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Born in July 1972 in Roi-Et in
the northeastern part of
Thailand, his real name is
Somboon Phantasi.
It is
common in Thailand that
professional boxers are given
ring-names to honor the gyms
they represent, or to raise
awareness of a sponsor.
While he is mainly known as
Samson Dutch Boy Gym, the
Southpaw-Puncher also fought as
Samson Elite Gym, Samson 3K
Battery, Samson Toyota-Thailand
and a few other names.
As is the case with most boxers
from “The Land of Smiles”,
Samson started out as a Muay
Thai boxer, gaining a lot of
ring experience and fame
fighting as Saengmuangnoi
Lukchapormasak (we will let this
be the first and only time this
name is used in this article).
Only 19-years old but with
countless Muay thai battles and
championships under his belt,
Samson turned to traditional
boxing and made his professional
debut in February 1992, stopping
curiously named Filipino Young
Elmer in the first round.
For some reason it would be over
two years before Samson
continued his boxing career, as
he knocked out another Filipino,
Edwin Casano, in the second
round in May1994, but his return
would be the start of a truly
amazing journey. He was now on a
fast-track!
In June of 1994, in only his
third pro fight, Samson stepped
significantly up in class when
he took on world-ranked
Philippines champion Dan Nietes
(26-6-1) in a ten rounder.
Samson showed his great
potential by beating Nietes by
unanimous decision, and could
now already be considered world
class at 3-0.
His celebrity status growing,
the management of Samson wasted
no time in capitalizing on the
Nietes victory and secured their
man a September shot at the
vacant WBF World Super Flyweight
title, in Bangkok, against
another world-class campaigner
in Australian champion Colin
“Kid” Nelson.
Samson repaid his handlers by
dominating and stopping Nelson
in only three rounds, and
amazingly becoming a world
champion in only his fourth
fight.
While this is probably some kind
of record, it was only the
beginning for Mr. Dutch Boy Gym,
real name
Somboon Phantasi, formerly known
as
Saengmuangnoi Lukchapormasak
(OK, this will be the last
time!).
Over the course of the next two
years, Samson was kept
incredibly busy and defended his
world title fifteen times,
almost always in devastating
fashion.
It must me said that some of the
challengers were, to put it
mildly, less than scary, but he
also took care of quality
fighters such as former WBC
world champion Rolando Pascua,
future South African titlists
Ndoda Mayende and Sandile
Sobandla, undefeated Mexican
contender Genaro Garcia and
former world title-challenger
Francisco Montiel.
In November 1996 Samson was
pitted with Russian Alexander
Makhmutov, who brought a 26-3
ledger and had lost a twelve
round decision to another
undefeated Thai world champion,
WBA ruler Saen Sor Ploenchit,
only two months earlier. Now
19-0, Samson got the job done in
six rounds. Makhmutov would
later win the European title
twice!
Despite competing in a division
where it is hard to get steady
top-class opposition, Samson
continued to fight often and
always defending his WBF belt.
He continued to face the
occasional push-over, but he
also took on true world class
challengers whenever it was
possible:
In March 1997 Samson destroyed
Mexican Cruz Carbajal in four
rounds. Five years later
Carbajal won the WBO world
title, and made several
defenses.
In June 1997 Samson defended his
title with a sixth round
knockout over Argentinean Hugo
Rafel Soto (47-4-2). Less than a
year earlier Soto had gone
twelve rounds in a losing effort
against legendary Johnny Tapia
for the WBO world Bantamweight
crown, and less than a year
later he would go on to win the
WBA World Flyweight title.
On May 8 2001, Samson was taken
the distance for the first time
in sixteen straight fights when
he outpointed undefeated
Filipino Diosdado Gabi (11-0).
Gabi went on to fight for world
titles again, and retired in
2008 with a 30-4-1 record after
sharing the ring with big name
world champions such as Vic
Darchinyan and Abner Mares.
After the Gabi fight, Samson
made two more title defenses,
which he also won on points. The
fact that he was no longer
destroying opponents in the same
manner that he used to, may have
influenced his decision to
retire from the sport at only 29
years of age shortly after
beating Alfren Bulala in April
2002.
Undefeated at 43-0 (36), and
with thirty-eight (!) successful
defenses of his WBF world title,
Samson Dutch Boy Gym must be
considered an all-time great at
Super Flyweight. It can be
argued that he was protected by
only boxing in his home country,
sometimes against undeserving
challengers, but at the end of
the day his accomplishments
speak for themselves.
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