This month, Ronnie Green has been visiting Master Toddy’s gym in Bangkok, 37 years after they began training together in England.
Since I first started training with Master Toddy, I’ve heard story after story about Ronnie Green and what a fantastic fighter he was. After spending so long hearing so many great things about him and watching all the fight footage of his that I could find, I was excited to meet him and to have the opportunity to train alongside him. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Ronnie, he is a pioneer of Muay Thai from the UK, who began training with Master Toddy at his gym in Manchester in 1977 and went on to fight around the world, including Thailand. He was one of the first to come out to Thailand and not only fight the best, but to beat them. This started from his very first fight. As an unknown, inexperienced UK fighter who started to beat Thai champions, he quickly became known around the world, also fighting in Holland, France and Japan as well as Thailand and the UK. Thai opponents of his included Sombat Sor. Thanikul, Sagat Petchyindee, Noppadet Sor. Rawadee, Samaisuk and Longkeada Muangsurin. He had just under 90 fights in total and became a 6-time world champion in 3 different styles at 3 different weight classes (between 58 and 63kg). He was the first fighter from the UK to do what he did and the first British world champion of Muay Thai. The legacy of his career lives on in the UK with the Golden Belt fight promotion, which he established in 2003, and the Ringmasters tournament, which was set up in his honour.
The first thing that struck me upon meeting Ronnie for the first time was how incredibly humble he is. Despite being such a symbolic figure for UK Muay Thai, he displays a huge amount of humility. He kept himself in the background, watching us all closely during training, but when he was called upon, he couldn’t do enough to help everyone in the gym, providing padwork and sparring every day that he was here.
While he was here, Master Toddy took the opportunity to do some padwork with him for the first time in over 30 years. In the video below, you can see some footage of that, mixed in with some shots of them training back in England all those years ago.
He was wonderful to talk to, not only because he has such a wealth of knowledge and experience, but also because he has such a warm, genuine personality and a great sense of humour. I was eager to absorb as much as I could from him during his time here and was delighted when he agreed to let me interview him. He’s very passionate about sharing his experiences to use Muay Thai and other martial arts as a tool to help others, specifically the youth of the UK. He’s currently working on some projects to do just that and in his own words, wants to ‘show what the Eastern arts can do and have done for British people, just as Master Toddy did for [him]’. He speaks of his dislike for the egos and ‘tough guy’ attitudes that are often found in Muay Thai in the West, and his strong belief that martial arts are all about respect and kindness. These are certainly two values that are abundant within Ronnie, and I’m very glad to have had the chance to spend some time with him. It was enlightening to hear about his experiences of training and fighting in Thailand so many years ago and to compare those with my own. His career was truly special.
Ronnie and Master Toddy after a fight at Rajadamnern Stadium
We covered a lot of ground during our chat. Subjects included his experience of fighting in Thailand, what it was like to be the underdog against so many top-ranked Thai opponents, being one of the first foreign fighters to do that, how Muay Thai in the UK has changed over the years, how Muay Thai has impacted his life, and how he wants to continue to share it with others. We also mention his son, Lee Green, who has followed in Ronnie’s footsteps by winning three world titles.
Left: Lee Green Right: Ronnie Green
The interview is rather long, at an hour and a half. Anyone who’s ever spoken to Ronnie will know that he’s a talker, and it’s great. Rather than giving a succinct answer to a question, he’ll always tell you a story. It sometimes sounds like he’s talking in riddles, but he just has so much to share, and I enjoyed listening to Ronnie tell his tales. Towards the end, he also raised an interesting point about how many who come to fight in Thailand aren’t entirely honest about their match-ups. This is something that Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu wrote about in her last post, ‘The Reality of fight Matchups in Thailand‘. Also, at around 1.20min, we talk about Ronnie’s two fights against Sombat Sor. Thanikul. I wrongly mentioned that one of those fights was in the UK while the other was in Thailand. In fact, they both took place in the UK, but the rematch was broadcast live to Thai TV. This was the first time that had ever been done.
Update: The full 90-minute interview was originally available in audio form, but was sadly lost when the host site shut down. However, there are some video clips available below.
Finally, below you can enjoy a Youtube playlist of some of Ronnie’s most notable fights.
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1 Comment
Margaret O’Hanlon pm · December 21, 2021 at 9:46 pm
What year did Ronnie Green fight Brian Cullen in the Bridge Hotel in Waterford it took place in 30/09/? Thank you for help Tommy Lawlor was chief instructor to S.A.S.K.A Irl V England thank you in anticipation Margaret O’Hanlon 085-1001935