There’s a saying that goes, “It’s not how you get knocked down; it’s how you pick yourself up.” Few epitomise that as well as local professional Thai kickboxer “Zig Zach”.
Singapore’s sole representative in the hit reality series, The Contender Asia, Zach was winning his televised fight before he had the misfortune of dislocating his good left shoulder in the second round, and couldn’t continue. His fight career almost ended that night with the loss.
Coming from humble beginnings, Zach started working at the early age of 14 to help support his family. There were times it got so bad he even had to study by candlelight because there was no money to pay the electricity bills. The effort to balance work and school, though, didn’t stop the target of school bullies from pursuing his interest in Thai boxing, or did his lack of money. The overweight teen, who once tipped the scales at 93kg, paid for all his Thai boxing lessons himself and never took a cent from his family the moment he started working. Over time, Zach went from muay thai student to part-time instructor to personal coach, shedding his excess weight in the process.
Then at aged 18, after dislocating his right shoulder at an amateur tournament, Zach packed his bags, and went to live and train in Thailand for six months. “I decided then that I wanted to be the best in Singapore,” he recalls.
Very soon, Zach on his way to achieving his goal after reaching the quarter-finals of the IFMA Amateur World Tournament and clinching the World Muay Thai Council Muay Thai Against Drugs Challenge, a fight he won by a knockout despite breaking a rib in the second round. And then came his defeat in The Contender Asia.
“After that, I really thought of quitting,” confesses Zach. “I had already fought for many years without punching with my right shoulder because of my injury, but when you’ve got both shoulders dislocated, you’re just a standing target.”
Like any true fighter, he didn’t wallow in his misery for long. “There’s a saying that you have to pick yourself up every time you fall,” he says. “Because if you just let yourself stay down every time you fall, you’re never going to be anyone. You can give up, or you can stand up and come back even harder.” He chose the latter.
Two surgeries on his shoulder and a mere four months later, Zach was in a rematch with the opponent he had lost to on the show. He won that fight in convincing fashion, leaving no room for any doubt of his ability, or his mind. Today, his amazing recovery continues to inspire many who are battling sports injuries.
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