweight, Light Welterweight, Super Lightweight and Junior Welterweight

You gained several titles, can you say against whom and in which year?

I won British, European and World titles in every division I’ve fought in, Thai boxing, Kickboxing and Full Contact Karate. Every system I competed in I became champion I won the WKA title against Joao Vierra in 1984, I fought Phillipe Cantemessi from France in 1983, Wattana Souderth in 1982, who was a big names, Sombat, Samisuk, I fought all over. My titles include the WKA Super featherweight, IMF lightweight, IFCF lightweight and other European, British titles.

At the time there was no circuit to fight Thai on, just the full contact karate shows. In Amsterdam 1979 I fought a Thai called “Leounge Kira”. He was supposed to have had 117 fights and I stopped him in the 5th round. On that night he should have fought “Lucien Carbin” from Mejiro Gym, but Lucien had broken his arm and that’s how I ended up fighting ” Leounge Kira”. Carbin had fought and beaten most of the top fighters around and because I stopped Leounge Kira I got a fight with Lucien !

WORLD CHAMPION KICKBOXING IN JAPAN!

Who were the European and American champions whom you faced in your career?

I fought Brien Cullen, Paul Lenihan, Phillippe Cantemessi, Rene Desjardins, Lucien Carbin, Gilbert Ballentine, Joao Vierra, Joe Prestia, Peter Belmore, Bill Judd they were all Europeans and the only Americans were Pete “Sugarfoot” Cunningham and Pat Romero. My fight with Pat Romero was the first ever 12 round WKA fight in the UK and after that the doors opened up for UK fighters to travel abroad and compete. He was a tough guy but I used the wrong tactics in that fight. I fought like it was a 3 round fight. With Peter initially I was meant to fight him in London, England but he pulled out due to injury in training if I remember correctly. The fight was rescheduled and we fought in Las Vegas. I thought Peter was a great fighter and champion. I loved his style and he was brilliant with his hands and legs. We had a very technical bout and I thought I won the fight but he got the decision on points.

And who are the Thai champions that you met?

I met a lot of champions while out in Thailand, too many to name. The Thais were nice people, they all had personalities, respectful, friendly and sociable not only to me but to everyone and that’s how I like to act. In the “West” people tend to want to be the tough guy but that’s not me. I don’t need to be a tough guy to know how to fight, self-defence comes through a “kind man” concept because I’m not looking for any problems at all. But if somebody approaches me and tries to frighten me then he’s making a mistake. He can’t frighten me, that’s when Ronnie Green the warrior comes out.

For me that’s what the martial arts are about. I could hit you hard and you could hit me hard so I didn’t need to fight on the street to see if my martial art worked I could do it in the ring, in a sporting way and it has a concept of rules and regulations so it’s about sportsmanship, honesty and being a sportsman or a sportswoman. This is why I was drawn into the martial arts, I love boxing but I saw a completely different ethos in the martial arts, one of mind, body and spirit

Your hardest fight was against which opponent?

All of them, because all of my opponents were more experienced than me. Most people didn’t believe I could win my fights so I was always the underdog and up against it. But with “Lucien Carbin” I was terrified to tell you the truth. He was the man at the time. In my mind I was ready to fight him but one of my corner men just said to me “Keep your guard up, he’s good” and when he said that I started bottling it. Then I’m looking at the audience and there was so many people there. In a sense I felt like a lamb to the slaughter, I was just shook up, there was no fight in me. I only lasted I think 2 rounds. It was like an out of body experience, I was like a shell. That was the awakening, I thought either “I do it” or “I quit”. And I mean everything, training and everything to do with martial arts. I soon realised that if I quit I would never forgive myself so I decided to continue and put 100% in…

What is your best memory from your Thai boxing career?

I have many but I think my fight with Leounge Kira from the Famous Mungsurin gym. I was a late stand-in. I stopped him in the 5th round, he didn’t beat the 8 count. I stopped him with a combination of punches and kicks. Everyone was amazed at what I had done!

