ABOUT DARREN REECE

Darren "The Riddler" Reece has announced his retirement after spending over a decade a professional MuayThai fighter. In retirement the Riddler will be remembered as one for the greats of Australian MuayThai.

The Riddlers first foray, into the martial arts was in 1990 when he started training in Zen Do Kai Karate under they guidance of Sean Allen, who was a former Western Australian kickboxing champion and highly respected Zen Do Kai practitioner. The Riddler says that, “training with Sean was very MuayThai orientated with lots of sparring, he was a really good.” As his Zen Do Kai training progressed the Riddler entered and won several semi-contract tournaments and decided that he wanted to test himself further and MuayThai seemed the next logical step.

The Motherland: In 1993 the Riddler went on his first trip to the motherland of Muaythai, Thailand on a Stephan Fox MuayThai training tour. It was during that time in Thailand that the Riddler’s obsession with MuayThai began in earnest. On arrival back in Perth the Riddler was offered his first MuayThai fight against the state champion. The Riddler immediately accepted but ultimately lost the fight. Instead of being discouraged, the loss focused the Riddler on becoming a better, more complete fighter.

Muaythai was now the Riddler’s passion in life and with new trainer Ron Parr he embarked on another four month training stint in Thailand where he trained at the famous Sityodtong camp and had several local MuayThai fights. After this ‘tour of duty’ the Riddler was a much improved fighter and when he came back to Perth he had several more fights and then claimed his first state MuayThai title. In an all consuming quest to becoming the best possible fighter he could be, the Riddler in 1996-to-1997 relocated to the fight capital of Australia, Melbourne, under the tutelage of Johnny Scida, where the competition was fiercer and the fights more frequent. The decision to relocate to Melbourne paid off far it was during this time that the Riddler won and ISKA Australian kickboxing title.

Gold at the King’s Cup: 1998 saw the Riddler back in Perth training side by side with Western Australian MuayThai icon, Brett “The Darkside” Dalton for the World Amateur MuayThai Championship, the prestigious IFMA Kings Cup which was to be held in Bangkok. The Kings Cup provided the Riddler with a career  highlight, after enduring and winning six brutal fights the Riddler qualified for the final which was televised live on national TV. In the final for the world championship the Riddler knocked out his Russian opponent in the second round with and elbow strike to the head to claim Australia’s first ever gold medal. On top of this he was also honoured by being awarded the most outstanding boxer of the tournament by the Kings representatives.

Training at Nakornthong Parkview Gym: The original two weeks in Thailand for the Kings Cup turned in a three year odyssey for the Riddler. After winning the gold medal, Western Australian MuayThai promoter Phon Martee introduced the Riddler to Jar Tui who was the owner and manager of the famous Nakorntong Parkview Gym. Jar Tui was impressed with the Riddler’s gold medal winning performance and invited him to come and train and fight for his gym. The Riddler was the first foreigner to ever train at Jar Tui’s Bangkok gym and after earning the respect of the other Thai boxers was treated as a bona fide MuayThai fighter and was given his own trainer, Pi Nong, who was a former Rajadamnern champion. It was here that the Riddler learnt about the brutality of hard core MuayThai training. Training sessions included five minute rounds of hitting the pads for sets of five or six, five minute rounds on the heavy bag for sets of five or six, and grappling non-stop for 45 minutes straight with alternate grappling partners. The Riddlers first fight for his new camp was his biggest test to date. It was held at Rajadamnern Stadium and again was televised live on Thai national TV. The Riddlers opponent was Channel 7 Thai TV star Lithidaj Luukprapath. The Thai was very skilful and had smashing body-sapping kicks but the Riddler was on a roll and won the fight on points. After this fights at Rajadamnern for four straight wins. It was during this time that he was known by other fighters at his gym as a Muay Kaow or knee fighter which superbly describes the Riddler’s fighting styles.

Japan: It was during this time (1998-to-2000) that the Riddler also spent time fighting in Japan with fellow Aussie fighter Luke Kempson, at the Togane Gym. The Riddler lived there for six months in total in period of two months at a time. Although “the money from fighting in Japan was excellent” the Riddler much preferred living in Thailand. The Riddler had seven fights in Japan for five wins which included and incredible win over Takashi Ito, who was a Japanese World Champion superstar who was famous for defeating Maroud Sari (the former Lumpinee Champion) and the great “John” Wayne Parr. The Riddler was also the first foreigner to fight for a Japanese national title when he battled against the well known Japanese fighter Goto.
In this same period the Riddler also fought three times for Thailand’s super promoter Songchai which included the massive King’s Birthday promotion which was shown live on TV. A knock out win over the former Lumpinee Champion Tunwalek Looksuratun which was also shown live on Thai national TV was also a great highlight for the Riddler.

I also returned to Perth for a couple of Ron Parr’s shows during this time. The first occasion I cut and stopped Jason Skinner, my nemesis for many years as a younger fighter.
The second occasion on an Australia vs Thailand card I fought against the former Rajadamnern champion Punmonkon Carryboygym to a draw. On the card I was the only westerner not to lose. The fighters included such notable names as Daniel “The Rock” Dawson, Oliver Olsen, Luke Kempson and Holland’s Ryan Simpson.”

“I also fought “John” Wayne Parr during this time on the Gold Coast giving away weight, but he came out firing and dropped me with an elbow in the first. He banged me with a powerful right hand in the second and the ref stopped the fight. I was ranked number eight Welterweight in the world by the WMC and fought for a WMC intercontinental title a draw. During this time I fought every four weeks without fail and had like 25 fights in a two years period. While training in Thailand I got to fight in a different country every month between Thailand, Japan, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. It was fantastic.”

Riddler’s Gym: At the beginning of 2003 the Riddler started training his first fighter, Brad Wright and in June started his own gym – Riddlers Gym. He was soon recruiting top Western Australian fighters such as Chris White and Lance Barker who have remained the core of Riddlers gym. In May 2003 the Riddler fought Soren in Perth on a split points decision. November 2003 saw the Riddler back amongst it as he contested Paul Demicoli’s Super 8, winning his first fight but losing to Shannon F16 in the semi. In April 2004 the Riddler fought in the WMF World Championships where he beat the Thai favourite and three other fighters to qualify for the final. In the final the Riddler fought against a fighter from Belarus and walked away with the silver medal.

In November 2004 at Jar Tui’s invitation the Riddler was offered a fight at Muaythai Mecca, Lumpinee Stadium. The Riddler says “to fight at Lumpinee had been a dream of mine for many years. I had a magical night where I fought well beyond my ability and I defeated the Lumpinee ranked Pheyasoa Sitphafar.”

Soon after the Riddlers Lumpinee victory he took his champion lightweight fighter Chris White to Japan to fight on the huge MuayThai show there, Titans 1, which he won. April 2005 saw the Riddler have an easy win over a Slovakian fighter and in June the Riddler received a draw against the Thai champion Wimberdon ChaiYai in Melbourne. The Riddler says, “I was due to fight Pixie on the Gold Coast but a slight back injury affected my training. I rested and then decided that I was time for my last fight. I would have it in Perth.