Tun Tun Min

Tun Tun Min (ထွန်းထွန်းမင်း; born 4 October 1992) is a Burmese Lethwei fighter of Mon descent, former openweight Lethwei World Champion.

For a short period of time, from 2007 until 2009, he also worked at a pineapple plantation in Thailand to earn more income.

His boss at the time dared him to fight some Muay Thai boys in the village which he won.

Although he did beat them, his boss unfortunately denied him to further pursue this venture.

Upon his return home, Tun Tun Min joined the Mudontha Lethwei Club, founded in 2008 by Saya U Ye Thway, U Thamain Thawdar and Tun Tun Min's father.

Under the guidance of his new teachers, Tun Tun Min started his professional career fighting for prize money in Lethwei fights in pagodas and other religious festivals.

He quickly became a rising star because of his aggressive style and more opportunities came around.

He faced another rising star in Too Too to a draw.

Three days after, Tun Tun Min was offered a fight for 6 Lakh or 600 000 Burmese kyats against Soe Lin Oo, a 2010 Golden Belt champion and already an established name at the time.

Because his father insisted, the match was signed and ultimately fought to a draw.

At the time, Tun Tun Min described Soe Lin Oo as the toughest opponent he had ever faced.

Quickly rising through the ranks, from that moment on his career would see many more celebrated victories.

Tun Tun Min faced many fighters from neighbouring Thailand and due to his larger size, he faced many foreign opponents.

eventually leading up to his shot at becoming the champion.

Despite being both among the top ranked lethwei fighters in Myanmar currently, and fans and promoters eager to make the fight happen, Tun Tun Min and Too Too have refused to fight each other due to their long-lasting friendship.

Cyrus Washington had his introduction to Lethwei back in 2010 when he faced Saw Nga Man, who was the champion at the time, long before Tun Tun Min's name would even start to appear in newspapers.

Because Cyrus was already an accomplished Muay Thai fighter it took 4 years before Tun Tun Min was eligible to fight him.

The opportunity presented itself a few months before their first fight where Tun Tun Min had beaten Saw Nga Man for the open-weight title.

He took part in Muay Thai competitions at the 2012 Asian Muay Championships, 2013 Southeast Asian Games and 2013 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.

Over the course of his career Tun Tun Min has been discriminated against because of his Muslim background.

Fans often let their voice be heard during his matches with foreign competition, shouting racist remarks and outing their discriminating opinion in interviews.

In 2014, he became the youngest fighter to ever win the Lethwei Golden Belt, obtaining the title at age 21.

Tun Tun Min is considered Myanmar's top Lethwei fighter and is notable for fighting foreign challengers from outside Myanmar.

Tun Tun Min was born in a remote village of Mon state.

He is the second eldest son of Lethwei fighter U Tun Tun Zaw and his wife Daw Aye Win.

Tun Tun Min was introduced to the world of traditional boxing through his grandfather and father, both well-known former Lethwei fighters in the Mon state.

At the age of 6, he started training with sandbags and rudimentary equipment that his father had bought him.

By 4th grade, at the age of 9, he won his first fight at the local elementary school against a rival classmate he didn't get along with.

They were amateur Lethwei fights fought on the sand and not yet in a ring.

In 6th grade, Tun Tun Min decided to drop out of school to focus exclusively on his fighting career in order to support his family.

On September 21, 2014, Tun Tun Min became Openweight Lethwei World champion by defeating Saw Nga Man, a friend with whom he trained together for the SEA Games and someone he has looked up to for the majority of his professional career.

At the age of 21, Tun Tun Min became the youngest fighter in history to win a Lethwei Golden belt.

At that time 33 year old Saw Nga Man, nicknamed Saw Shark, had been a dominant openweight champion for five years and people started to question his durability while continually facing up-and-coming younger fighters.

These doubts where answered on that fateful evening when Myanmar crowned its latest champion.

Their first meeting was on December 7, 2014 at the inaugural Air KBZ sponsored Aung Lan Championship, currently an event where winners in each weight-class receive a belt and a triangular champions flag.

In a stunning upset Cyrus knocked out Tun Tun Min in round three in spectacular fashion.

In 2017 a calendar listing current and former champions in various categories, omitted Tun Tun Min's name, title and likeness in the champions category.

This prompted media to accuse the Myanmar Traditional Boxing Federation, who had commissioned the calendar, of discrimination.

Tun Tun Min admitted considering leaving the sport, but the fact that he might be able to win his open-weight title back changed his mind.

On March 31, 2019, Tun Tun Min faced Muaythai Champion Thaneelek Lookkromluang form Thailand and won by KO.