You had great fights with some of the best Thai champions of all time such as Sagat Petchyindee, Sombat Sor Thanikul and Samisuk, can you speak to us about your fights against these champions and what you think of them?

They were famous in Thailand and I knew the names for quite a while especially Sagat. Back in the day I had videos of these guys and I use to have visions of me fighting them. I wanted to face the best and they were the best so I always had them in mind. After my awakening from Lucien Carbin my mind was ready for it, I wanted to be the best. I was mentally ready for any occasion.

I saw Sagat fight Fanta Attapong and after that fight I had visions I would be fighting him one day. I fought him in Japan as I was known in Japan and the Japanese wanted Sagat to fight there. So they matched me with him. He was very skilful and I was happy to share the ring with him. I did feel I did well enough to win but they gave him the decision. I fought Sombat twice and in our first bout they gave it a draw. Master Toddy set up the fight and it was the first show to be broadcast Live from London to Thailand. The second time I fought him I beat him. Master Toddy set up the Samisuk fight in London. It was Thailand V UK. I also fought the Thai fighter “Pyet” in France.

RONNIE VS SAGAT!

Do you often fought in France?

Yes many fights in France

What do you think of French fighters?

I always rated the French very highly, I fought a lot in France and I respect the French history with Savate, karate etc very good fighters and high standard. As far as I was concerned I had to go over to France and soak up all the experience and knowledge. It’s like all the arts coming together in France with people like “Roger Paschy” who was probably one of the first in Paris to start Thai Boxing. I met Roger Paschy, fought Joe Prestia who beat Ramon Dekkers, René Desjardin, Phillippe Cantemessi all great fighters.

I always wanted to fight Dida Diafat, I thought it would have been a great fight. He was a great fighter but for some reason he didn’t want to fight me. He fought Kevin and Michael Morris who were from the same gym, Master Toddy’s camp, but not me. Also I would have liked to have fought “Richard Sylla” too. He was a great fighter with great skill. It just never came up. I was a busy fighter, fighting as often as I could and it just never came up.

I was very close to setting up a fight with the great “Ramon Dekkers” which would have been a fantastic fight and would have caught the attention of the world just because of our styles and what we both achieved in the ring. But it didn’t happen because of the promoter. We were due to fight in England my home town and he was going to pay Ramon more than me and I thought the whole thing was unfair. I was a champion too and Ramon would have been the visitor, how could I get paid less? I felt he was trying to take liberties and negotiations fell down.

France and Amsterdam was like a melting pot for the martial arts in Europe and the French fighters were well schooled, have a history, strong and technical. Its only when I started beating fighters from France and Amsterdam that I was put forward to fight the Thai’s.

Do you know current French champions?

No unfortunately I haven’t had much time to follow the sport as I would like but I remember being very impressed with Samir “The Prince” Mohamed. I always loved Danny Bill, I thought he was fantastic and not forgetting Jerome Le Banner, Joe Prestia, Rene Desjardins, Dida Diafat, Dominique Valera and people like that

In the time your fighter’s nickname was “The Machine gun”, where did the nickname come from?

Fans gave me this name because people saw that I would throw fast combinations

RONNIE « MACHINE GUN » GREEN BRITAIN’S FIRST WORLD MUAY THAI CHAMPION!

You were also called “Simingdam’ in Thai (The Black tiger), when did you receive this fighter’s nickname?

Master Toddy saw the way I moved, I had the heart and the way I would catch my opponents, he would say I was like a cat, and that’s how I got the name

In your opinion who are the best Thai boxers at world level at the moment?

There are many great fighters now such as Gokhan Saki, Tyrong Spong, Melvin Manhoef, Buakaw Por Pramuk, Nieky Holzken, Artem Levin and you have so many young good fighters too, Andy Riste, Muthel Groenhart etc. Too many to name really but I must say I was very impressed with “Josh Jauncey” who recently had his debut in GLORY World Series

During your fights what were your favourite techniques?

