World-renowned Muay Thai boxer Rodtang Jitmuangnon has scheduled his first press conference, at his house tomorrow at 3pm, to bear all about the current drama on social media between him and One Championship Thailand.
ONE Championship filed a defamation lawsuit with the Nonthaburi District Court yesterday, demanding 542 million baht in compensation. Rodtang, meanwhile, said he wants to leave ONE Championship, claiming that his signatures on several contracts with the Muay Thai boxing organisation had been forged.
In his Facebook post today, Rodtang said he would like to invite members of the media and fans to his family’s house in Nonthaburi tomorrow to talk about his legal dispute with ONE Championship.
Rodtang is well-known for his aggressive style and his exceptional ability to absorb strikes to his face by his opponents without showing any signs of pain. He is a dominant former ONE Championship Muay Thai world champion and is considered as one of the highest-paid and feared fighters.
Jitinat Asdamongkol, chairman of ONE Championship Thailand, claimed yesterday that Rodtang had defamed the boxing organisation and defamation lawsuits had already filed against the boxer in Singapore, Japan and Thailand.
He claimed that the organisation had been sponsoring and investing in making Rodtang as a superstar in the Muay Thai boxing industry with the highest income, adding that the boxer has a fight scheduled in Japan on April 29, which remains unchanged.
He said that the organisation found it necessary to protect its brand name, even though it didn’t want to engage in a conflict with the boxer.
ONE Championship’s lawyer, Noppramart Thammateeradaycho, meanwhile, said the organisation wants to talk with Rodtang to settle the problem amicably, adding that it does not want the boxer to leave the organisation even though it cannot force him not to do so.
She also said that she does not want Rodtang to miss the fight on April 29, otherwise the conflict will escalate further, which may involve the participation of an arbitration panel.
She claimed that, on April 15, the organisation sent a letter via LINE to Rodtang, expressing its willingness to free him from its control, but he didn’t respond, adding that “We cannot do anything. We don’t have an intention to keep a sportsman if he is not happy with us, because we know that, if we keep him, he will not fight to his fullest ability.”
Noppramart also claims that the contracts signed with Rodtang in 2018 and 2022 were 99.99% identical with their essence remaining unchanged, adding that she wonders why the boxer is now raising the question of his signature.
She admitted that she feels sorry about losing Rodtang, but said that the organisation has to protect its image and reputation.
