The lethwei season starts again in October. Events surrounding the Kayin State day, Kayah State day, anniversary of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, Independence day and the Karen New Year all happen during this time.

A busy time for promoters, fighters, and people who keep lethwei schedules. This will be a monthly item but is by no means a complete preview. I’ll mention the events currently happening in October and highlight a few things from each event that I think are worth mentioning (if there are any).

Lethwei in Japan 14 (October 2)

Higashi Shuhei vs. Htet Aung Oo (64,5kg)
Tokeshi Kohei vs. Aung Khaing (75kg)
Pilao Santana vs. Saw Mu Htaw Gae (61,5kg)
Julija Stoliarenko vs. Yuiga (Yukiko Kawakami) (66kg)
Kazuharu Wakano vs. Ko Dong-Hyeok (58kg)

On October 2nd the International Lethwei Federation Japan (ILFJ) celebrates its 3rd anniversary and will host their last event of the year. The past few events have not been live and neither will this one. The promotion says that due to high work load and intensive care of the promotion's infrastructure and relations, streams for this and forthcoming events are unclear. Currently MNTV in Myanmar will broadcast on delay in most cases.

Going forward we can only hope that the industry will gradually better itself by finding easier ways to broadcast or stream and that promoters and associated media will more effectively and more often communicate in English to the increasing western audience. At the moment new fans will struggle to find a reliable way of watching lethwei aside from WLC and the occasional Lethwei in Japan event.

Julija Stoliarenko makes her return to the ring since defeating Veronica in November 2017. ILFJ currently lists her as the champion at 61kg but the fight on October 2nd won't see Julija defending her title, because this fight is at a different weight class. The promotion is currently undecided if only her nominal title will be on the line at future defenses or if her belt should change hands also. Julija will face Batos Cafe pro wrestler Yuiga.

Saw Mu Htaw Gae is part of Thut Ti club in Yangon which is also the home of Saw Gaw Mu Do, Saw Phoe Tun and recent viral sensation Saw Ye Htoo. He has been holding his own against increasingly tougher opponents. Some his last fights include draws with Kyar Ba Hein, Thway Thit Maung, Kayin Lay and Petchyupin Kaowmankaisurat. In lethwei a great deal of draws can be positive if those fights were in your favor or if the audience was pleased with your performances. In 2016 Saw Gaw Mu Do was granted a shot at Tun Tun Min for the national title after going on a 10 fight draw streak.

Tokeshi Kohei will face Aung Khaing. He fights out of the Cement Factory, run in part by 1996 Golden Belt Champion Moe Palae and also the home of Tha Pyay Nyo. He went from 67kg to 72kg in just over a year. Since most of the Burmese guys will not cut weight, there will be roughly a 10kg weight difference between them. Aung Khaing missed out on the Golden Belt Championship in 2018 and 2019 losing to Kyar Pauk and Shan Ko respectively. He is new to big name fights, his most notable win on my schedule is over veteran Ye Yint Aung. He was not Tokeshi's original opponent as they had planned for him to face another Japanese fighter for the first time.

Tokeshi Kohei’s current lethwei record (Opens in new window)

Tokeshi on the other hand has surpassed Daiki Kaneko by leaps and bounds and has established himself a solid competitor in the higher regions of lethwei rankings. By far his most impressive win is over Saw Gaw Mu Do. To put that into perspective, Soe Lin Oo, Too Too and Saw Nga Man could only draw with him. Tokeshi was supposed to fight Too Too in August but pulled out due to scheduling problems. Aside from a rematch with Phyan Thway whom he lost to in his debut, perhaps a fight with arguably the number 2 in the country in Too Too can be made sometime later.

Higashi Shuhei will be facing Htet Aung Oo who was the last man to KO Shwe Yar Man when he was a little lighter, and is also one of the very few to hold a win over Saw Gaw Mu Do. I dare say he is now slightly past his prime but he can still be a tough customer. His last three fights were in January, February and March. The most notable one is a draw with current WLC signee Yan Naing Tun. Higashi has had 6 fights so far; 1 win (Philip Repelis), 1 loss (Byaggha) and 4 draws.

Ryo Narushima unfortunately got injured and is replaced by Ko Dong-Hyeok.

Challenge Fights, Sagaing (October 2 - 5)

Linn Htet Khaing vs. Hla Lay Sein
Aung Naing Oo vs. Shwe Lu Lin
Ngwe Nan Daw vs. Shwe Taung Thar
Chit Suu Nge vs. Shwe Thway

Some new generation and challenge fights organized by Thar Kyaung Thar near Ngar Htet Gyi Pagoda in Sagaing city. Only the main fights are listed, most of them are flag fighters. Shwe Taung Thar won a flag tournament in February of this year.