I was an all rounder. I would work at everything. I found I was able to use techniques that would break my opponent down so I would sharpen everything so it was there if I needed it

You were one of the first English people to train in Thailand, can you tell us this first experience in Thailand, who did you train with?

Yes that’s correct. In 1983 I spent up to a year with Fanta Attapong, training and fighting in Thailand. I was the first British fighter to stay on his own at the camp and I was treated as a team member living and fighting all over Thailand and Hong Kong. I did it so others from the UK would be able to do it too and win at the top level. Fanta was doing his tour of Europe, I think he fought and beat Andre Brilleman in 1982, I was on that show too fighting Rajadamnerm Champion Wattana Souderth and I beat him by KO. He was a good fighter who beat Gilbert Ballentine. So after they saw me KO Souderth, Fanta and I got talking and he invited me to train with him in Thailand. They wanted to show me off because they couldn’t believe someone from England could fight Muay Thai quite well.

How many fights did you have in Thailand?

I had 18 Fights in Thailand I think in total I fought against 35 Thais, and only losing to one

ANOTHER VICTORY IN THAILAND!

In what stadium did you fight?

I fought at Rajadamnerm but then they took me all over and I fought in Chang Mai and other places outside of Bangkok

What was the strongest Thai champion in your category in this time?

They were all strong, trust me!

What was your hardest fight in Thailand?

All of them!

You have an unusual anecdote of fight or training which you arrived in Thailand?

Not really but I remember thinking I’m going into the unknown, I’m here in Thailand, a black man from England who can’t speak the language. But my experience was great, they looked after me and made me feel so welcome

You seem very attached to the traditional culture of Muay Thai, Ram Muay, Wai Khru, it’s important for you to respect them?

Yes definitely. I always had respect from the home and through the traditional arts such as Judo, Karate etc and if someone is helping you how could you not respect them. Master Toddy and the Thai Masters helped me a lot and I wanted to show respect in any way I could.

The Thai culture and Thai way fitted into my life perfectly and I respected what I had learned and what I was being taught. I was around all these great fighters and they were so friendly and treated each other with respect, young or old and it grabbed me.

I didn’t see that in the UK, it was more the strong would take advantage of the weak and in Thailand it seems the other way around

What do you think of current Thai fighters in comparison to the champions of your time?

Skilful fighters. The only thing I would say is that the Thais have had the sport for so long but they still cannot get the structure to really show the skill of their fighters internationally. America is the home of boxing and Thailand is the home of Muay Thai. The American boxers are known around the world but the Muay Thai champs are only known to hardcore fans really. The Thais need to keep promoting their top champions. Thai boxing has some great western fighters now so now is the time to really link it all together and make their champions international celebrities, fighting the Americans, Dutch, French, British etc. That’s what boxing did, otherwise we wouldn’t know people like “Sugar Ray Leonard” and “Ali” if they just fought in the stadiums like Madison Square Garden. I love what K-1 did and what GLORY World Series are doing for Kickboxing. I think the fighters are fantastic. The main difference is my generation was the “first”. Meaning there was nobody before us, when I say “us” I mean English, French and Dutch pioneers

In the 80s and 90, Holland, France and England were the strongest countries in Muay Thai after the Thailand, do you think it’s the same today?

Yes I do think mainly France and Holland, but each European country has great fighters now especially coming out of Eastern Europe, look at GLORY WS or Enfusion Muay Thai and the countries that are involved.

I think advancement has also come from the USA. America always did full contact Karate so their adjustment to low kicks, knees and elbows was later than Europe.

The Thai masters brought Muay Thai to the UK in the 70’s and Thom Harinck, Johan Vos and Jan Plas introduced their style of Muay Thai to Holland in the 70’s and France with a history of Savate the sport is now like 40 years old. We now have a European Muay Thai/Full Contact Karate history that includes all of us. That’s why the young fighters are so good, they are learning from the best and taking it further.

