British actor Idris Elba steps up preparation for kickboxing debut with INTENSE training in Thailand

[webfact]

Idris Elba steps up preparation for kickboxing debut with INTENSE training in Thailand

BY JACK RATHBORN

 

The British actor is taking part in a three-part documentary as he travels to Cuba, Japan, South Africa and South East Asia to become a professional fighter

 

Screenshot. Foto: Buakaw Banchamek/Exclusivepix Media

 

LONDON: -- Idris Elba is edging closer to his professional kickboxing debut after he was snapped in a Thai gym showing off his remarkable transformation.

 

The British actor, known for roles in The Wire and Luther, is training to become a professional fighter as part of a Discovery Channel documentary.

 

The three-part show, called Idris Elba: Fighter, sees the 44-year-old travel the globe attempting to hone the art of kickboxing, culminating in an official bout in October.

 

Full story: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/mma/idris-elba-steps-up-preparation-9013004

 

-- MIRROR 2016-10-10

[sharecropper]

A friend bumped into him in Central Festival, Pattaya on Saturday night.  

 

He couldn't believe it (neither could I, until this)...

[starky]

So this silly git who as far as I know has never had an amateur fight, at 44 years old after training with Buakaw for a couple of months is suddenly transformed into a "professional" Muay Thai fighter? Give me a f..... break. If they can find a Thai at that age who is still fighting he would have a ring career of upwards of 200 fights. Bloke that trains me is only 28 and has had a career 270 fights. So it's either he gets his arse deservedly handed to him or he fights some patsy for the sake of his 3 episode doco on his journey to becoming a " professional " fighter. Gee I wonder which one and how many fights he will have in his career after the show has finished airing.... Fycks sake.

[catman20]

50 minutes ago, starky said:

So this silly git who as far as I know has never had an amateur fight, at 44 years old after training with Buakaw for a couple of months is suddenly transformed into a "professional" Muay Thai fighter? Give me a f..... break. If they can find a Thai at that age who is still fighting he would have a ring career of upwards of 200 fights. Bloke that trains me is only 28 and has had a career 270 fights. So it's either he gets his arse deservedly handed to him or he fights some patsy for the sake of his 3 episode doco on his journey to becoming a " professional " fighter. Gee I wonder which one and how many fights he will have in his career after the show has finished airing.... Fycks sake.

well said mate spoken like it is

[Psimbo]

1 hour ago, starky said:

So this silly git who as far as I know has never had an amateur fight, at 44 years old after training with Buakaw for a couple of months is suddenly transformed into a "professional" Muay Thai fighter? Give me a f..... break. If they can find a Thai at that age who is still fighting he would have a ring career of upwards of 200 fights. Bloke that trains me is only 28 and has had a career 270 fights. So it's either he gets his arse deservedly handed to him or he fights some patsy for the sake of his 3 episode doco on his journey to becoming a " professional " fighter. Gee I wonder which one and how many fights he will have in his career after the show has finished airing.... Fycks sake.

At least he's had a go. Enjoy the rocking chair.

 

[starky]

8 minutes ago, Psimbo said:

At least he's had a go. Enjoy the rocking chair.

 

Yeah righto mate nice try. Even though I stopped fighting in my 30's I have had my share of ring fights how about you? I still train and spar but no one seriously starts a fight career in their forties. It's an insult to true professionals especially in Thailand some of who are in the ring as early as 7 years old and through a shedload of blood and sweat and brutal training end up fighting in local fairs for a few hundred baht. Don't give me the hump mate im years away from the rocking chair. What's he had a go at he hasn't even had his "professional"  debut yet. 

[MiKT]

1 hour ago, starky said:

So this silly git who as far as I know has never had an amateur fight, at 44 years old after training with Buakaw for a couple of months is suddenly transformed into a "professional" Muay Thai fighter? Give me a f..... break. If they can find a Thai at that age who is still fighting he would have a ring career of upwards of 200 fights. Bloke that trains me is only 28 and has had a career 270 fights. So it's either he gets his arse deservedly handed to him or he fights some patsy for the sake of his 3 episode doco on his journey to becoming a " professional " fighter. Gee I wonder which one and how many fights he will have in his career after the show has finished airing.... Fycks sake.

 

This stuff has already been done, not least by the two Americans that went round getting beaten up in many different countries by fighters using different styles. Good show and they took their knocks quite well. Certainly they got hammered in Thailand.

 

But to say that at 44 you are going to be a professional Muay Thai fighter after a few months training is, as you rightly point out, really an insult to all those boys who start so very young and get hammered daily to earn a living for their families.

 

They ARE professional and this guy will never ever be. If they took the word professional out and said he was going to train with professionals to see how hard it is it might have some relevance.

 

But nobody will care anyway, because they will be making a movie and they will make it will look good. Some money for the local boys and all forgotten soon. Its not going to be another Rocky that's for sure. MPR.

