Saensak Muangsurin

Boonsong Mansri (Thai: บุญส่ง มั่นศรี; 13 August 1950 – 16 April 2009), known professionally as Saensak Muangsurin (Thai: แสนศักดิ์ เมืองสุรินทร์), was a Thai professional Muay Thai fighter and boxer. He was a Lumpinee Stadium super-lightweight champion in Muay Thai, as well as a WBC super-lightweight world champion in boxing. In 1975, he won a major world boxing title in his third professional fight, 241 days after his debut, which is still the record over 50 years later (later matched by Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2014 in terms of number of bouts). He is also Thailand's heaviest world boxing champion to date. Nicknamed the "World Collapsing Southpaw," he is often regarded as one of the most fearsome punchers in Muay Thai history.

Prior to his boxing career, Muangsurin first started out in Muay Thai. At the beginning of his career, he used the ring names "Saensaep Petchcharoen" (แสนแสบ เพชรเจริญ) and "Saepsuang Petchcharoen" (แสบทรวง เพชรเจริญ) as he was fighting in his native province and the neighboring ones. He also fought numerous times in Japan.

A very popular fighter in his time, Muangsurin faced many top Muay Thai fighters such as Poot Lorlek, Vicharnnoi Porntawee, Pudpadnoi Worawut, Khunpon Sakornpitak, Wisan Kraigriengyuk, Kongdej Lookbangplasroy, and Sirimongkol Luksiripat. He won the Lumpinee Stadium super-lightweight title by knocking out Sorrasak Sor Lukbookalo in just the first round in 1971.^[3]

In addition to his professional Muay Thai career, he was also an amateur boxer. He notably competed at the 7th Southeast Asian Peninsular Games in Singapore in 1973, making news every time he won by RSC all the way to winning the gold medal in the super-lightweight division.^[3]

Muangsurin made his formal professional boxing debut on November 16, 1974, with a first-round knockout win. He won his second fight in February 1975 by technical knockout in round seven, and challenged Perico Fernandez for the WBC super-lightweight title in his third professional fight. He defeated Fernandez by technical knockout in the eighth round on July 15, 1975, setting a hitherto unbeaten world record for the quickest major world-title victory in boxing history; it had been less than a year since he made his debut in 1974.^[3]

Muangsurin lost his world title in his second defense against Miguel Velasquez after being disqualified in the 5th round, but he quickly regained it four months later on October 29, 1976, by knocking out Velázquez in two rounds. He successfully defended the WBC belt seven times (eight total, including his defense prior to the disqualification against Velázquez), most notably against former WBC lightweight champion Guts Ishimatsu, whom he knocked out in six rounds.

He was knocked out by Sang-hyun Kim in the 13th round to lose his world title on December 30, 1978. He failed to replicate his earlier success after this, losing all but one of his next five bouts; one of these was a third-round knockout loss to Thomas Hearns in 1979. His lone victory in this period was a fifth-round TKO over Mike DeGuzman of the Philippines in 1980. His last professional fight was against Chung-jae Hwang for the OPBF welterweight title, which he lost by unanimous decision over 12 rounds. His record was 14–6–0 (11 KOs).

In 2014, Vasyl Lomachenko tied his record, winning a world title in his third bout. Muangsurin still holds the record for the fastest time to a world title after a professional debut, having taken 11 days fewer than the Ukrainian.

In addition, he also served as the inspiration for the Muay Thai fighter character, Krut Muangsurin (lit. 'garuda'), in the Japanese manga Jinnai-ryu Jujutsu Rurouden Majima-kun Suttobasu!! by Makoto Niwano.^[4]

At the height of his career, Muangsurin was by all accounts a celebrity in his country. He was regarded as a kind of movie star and often toured the provinces, appearing on stage alongside famous luk thung singers throughout the nation. He married a popular actress of that era, Prim Prapaporn. The couple was constantly in the spotlight, attracting the attention of both the media and the general public. They have one son, whom he named Kriangsak "King" Mansri, after General Kriangsak Chamanan, who was prime minister at the time.

He accrued numerous injuries over the course of his career; by the time he had retired, he was blind in his right eye. Prapaporn later divorced him, and his savings of up to 10 million baht were exhausted. In 1998, several years after hanging up his gloves, he gave an open interview to World of Boxing magazine, stating that he had been cheated by many people in the boxing industry, and according to his biography, he was also known to have been extravagant with money. His last fight was for the OPBF welterweight title against Chung-jae Hwang of South Korea in Roi Et, in which he promoted the fight himself, suffered a financial loss, and ultimately lost on points after 12 rounds. After retiring from boxing, he even ran for a seat in the House of Representatives in his hometown of Phetchabun in 1983 as an independent candidate, but was not elected. Though he had a monthly courtesy from the WBC and other authorities in Thailand, it was not enough to cover costs, and the rest of his life remained difficult.^[3]

Muangsurin was admitted to Rajvithi Hospital on April 12, 2009, for liver failure and intestinal blockage. Surgery failed to improve his condition, which was complicated by various other ailments. On April 16, Saensak died while under observation in an intensive care unit.^[5]

• Lumpinee Stadium
  • 1971 Lumpinee Stadium Super Lightweight (140 lbs) Champion^[6]

Awards

• 1973 King's Muay Thai Fighter of the Year

• World Boxing Council
  • 1975 WBC Super Lightweight (140 lbs) Champion (1 defense)
  • 1976 WBC Super Lightweight (140 lbs) Champion (7 defenses)

• List of WBC world champions
• List of super lightweight boxing champions

• Boxing record for Saensak Muangsurin from BoxRec (registration required)