Maker of champs in Thai camp

Cuban trainer Ismael Salas, who took five Thais to world professional titles, is masterminding Thailand’s campaign in boxing at the 14th Asian Games in Busan.

Salas brought Pichit Sithbangprachan, Saen Sow Ploenchit, Daorung MP Petroleum, Yokthai Sith-oar, and Pichit Chor Siriwat to the throne before leaving Thailand to train young pro prospects at the Kadoebi gym in Tokyo in 1998.

Japanese boxing scholar Joe Koizumi said Salas, who is married to a Thai, left his long-time job in Thailand because of the economic recession.

But early this year, Salas returned to Thailand to accept an offer to coach the national boxing team. Salas signed a one-year contract and is being paid about $2,300 a month.

Another Cuban, Juan Fontanills, was Thailand’s boxing coach in the last two Asian Games but was terminated after the 2000 Sydney Olympics for demanding a huge salary increase to over $4,500 monthly. Fontanills was credited for guiding Thai featherweight Somluck Kamsing to a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games and flyweight Wijan Ponlid to the country’s second Olympic gold in Sydney.

Thai boxing team manager Major Gen. Somchai Chanthanyakarn said he expects at least three golds from his nine-man squad in Busan.

"I’m quite confident that every Thai boxer has a chance of reaching the finals, particularly in the lighter weights where the hosts are not too strong," he said.

At the 1998 Bangkok Asiad, Thai fighters harvested five golds and three bronzes. Lightflyweight Suban Pannon was one of the five to hit pay dirt and he’s back for a second serving in Busan.

To underscore its dominance in the region, Thailand took six golds at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur last year. In the Asian championships this year, Thailand collected two golds, two silvers, and four bronzes.

Salas is known as a tactician and a skills teacher. Because of Salas’ pro experience, Thai boxing officials had to request for special permission from International Amateur Boxing Federation president Anwar Chowdry of Pakistan to allow his participation in Busan. Chowdry, of course, cleared Salas. It’s no secret that Thailand has a special place in Chowdry’s heart.

Thai officials contacted Salas for the job only after attempts to hire a Ukranian coach went for naught.

In his first assignment, Salas steered Thailand to a bronze finish at the World Cup team competitions in Kazakhstan last June. Seven of Salas’ nine World Cup fighters are in Busan. A conspicuous absentee is Kamsing, a 1998 Asian Games gold medallist. Kamsing reportedly opted out of the national team to protest a leadership shakeup in the Thai boxing authority.

According to Somchai, Thailand’s top gold medal hope is flyweight Somjit Jongjohor. The Thai is ranked No. 1 in the world and swept his three assignments in the recent World Cup, beating Ron Siler of the US, Bogdan Dubrescu of Romania, and Yankiel Leon Alarcon of Cuba. Somjit won a gold as a lightflyweight at the 1999 SEA Games in Brunei. Somjit and Busan teammate Manon Boonjamnong, a welterweight, were the only Thais to bag golds at the Asian championships in Malaysia this year.

Somchai also singled out Manon and his lightwelterweight twin Manus, bantamweight Sontaya Wongprates, and featherweight Sutthisak Samaksaman as gold prospects.

Salas isn’t the only Cuban boxing coach in Busan. The others are Carlos Penate of Indonesia, Honorato Espinosa of Laos, Reinaldo Alvodez of Pakistan, and Jorge Frometa of Sri Lanka.

At the Bangkok Asiad four years ago, the Cuban coaches were Raul Fernandez Liranza of the Philippines, Fontanills of Thailand, Julio Hechevarria of Indonesia, Rafael Ramirez of Pakistan, Ponciano Romero of Laos, Blas Fernandez of India, and Lorenzo Moinelo of Cambodia.