 

 

[JHolmesJr]

I hope I don't see him in the ring at the bar complex just outside walking street.

[daveAustin]

Quality actor, does a good yank accent.

I dunno, good luck to him I say, at least he's making an effort and doing something different. No disrespect intended, but reckon any farang, no matter how many fights they've got under their belt, look rank amateurs when fighting Thai kick boxers... just too slow and cumbersome.

[MiKT]

28 minutes ago, JHolmesJr said:

I hope I don't see him in the ring at the bar complex just outside walking street.

 

I hope we do. That really is a fitting place for an over-the-hill actor.

 

Oversize gloves, lots of noise when slapping and dramatic endings.

 

 

[starky]

43 minutes ago, MiKT said:

 

This stuff has already been done, not least by the two Americans that went round getting beaten up in many different countries by fighters using different styles. Good show and they took their knocks quite well. Certainly they got hammered in Thailand.

 

But to say that at 44 you are going to be a professional Muay Thai fighter after a few months training is, as you rightly point out, really an insult to all those boys who start so very young and get hammered daily to earn a living for their families.

 

They ARE professional and this guy will never ever be. If they took the word professional out and said he was going to train with professionals to see how hard it is it might have some relevance.

 

But nobody will care anyway, because they will be making a movie and they will make it will look good. Some money for the local boys and all forgotten soon. Its not going to be another Rocky that's for sure. MPR.

 

 

100% correct. Human weapon was a great series and those lads put up a going showing but never at any time pretended to be professional and showed respect to the arts they were fighting in. You also right about the semantics of it take the word professional out and it's a different story. I have great respect for anyone willing to jump in the ring but in this instance as I said it is an insult to all the thousands of real fighters to call himself professional. 

[Pat in Pattaya]

1 hour ago, catman20 said:

well said mate spoken like it is

 

Believe me, you can never NEVER 'speak like it is' when using the words 'gee' and 'git'

[YeahSiam]

22 minutes ago, MiKT said:

 

I hope we do. That really is a fitting place for an over-the-hill actor.

 

Oversize gloves, lots of noise when slapping and dramatic endings.

 

 

Over the hill?

Hardly.

[chilli42]

Does anyone really think that in the real world he would not get his ass handed to him?  It's not the real world though is it?  It's a TV show that sets out to show people what martial arts training is like for an old foreign guy.  Unless ID course you believe the stuff you see at the movies and on TV ... in which case he will kick butt big time.

[user82374298374]

Idris Elba is a great actor.  He ought to stick to what he knows.

[Rancid]

I think this is about entertainment rather than him having any delusions about being a professional fighter. If he was so deluded his first fight will soon change that. He's an actor, gets paid, raises his profile, and he will probably end up in the best shape of his life.

 

Mind you he couldn't do much worse than those two guys mentioned a while back that were here to train Muay and ended up getting mugged.

[twizzian]

2 hours ago, starky said:

So this silly git who as far as I know has never had an amateur fight, at 44 years old after training with Buakaw for a couple of months is suddenly transformed into a "professional" Muay Thai fighter? Give me a f..... break. If they can find a Thai at that age who is still fighting he would have a ring career of upwards of 200 fights. Bloke that trains me is only 28 and has had a career 270 fights. So it's either he gets his arse deservedly handed to him or he fights some patsy for the sake of his 3 episode doco on his journey to becoming a " professional " fighter. Gee I wonder which one and how many fights he will have in his career after the show has finished airing.... Fycks sake.

It's all for "Television" mate. Why knock it till you see it, you might enjoy the show when it's aired.

[JHolmesJr]

Hope he doesn't hurt himself

[somchai jones]

1 hour ago, daveAustin said:

No disrespect intended, but reckon any farang, no matter how many fights they've got under their belt, look rank amateurs when fighting Thai kick boxers... just too slow and cumbersome.

 

Ever heard of Ramon Dekkers..............

[Awk]

3 hours ago, starky said:

So this silly git who as far as I know has never had an amateur fight, at 44 years old after training with Buakaw for a couple of months is suddenly transformed into a "professional" Muay Thai fighter? Give me a f..... break. If they can find a Thai at that age who is still fighting he would have a ring career of upwards of 200 fights. Bloke that trains me is only 28 and has had a career 270 fights. So it's either he gets his arse deservedly handed to him or he fights some patsy for the sake of his 3 episode doco on his journey to becoming a " professional " fighter. Gee I wonder which one and how many fights he will have in his career after the show has finished airing.... Fycks sake.

 

He's quoted as saying

 “It has been a lifelong ambition of mine to fight professionally. Entering the ring to further test myself as a human being is a challenge I have been looking to take on for quite some time.” 

 

Where's the insult or disrespect?   He's training and intending to enter the ring for  a professional fight, his first one.

