Sakasem “The Punisher” Kanthawong is a (4x) Muay Thai World Champion with a Fight Record of Wins – 215 (KO/TKO – 159) Loss – 35. Sakasem Kanthawong was born June 3, 1958 in the outskirts of Chiang Mai, Thailand, the 5th of 9 children to farmers Sie and Dee Kanthawong. He started training in Muay Thai kickboxing at age seven and had his first professional fight when he was thirteen. He fought as a teenager in his home country supporting his family and earned the nickname as “The Punisher” as all his fights ended in a KO. Sakasem accumulated 56 professional bouts before moving to Bangkok. His first fight camp was Fairtex Gym, owned by Phillip Wong. Sakasem’s first trainer was Apidej Sit-Hirun, a former Muay Thai champion who is honored as the “Kicker of Bang-Nok-Kwag” or seven-level kick. 

Sakasem fought 59 times at Rajadamnern Stadium before taking his talents to Lumpinee Stadium. He was among the featured fighters in the Suk-Song-Chai promotions, which spotlights the nation’s finest Muay Thai kickboxing talent. At Lumpinee , considered the true test of Muay Thai supremacy, Sakasem’s fighting record was an impressive 55-15 with 35 TKO’s. 

In 1984, Sakasem competed in the Hong Kong Championship Open, a freestyle martial art tournament which pits fighters of different styles together in the ring. In this tournament, a few of many notable accomplishments are as follows: used an elbow for a first-round TKO over a sumo wrestler from Japan, knee to the head TKO’s a French boxer in the third round, TKO’d Latin boxer in the third round, and in the final fight of the night, he TKO’d a kickboxer from the Netherlands with a knee in the third round.

In his last three fights at Rajadamnern Stadium before coming to the US he registered first- and fourth-round TKO’s with punches and a third-round TKO with a swing elbow. After arriving in America in 1994, Sakasem began his training career at the Fairtex Gym in Phoenix, AZ. In a career that spanned more than 200 fights, he was never knocked out. His titles include U.S.M.T.A. National Champion, I.M.T.O. World Jr. Welterweight Champion, W.M.T.A. World Champion, and Hong Kong Open Champion. The Punisher has trained fighters across the US and currently offers private and group training sessions at his gym, The Punisher Muay Thai, in Louisville, KY. The Punisher regularly travels nationwide to train fighters one-on-one and instruct Muay Thai kickboxing seminars.

More of Sakasem’s extraordinary story and experiences will be added to his website soon, once we finish the initial foundation for his classes / gym / facility.