Spencer Brown Reflects on Loss against Singpayak
It has been 2 weeks since the memorable night of YOKKAO Next Generation Sydney. Spencer Brown faced and took a loss against former Channel 7 champion, Singpayak at the spectacular main event fight. In his interview with YOKKAO prior to the fight, Singpayak boldly claimed that he was “110%” confident of beating his opponent. The Thai fighter did exactly what he said he would do. There is a popular saying, “You either win or you learn”.
Even those at the very top occasionally trip and fall. The same weekend, multitime champion Singdam took a loss in China against a younger fighter. This is the way of the fighting game. No one stays undefeated, not even the greatest fighters of all time. Muay Thai and combat sports in general, are unpredictable in nature - a wrong move can lead to devastating results. After a week of rest, Spencer is back at the YOKKAO Training Center Bangkok. Like a true warrior, he’s back on his feet and training at the gym with no time to mourn over his defeat. YOKKAO caught up with the 20 year-old fighter to find out more about the Sydney battle and what’s next on the card.
YOKKAO (Y): Hi Spencer, we witnessed a spectacular fight at YOKKAO Next Generation Sydney between you and Singpayak. Those were some nasty body bruises. Can you recall what happened?
Spencer Brown (S): Yeah unfortunately I remember each and everyone of them. Singpayak was very smart in timing his body kicks. As I was advancing forward with the majority of my weight was on my front leg, it made it difficult to check the kicks from my left side. I could see them coming and decided to catch and attempt to sweep or land a shot of my own rather than just take it on the arms. I took what I thought was the lesser of two evils but my back would have disagreed. This gave him the perfect opportunity to find a home with those kicks. I stalked forward, trying to rough him up and possibly tire him out by working to the body and locking his arms in the clinch. He was in very good shape and continued to help me with my tan across my back.
Y: How serious were the injuries?
S: The back was all superficial. It looked much worse than it was and I was lucky enough to be in amazing shape, courtesy of the intense training by Kru Manop. If I started to really tire and drop my guard, it would have been much more serious. However, I did pick up a few injuries within the first two rounds that seemed to have been underlying throughout training and unfortunately bugged me throughout the fight. We thought that my collar bone was broken at the end of the second round. I had some issues with my shin and calf but I refused to give anything away and continued to fight as hard as I could whilst still being smart throughout the full five rounds.
Y: How do you feel about the loss at this fight?
S: There are always many factors as to why someone loses a fight. Sometimes it’s not your night and sometimes there’s outside forces that cause you to be different in the ring. But I can’t and won’t blame anything, it is only myself in that ring and I am responsible for my performance during training and within the fight itself. Too many fighters out there wanting to blame X,Y and Z for their defeat rather than looking inward and accepting that everything won’t always go to plan. But how you react and adapt to these adversities shows your true character and sets you up much better for when something even bigger comes along, not only in the sport but life itself.
Y: Do you think we could see a rematch?
S: 110%! Yeah absolutely! Although he kicked me to bits with the body kicks, besides that, it was relatively even. Plus it was an amazing fight for the fans which deserve these kinds of fights and I want to be involved in these kinds of fights. You’ve got to remember I’m 20 years old and that was my 23rd fight. God only knows how many Singpayak has had, on top of all the titles he’s won and he’s still young at 26. So I think there is some unfinished business (with all due respect to Singpayak and his team).
Y: Is there any news for your next fight?
S: We’ve now got a lot of opportunities and doors opened after that fight even though I lost. Out here, it’s about how you fight. It’s important that you fight with heart and don’t give in no matter what happened in the ring. People have seen that so I think we’ll head to Lumpini and take it from there. I’m up for any challenge that is to come.
Y: Anything you want to say to your fans?
S: The love and support I’ve been receiving from everyone on the likes of Instagram has honestly blown me away. I’m still working my way through messages of people wishing me luck before the fight, consoling me after and just talking shit with me over my stupid stories haha. All I can say is thank you all so much. It honestly means the world to me and I still have to pinch myself from time to time to ask myself why, as I’m still Spenny from the block. I’m just the same as each and everyone of you. Whatever I’m doing out here can be done by anyone if they put in the time, the effort and put a solid head on their shoulders. Not just mentally robust but physically as my head nearly went flying after a few of those shots in Sydney. Thank you people, stay sexy, peace.
