Manus Boonjumnong is an Olympic hero who made a new historic record for Thailand and the Thai amateur boxing sport with his Olympic gold medal in Athens in 2004 and a silver in Beijing in 2008.

In addition to the Olympic wins, Manus has had excellent performances at the various SEA Games and Asian Games.

Such a successful amateur boxer like him is living quite a comfortable life with monthly allowance of about 50,000 Baht from the Sport Authority of Thailand and at least two other sponsors.

Two-time Olympic medalist Manus Boonjumnong of Thailand says he is considering quitting amatuer boxing to turn professional, while Thai boxing chief General Taweep Jantararoj is promising successes in various upcoming events if Manus decides to stay with the national squad.

Manus, who won a silver medal in Athens in 2004 and a gold in Beijing in 2008, said he has been bored with amateur boxing and is unsure whether he should quit or continue with the national squad. He also said he has been offered to fight in professional boxing from both Thai and foreign promoters but he has not made any decision.

The members of Thailand’s national amateur boxing squads have arrived at the Bonanza training facility in Pakchong yesterday for a new training session.

About 30 athletes of the various national squads, including the members of “Team A”, “Team B”, and the youth team, have showed up at the facility to report to coach Kammanit Nareerak on June 22. The boxers were earlier warned that their allowances would be cut if they did not show up before noon of that day.

The more well-known of them include Olympians Amnat Ruenroeng, Worapoj Petchkhoom, Sailom Adi, and brothers Manus and Non Boonjumnong. The group also includes rising star newcomers such as Kaew Pongprayoon, Wutthichai Masuk, and Abhichet Sansit.  

The International Federation of Amateur Muaythai Association ( IFMA) is requesting the organizer of the upcoming Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) to rename the sport "muay" to "muaythai" and threatening to ban participating nations in its future event if its demand is not met, while trying to replace its rival muaythai association in organizing the sport at the Indoor Games in Vietnam in October.

IFMA president Sakchye Tapsuwan has reportedly sent a letter to the Southeast Asian Games Federation, threathening to ban the participating nations of the next SEA Games in in the Laotian capital Vientiane from the first World Martial Art Games in China in 2010 if the organizer refused to change the name of the sport.

In response to the report on IFMA's demand, Lieutenant General Charouck Arirachakaran, the secretary-general of the Thai National Olympic Council, said if Thailand proposed for the renaming of the SEA Games sport, other member countries like Laos and Myanmar would raise their objection, as they have always done so.