WLC 10: Fearless Tigers (October 4)

WLC Main card (on FightPass at 6:30pm MMT):

Thway Thit Win Hlaing vs. Burutlek Petchindee Academy (Main event)
Nicola Barke vs. Bianka Balajti
Mite Yine vs. Nguyen Thanh Trung
Shuklaine Min vs. Thun Chantak
Thway Thit Maung vs. Omar Elouers
Hein Tun Aung vs. Auk Chin Lay
Saw Min Naing vs. Saw Kaung Htet
Thein Soe vs. Soe Win Than

Great Tiger Group card (Canal+ exclusive at 5:30pm MMT):

Phyan Thway vs. Shwe Yar Man II (Main event)
Tha Pyay Nyo vs. Yan Naing Tun
Ye Thway Ni vs. Saw Min Min (links to their ONE fight)
Lwann Chai vs. Htoo Nay Thu
Kyaw Swar Win vs. Pat Kyaw Lin Naing

World Lethwei Championship and Gerald Ng are perfectly capable of doing their own promotion via many media outlets so I won't be going too in depth on this and only touch on a few of the fights.

WLC has teamed up with Great Tiger Group (GTG) for their 10th event. GTG started in 2016 and holds lethwei events while also funding and promoting others. One of the greatest events ever organized by them took place on October 9, 2016. A star studded line-up and a packed arena where Dave and Tun Tun Min would also meet for the first time. Everyone was there, from Aung La N Sang to Zay Thiha (WLC Chairman). The ambiance at this event was incredible and brought out the absolute best of the in-house orchestra. I suggest checking out the playlist to get a feel for what Great Tiger Group can produce.

Both WLC and GTG will each have their own card. The GTG portion of the show is headlined by a Shwe Yar Man vs. Phyan Thway rematch and will be under traditional lethwei rules including the timeout and possibility of a draw. The GTG card will only air on Canal+ in Myanmar unfortunately but I have no doubt in video being available in some form shortly after it airs.

The biggest waves are currently made by Shwe Yar Man. One of the most important fights in recent memory took place on April 19th of 2019 versus Soe Lin Oo. A fight that was crucial and of great consequence to Shwe Yar Man and the first class rankings.

The snowball effect started in October of 2018 when Shwe Yar Man, to some surprise, convincingly beat Saw Ba Oo who was on a two year unbeaten streak. Promoters were quickly to realize his potential, and subsequent fights with Phyan Thway and Keivan Soleimani only further established him as a top contender, interchanging resilience and dominance in both fights. The only blemish on his current journey to the top is the loss to superior boxer Sasha Moisa while competing for WLC.

Nobody really thought of Soe Lin Oo losing the fight including myself. He received two big cuts on his forehead throughout the fight that started bleeding more heavily towards the end of the fight. The referee was well aware of the two big cuts and he had the luxury to let the fight end however he wanted. With less than a minute left in the 5th round a time out was called to check on these cuts once more. Unsurprisingly the ringside doctor did not allow him to continue despite efforts by Soe Lin Oo and Saw Nga Man pleading to let him finish the fight. Shwe Yar Man was declared the victor and now the only fights left to make are those with Too Too and Dave, since Tun Tun Min is already booked for December.

Interesting to note here is that the upper class roster of fighters is now so thin that every fighter that shows slight promise is booked instantly to fight all of them. Native 75kg+ fighters are very hard to come by and replacing them seems an even more difficult task as -60kg seems to be the Goldilocks zone producing the most talent.

Soe Lin Oo has reportedly been booked for the rematch on November 3rd but details have not yet surfaced as of writing. I suspect he will dominate both rematches as he is no longer the tentative kid he was before his marriage in 2017 and has grown both in size and in skill. In my opinion: whatever the outcome will be, his true test lies with Tun Tun Min in December. If he can put up a good or exceptional performance there, the results of the rematches would be nullified as Tun Tun Min is ranked above both.

Another rematch is featured on the WLC main card. They first met at a 4-man Aung Lan Lu Pwe tournament in January 2018. The last round had to be extended and eventually Hein Tun Aung got the victory. At the time it seemed to be a fatigue issue for Auk Chin Lay who also had to battle the full 39 minutes the day prior.

Since their Aung Lan battle Auk Chin Lay has gone 6-2 (5). The two losses came at the hands of Kyaw Swar Win and Byaggha. Hein Tun Aung went 7-1 (8) also with a loss to Byaggha. Very equal records in terms of results so it will be interesting to see how both progressed over the course of 21 months.

Lastly, it’s always a highlight for me when Saw Min Naing fights. The 23 year old doesn’t have a perfect record, he is roughly 15-7 (9), but has had a resurgence this year culminating in a Golden Belt Championship victory. He trains out of Shwe Balar lethwei club in Thaton which is run by former national champion Shwe War Tun. 19 year old Saw Kaung Htet is fresh on the scene, he only appears on my schedule twice. His record is 5-1 (4).