 

For sure, no-one having his first fight would be facing a champion, or even a currently ranked boxer.  He'd be facing Somchai with at most a handful of fights, so why should this guy expect to face Buakaw or similar who would knock out you, me, and anyone else in the first minute if he wanted?

Assuming he enters the ring under regular professional boxing rules (be they kickboxing or muay thai) he certainly has more balls than almost anyone posting here.  

 

 

[GAZZPA]

5 hours ago, starky said:

So this silly git who as far as I know has never had an amateur fight, at 44 years old after training with Buakaw for a couple of months is suddenly transformed into a "professional" Muay Thai fighter? Give me a f..... break. If they can find a Thai at that age who is still fighting he would have a ring career of upwards of 200 fights. Bloke that trains me is only 28 and has had a career 270 fights. So it's either he gets his arse deservedly handed to him or he fights some patsy for the sake of his 3 episode doco on his journey to becoming a " professional " fighter. Gee I wonder which one and how many fights he will have in his career after the show has finished airing.... Fycks sake.

Its just a programme fella. I for one want to see it, bet I'm not alone.

[les Dennis]

5 hours ago, starky said:

So this silly git who as far as I know has never had an amateur fight, at 44 years old after training with Buakaw for a couple of months is suddenly transformed into a "professional" Muay Thai fighter? Give me a f..... break. If they can find a Thai at that age who is still fighting he would have a ring career of upwards of 200 fights. Bloke that trains me is only 28 and has had a career 270 fights. So it's either he gets his arse deservedly handed to him or he fights some patsy for the sake of his 3 episode doco on his journey to becoming a " professional " fighter. Gee I wonder which one and how many fights he will have in his career after the show has finished airing.... Fycks sake.

 

Its the ambiguity of the word professional that is the issue here. Your absolutely correct in what your saying Starky but people will pay (and he will get paid too) to see him fight, which makes him, by definition professional. Hes just in a better position to get a big crowd because of his Hollywood status. You dont have to be any good to be professional, I mean look at England football team for example. 

[GAZZPA]

3 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Quality actor, does a good yank accent.

I dunno, good luck to him I say, at least he's making an effort and doing something different. No disrespect intended, but reckon any farang, no matter how many fights they've got under their belt, look rank amateurs when fighting Thai kick boxers... just too slow and cumbersome.

Not sure I agree there fella. Of course a heavier farang against a small light thai boxer will look slow but like for like I reckon a boxer would put them on the ground before they knew what hit them. The reason,, simple.. No one learns to evade and defend like a boxer, and evading punches is a lot harder then evading kicks. Kicks are much slower then punches, even the fastest kicker is slower so a good boxer won't have a lot of difficulty keeping out of the way.

 

I trained in Chinese kick boxing from my early teens to mid twenties and the place where my instructor and I would go to try and improve punching skills was at the boxing gym. 

 

Mind you, I wouldn't want to get slammed by a shin thats for sure, and some Thai fights are really brutal.

 

Anyway, just a different point of view. Whatever the situation I am looking forward to seeing what Idris can do.

[jacko45k]

Didn't Mickey Rourke do something similar? It is just TV and another actor having a go at something that was perhaps on his bucket list. Rourke has destroyed his looks with that and a few bouts of cosmetic surgery. I don't think getting kicked in the head is a great hobby for anyone who has anything that will be damaged.

[chicowoodduck]

Not sure why, but they passed me up for that role.....??

 

i say say give the guy a fair go and let him get his arse kicked fair and square and good on 'em for giving it a go....?????

[goldenbrwn1]

4 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Quality actor, does a good yank accent.

I dunno, good luck to him I say, at least he's making an effort and doing something different. No disrespect intended, but reckon any farang, no matter how many fights they've got under their belt, look rank amateurs when fighting Thai kick boxers... just too slow and cumbersome.

Please no. Farrang are slow and cumbersome and Thais are fast and technically far superior?? As in all of them? As in ever and always?  Wow, that's one huge brush youve used on that statement.  

[impulse]

On the flip side, the attention he draws to the sport may grow the fan base and increase the earning power of all the guys who train their entire lives.

 

And some guys are so athletic they can pick up any sport and be competent in a few months.  Maybe not world class, but certainly fun to watch.

[anfh]

Oddly enough, the actor Warren Brown, in photo, who co-starred with Idris Elba was actually a champion Muay Thai fighter. Maybe he could give Idris a few pointers.

[misterphil]

He'd struggle to fight sleep. 

 

Never listened to a damn thing he was told when doing the rally cars. 

[SOTIRIOS]

...some 'guys' here calling him 'silly'......

 

...he is laughing all the way to the bank....

 

...besides being 'world-famous'......with us reading about him....and seeing him on television....

 

...a good kind of 'silly' I would say......