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Ramon Dekkers: End of a Great Career - Farewell Fight |
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| Later in his career Dekkers’ visits to Thailand became less
frequent but nonetheless, the Thais sometimes would go to him and seek him
out in his home turf and this created sort of a thing where Ramon and his
team had to rise up and figure out a way to win. Of course, the wear and tear on Ramon was becoming more and more clear. Hundreds of fights, years of wars – that takes a toll. But still, everytime, it was again Ramon Dekkers who was fighting for his life, fighting for his fans, fighting for his career because he did not want to give up. He did not want to stop a career that was going so strong – even though he had all the injuries and had had all the operations. And actually he was at this stage of his career, already sort of a handicapped fighter, a man who could actually only kick with one leg. The surgeon who had operated on him so many times would have been shocked and surprised to know that he was still fighting, still using that leg to kick. And, it was an interesting thing because Dekkers fought, in some ways, not only for himself, for the armor of his legacy. But he fought for the fans. He felt a huge obligation to keep the fans happy. Because it was the fans after all, that had led him through such an illustrious career, had paid his bills for him, had paid him the great purses he’d made in his many fights. So, he did feel that obligation and he felt the obligation to those who had supported him. He kept trying to support them by continuing in this miraculous career with win after win, with another crushing devastating knockout over another very tough Thai fighter. You could see this in the way he fought. He never gave up and usually went, once again for a total knockout – a devastating and a finishing blow. In some ways, Ramon Dekkers had reached a stage in his career in which winning or losing didn’t really matter so much anymore. He had perfected the art of Muay Thai, using the elbows, the knees, the kicks, the punches, all exactly the way it should be used.It was his defensive ability, along with his offense, that made him the complete package. |
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Click to enlarge. |
| On Sunday, 18 March 2001, Ramon Dekkers fought his farewell
fight against Marino de Florin in Rotterdam. Holland's legendary "Golden
Glory" team took on the rest of the world in a night of non-stop thrills and
spills and high octane ring action. In a bid to witness this historic
occasion, tickets were sold out months in advance and the 10,000 fans were
not to be disappointed. This was to be the last fight in an unbelievable
career for "the Diamond", and as Dekker came out in a blaze of lights, the
video screens projected many of the Dutchman's bone crushing knockouts to
the sell-out crowd. Bringing an unbelievable record of 175 wins(90 by KO)
into the ring, Ramon made sure the Swiss fighter had his work cut out for
him. The fight went the distance with Dekker clearly in the driver’s seat, displaying the style and aggression that kept him at the top for so long. |
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Bas Rutten, Rob Kaman and the "Golden Glory" team. |
| After the fight ended in a KO in round 4, Ramon joined the
"Golden Glory" team members center stage for a thrilling finale. Rob Kaman
came down the rampart, Golden Glory torch in hand, presenting it to Dekker,
who in turn passed it to each team member, as video clips of his victories
were shown on the display screens - an unforgettable moment in the history
of Dutch Thai Boxing and Kickboxing. There’s no doubt that Ramon Dekkers has etched a place in history as one of the greatest fighters of all time. If ever there was a fighter who epitomized, from head to toe, what you need to know about stand-up fighting in the ring against Thais, against Americans, against people from around the world, it was Ramon Dekkers – the great one. |
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