New Generation, Mandalay (October 12)

Fights for the newer generation of fighters. Uaually a great place to scout and spot some new talent. No card info is available at the moment, and probably won’t be. One of those events you just go to for fun.

Fights will take place from 1 to 4pm local time near Mandalar Thiri Stadium. Further info at Ko Da Ta (U Kyaw Tint).

Twante Challenge Fights (October 12 - 13)

Saturday October 12th:

Saw Phoe Khwar a.k.a. Kaba Shar vs. Sit Min
Paing Thet Aung vs. Tayza
Saw Marshall vs. Kaung Sit Htan

+ Additional fights

Sunday October 13th:

Saw El Kaluu vs. Thar Dein
Saw Ant Gyi vs. Tet Luu Naing
Saw El Phuu vs. Min Kyauk Khe

+ Additional fights

Decent fights with some up-and-coming talent. The poster also shows two of Tun Lwin Moe’s brothers: Nyein Chan Moe and Thant Zin. It’s unclear at the moment who they will be fighting. Kaba Shar, Thar Dein and Saw El Kaluu could sound familiar to those more closely following the sport. A good afternoon of fights if you’re in the area. No broadcast or streaming details.

The fights take place at the Aung San Thuriya Aye Cho Hall, Twante town, Yangon region starting at 1pm local time.

New Generation, Maubin (October 14 - 15)

Ye Ye Tauk vs. Thar Win Tun (5 rounds)
A Mae Thar vs. Naing Moe Hein (4 rounds)

Another event hosted by new promoter Naing Lin Tun. I believe this is his third. He always manages to highlight good local talent who are quickly signed to follow up fights by scouts. This particular event is interesting because media company Than Lwin Khet has announced to do a Facebook stream (or at least attempt one).

The event takes place at the Maubin Indoor Sports complex, Ayeyarwady Division. Fights start at 8:30pm local time which translates to 10am ET. Tune in to the Than Lwin Khet Facebook page just to be sure.

Lethwei in Taiwan 1 (October 20)

Will Chope vs. Chen Ching Sun (77kg)
Boy Kar vs. Takuya Nishizawa (62kg)
Phoe Thar Gyi vs. Wu Dong Xing (90kg)
Phyo Thiha vs. Deng Ding Yuan (71kg)
Shwe Ko Lay vs. Nann A Mwe Hom (56kg)

The International Lethwei Federation Taiwan (ILFT) will have their first official show on October 20th. They previously held a small preview show in March. In principle Lethwei in Taiwan is a copy of Lethwei in Japan, except in a different country. Both organisations have the same credentials and permissions given by the Myanmar Traditional Boxing Federation (MTBF). ILFT is run by it's president Lee Chia Jung.

Shwe Ko Lay’s current lethwei record (Opens in new window)

On the card is one women's bout: Shwe Ko Lay vs. Nann A Mwe Hom. Shwe Ko Lay is currently at the top of her weight class at 54kg. She is a 2017 and 2018 gold medalist at the Regions and States tournaments as well as a 2018 and 2019 Golden Belt Champion. She will face Nann A Mwe Hom, a local boxing champion from Shan state who will transition from boxing to lethwei in her first fight. At 18 years old she’s had about 4 years of boxing experience. They are team mates as both train out of Chinthe Min (Lion King) club in Yangon, and actually had a sparring match last month.

Promoter Naing Lin Tun, who is behind the Maubin show listed above, has already contracted Mwe Hom for November 11th where she will face Cherry Maung.

Saw Gaw Mu Doe and Phoe Thar Gyi in action 5 years ago.

Phoe Thar Gyi is a big man from Mandalay but is essentially retired, his last fights were a few years ago. From 2013 onward he was branded as an MMA Golden Belt Champion for his participation and victory at the MMA World Series season 2013-2014 at Thuwunna National Indoor Stadium in Yangon. In that fight he beat Htet Aung Oo by unanimous decision. Phoe Thar Gyi will face the hero of the show in Wu Dong Xing.

Boy Kar (Aung Khant Nyar) first popped up on my schedule at the end of 2017. He is a fighter from Mandalay often seen on cards by promoter U Kyaw Tint. He's been part of many clubs but currently trains out of Kyar Phyu (White Tiger), the same club as Byaggha. His record consists mostly of draws and he hasn't faced anyone too spectacular yet. His most recent fight happened on September 12th where he lost to Aung Bo Hein in the first round.

Maybe this venture into Taiwan can help him get back on track. His opponent is 22 year old Takuya Nishizawa who had his debut at Lethwei in Japan 13 against Masanori Shimada in a 3 round challenge fight that went to a draw.

There has been no official announcement of a stream yet. Keep an eye on their Facebook page.

New Generation, Mandalay (October 26)

Fights for the newer generation of fighters. The second of five events. No card info is available at the moment, and probably won’t be.