Phetjee Jaa O. Meekhun (38 kg) vs Phettae Kaewsamrit (43 kg) – Queen’s Birthday – Sanam Luang 2015 – full video above
Phetjee Jaa gives up 5 kg (11 lbs), and at 13 beat an 18 year old number 1 contender.
Unfortunately this is only about 1/2 a fight, as some of it is obscured by the turnbuckle. It just could not be helped, as the crowd was really packed in and Jee Jaa’s dad and corner kept climbing up the stairs. Fight starts at about minute 4:30. There is some confusion on the spelling of Jee Jaa’s opponent’s name. Throughout I’ll call her Phettar, which is what was on the program, but she is “Phettee” (spelled “Phettae” here to reflect actual pronounciation) in the WPMF rankings, เพชรแท้ ส.เทพทอง. More on this below.
[Edit: my terrible view video is above, in comments someone linked me to this very good! view, below]
Some context for this fight: we weighed in at 6 AM this same morning (I was on this card too). Jee Jaa was 38 kg, her opponent was supposed to be 43 kg but hadn’t reached that, so she had to go run in her sauna suit. During the fight the announcer is going on and on about how Jee Jaa is only 13 years old, Pettar is 18 years old. I’ve written about the relatively youthful age that female Thai fighters peak in their careers, often around 15, but Jee Jaa is at an entirely different level of skill right now. It’s crazy impressive that she’s able to crush these bigger and older opponents. I thought Phettar did really well in this fight in the earlier rounds. I was impressed, I thought I’d never heard of her despite knowing the scene. It seemed like she might be a big challenge for Phetjee Jaa but once PJJ got her clinch going it was pretty clear; pretty dominant. Phettar herself seems have been a child prodigy fighter too, as you can see in this Siam Sport article on her, which says she had her first fight at 9. She’s been fighting for 8 years now. Below is a photo of her with famed ex-fighter Khaosai Galaxy when starting out as a kid:
Phettar Kaewsamrit with Khaosai Galaxy
The two Phets. “Phet” is pronounced “pet” and means diamond. I don’t know why Phettar’s name is spelled this way in English, but it should be pronounced “pet tae” and means real or genuine diamond. On the other hand, Phetjee Jaa means, kind of, intensely bright diamond G. It’s a cute name more than a meaningful name.
I have to say, Jee Jaa is a huge hit everywhere she goes. The crowd goes nuts for her, the announcers are just “ooh-ing” and “aah-ing” all the time and everyone wants photos at events like this. I fan-girl out as well, so I totally get it. She’s just the best and there’s nobody like her. She’s incredibly skilled, strong, tactical and smart in the ring. She’s exciting. It’s too bad that much of the later rounds are missing through obstructed view.
Phettar is currently the number one contender for the 100 lbs (45.4 kg) WPMF title (see above), a title held by Little Tiger in Japan (and about to be defended against Saya Ito on the 27th of this month). This was a surprise to me, as I didn’t know who she was when I was watching her. I follow these rankings closely – I’m 4-0 against the top contenders the last times I’ve fought them – but it was a mystery to me who this “Phetee” was. Only in writing this post, searching about and comparing photos did I realize she was this Queen’s Birthday opponent that fought Phetjee Jaa. In my research it also looks that Phettar is/was from the same gym as my 3x opponent Muangsingjiew (2nd ranked challenger, above), Wanchert Gym, which has quite a few big names among female fighters having gone through there. This photo (below) is from three years ago showing them together, from left: Nong Gif, Phettar, Muangsingjiew, and Nong Brai. I have given her the fight gym name “Kaewsamrit” in this post because Jee Jaa’s father insisted over and over that she was from Kaewsamrit gym, though other gyms show in her ranking and in searches. If she still is at Wanchert gym, that means that she and Muangsingjiew are log-jammed for a title shot.
Her name combinations seem to be:
Phettar, Phettee, Phettae and O. Wanchert, O. Wanchud, Kaewsamrit, and Sor. Thepthong
I don’t know if I’ll ever get to fight Phettar, it would be nice to as she is the number 1 challenger in my weight class and the only way I can fight for the belt is to beat as many of the challengers as I can, but it is amazing that Jee Jaa is now getting to the point where she is starting to beat my possible opponents, despite big differences in age and weight. She is going to be a terror soon enough, and is already the pound for pound best female Muay Thai fighter on the planet.
At weigh in for Queen’s Birthday fight, Jee Jaa and Phettar (below):
If you don’t know much about Phetjee Jaa, I’ve written a lot about her – see my Phetjee Jaa articles here. She’s been my daily training partner for more than a year now, and is more or less my hero – though we do get in some scraps in training!