RONNIE VS SAITO IN THE SAME EVENT AS THE GREAT ROB KAMAN!

At present is Muay Thai popular in England, are there many events?

Yes it’s still popular amongst martial arts fans but what I’m finding is at the moment K-1 style kickboxing and MMA is more popular than Muay Thai. But I can also see that the cage fighters are going back to traditional grappling arts too like Brazilian Jujitsu as well as Muay Thai to learn or sharpen their striking skills.

Then they’re taking it back into the cage. It’s not like back in the days when you would go to a Karate school to learn Karate or Judo school to learn Judo, its now evolved where MMA clubs cover everything. You look at how the UFC fighters have evolved and how the sport has changed, the fighters now are well rounded.

Many MMA clubs now have Muay Thai coach, Boxing coach and Brazilian Jujitsu coach and if not then fighters are going back to the specialist clubs to learn it and take it back to the cage.

The only thing I don’t like is that I’ve seen some people training to attack people in the streets. Young angry men, learn a few kicks and moves to hurt someone and take them out with that strangle move they just learned in the gym. Now if you haven’t got the morality in your approach to training, it then becomes violence.

I was a big Bruce Lee fan and Bruce always talked about the morality. If he was rude and brash, street fighting and knocking people out in the street I would never have been a fan. Because I’m not arrogant and I’m not rude. You look for likeminded people, role models, you look at yourself and see a reflection of yourself that you identify with.

Fighters need to remember to show sportsmanship in and out of the ring so we remain a positive role model for any fans of the sport and the young can see that “Physical doesn’t have to mean violent”. The martial arts promote stillness of the mind, strength of body and character and understanding of the “Self”.

Thais have a culture of Buddhism and they aim to be gentlemen and women but they are warriors, that’s the ethos I liked and what drew me in

In your opinion who are the current stars in the UK?

We have some good fighters and champions such as Liam Harrison, Jordan Watson, Steve Wakeling, Reece McAllister, Tim Thomas, Iman Barlow, Joanne Calderwood and Julie Kitchen

Today you have your own gym ?

No I don’t have my own gym at this time. I used to but I mainly work within the community and with young people now. My main focus is running “Martial Way Training” . I want to bring the martial arts stars to the young people on the streets in Britain who could benefit from positive, strong role models. We are based out of Tottenham, London where the 2011 riots began and we use martial arts to inspire, build character, develop confidence and self-worth. I chose to step up because back then in the 70’s and 80’s England was running scared, nobody wanted to be the first to take it to the next level and they had the talent. I thought we need to break that mould so I stepped up. When I was fighting I knew that I wanted to inspire British fighters to go out to France, Holland, Japan, Thailand to compete. There was nobody before me in the UK at world level and I wanted to be the first one to let the UK know that we can do it too, compete at world level with the best and win.

Fear is fear and if you think you can’t do it then you can’t. I believed I could and I did

MARTIAL WAY TRAINING WITH MASTER RONNIE GREEN AND FRANCIS ESMOND!

Can you describe us a typical session, what you teach, only Muay Thai or Kickboxing too?

I teach my own system which I call “Simingdam”. It’s my own interpretation of Muay Thai and all the martial arts experience I have, combined. It’s not pure Muay Thai so I wouldn’t call in Muay Thai, in the same way Bruce taught Jeet Kune Do, which isn’t pure Kung Fu, it has elements from all the systems Bruce had practiced as well as his street fighting experience

You often organise seminars in England, would you be willing to organise seminars also in Europe?

Yes I would love to come back to France for seminars. I’ve always looked up to European martial artists they were my idols too, Chakuriki, Vos and Mejiro gyms, fighters like Lucien Carbin, Roger Paschy’s team, they were educating me at the same time. If anyone in France or Europe would like to book me I would be more than happy. I can be contacted through my friend and business partner Esmond Francis at @Martial_Way on Twitter or email esmond.francis@btinternet.com.

RONNIE WITH THE TOTTENHAM KICKBOXING ASSOCIATION JUNIORS SEMINAR!

Do you also teach Muay Boran?

Not directly. I teach from the heart and I consider myself to be a martial artist first and a Thai Boxer second. By this I mean I’m not bound by any law that says what I teach has to be taught “like this” or “like that”. I saw similarities between the different systems so my mind was open to knowledge regardless where it came from. If it worked then I would keep it.

Since Tony Jaa has become famous we now know what we call “Muay Boran” but I always saw Thai Boxing in a Muay Boran way, as a technical system that had techniques that were similar to those in other systems. So to answer your question directly “No” but what I teach includes Muay Boran but it’s my own Simingdam system

How old are you Ronnie?

I am 54 now

Your passion for the combat sports is always intact?

Absolutely. It’s part of my life. I have met so many people, travelled all over the world and enjoyed the challenges. I now have great pleasure in sharing my knowledge and experience with others

Are you are married, do you have children, do your children practice Thai boxing?

Yes I am married and have 2 children and some grand children. My son Lee is a Muay Thai champion in his own right. He is a former Junior Thai kickboxing champion and IKF World Thai Kickboxing Champion, AMF Pro Commonwealth and WPMF Pro British Muay Thai Champion

RONNIE WITH HIS SON LEE GREEN!

You can speak to us about the site “ronniegreentv.com”?

The site is currently down at the moment but we’ll be back on the web very soon

Do you have a post in the English Federation of Thai boxing?

What are your current projects?

As mentioned I now run Martial Way Training and we aim to bring the martial arts world to young people in the UK. Young people and communities struggle with crime, anti-social behaviour, lack of confidence, lack of self-control, low aspirations and we use the martial arts to engage them. We want to bring the stars from the martial arts world to the UK which would have a powerful impact on the lives of the young. It also keeps our sport alive with the next generation buying into it

MARTIAL WAY TRAINING!

You want to add anything?

I want to say a big thank you to Master Toddy, Woody, Krin and Sken for their insight, guidance and instruction. The Thai’s that I met, trained with and fought, thank you. Also to big up all the current UK Champions and UK pioneers of Muay Thai and kickboxing for being part of the history and supporting Ronnie Green over the years. I want to thank Roger Paschy and his team, all the French people and the fans around the world for all your hospitality, support and friendship. Also a big thank you to Holland, Thom Harinck, Johan Vos, Fred Royers, Lucien Carbin, Gilbert Ballentine, Joao Vierra for those great bouts we had and everyone who really helped me to be able to go over to Thailand and compete. R.I.P to Jan Plas, Andre Brilleman, Ramon Dekkers, Mike Bernardo, Andy Hug, and Peter Smit. Big thank you to you Serge and Siam Fight Mag

Thank you very much for this interview and Good Luck for your projects!

Formed by most great masters of the Muay Thai, Ronnie Green became a legend of boxing rings, a unique fighter in the story of the kick boxing in England!

Ronnie was the first English champion has to fight and to win in Thailand and in Japan, what is a real exploit for time because really little foreigner had fought in these two distant countries, and even less overcome the local champions!

Simingdam faced thailandaises terrors such as Sagat Petchyindee, Sombath Sor Thanikul, Lonkeada Kira, Wattana Souderth and Samisuk!

The Machine Gun was also the first English fighter has to overcome the French and Dutch champions at their home, another beautiful performance of this exceptional champion who was to challenge the best European fighters of the 80s in their fief. He beat at his home in Amsterdam, in 1988, the great champion and formidable Joao Vieira!

During his( career he gained five titles of champion of the world, five titles of champion of Europe and five titles of champion of England, a real record for time!
The Tournament ” Ringmasters ” in England was created in honor of Ronnie Green’s unique career, “Simingdam” definitively enter in the pantheon of the legends of the Thai boxing!

RONNIE WITH THE STAR MYKE TYSON AND MASTER TODDY!