Lone Chaw

Lone Chaw is of Karen descent. He was born in a humble village in the Ayeyarwady division in Myanmar. He dropped out of school in the ninth grade and started working at the family farm full-time. In 1995, he started training Lethwei and became determined to be a successful professional fighter when he learned his hometown did not boast a Myanmar Lethwei champion.[4] He moved to Yangon in 1999 to pursue that goal. His first fight was at a traditional festival.[5]

In 2004, he joined Thut Ti Lethwei Gym as head trainer and teacher under camp owner Win Zin Oo.[3][6][7] In 2012, at 36 years old, Lone Chaw retired from fighting and started coaching.[8][9][10] Lone Chaw eventually left Thut Ti to form his own camp with the help of his father.

Lone Chaw made a name for himself by fighting local and international competition.[11] Notably, he was one of the first Lethwei fighter to go fight in Japan.[12]

In 1999, Lone Chaw won the Myanmar Interstate Division Title and the Golden Belt Championship in 2006 and 2007. His most notorious fight was against the legendary Shwe War Tun in 2006, whom he had admired before he became a professional fighter. In an interview, Lone Chaw said "Shwe War Tun is an idol for me because of his fighting capability. I really respect him." In 2006, Shwe Sai was stripped of the Openweight Lethwei World title due to inability to defend the title. Former Openweight champion Shwe War Tun was selected to face Lone Chaw who was number one contender for the vacant openweight title. Traditionally the Lethwei Golden Belt is passed on by incapacitating the champion by KO, TKO or forfeit, but if the title is vacant it is mandatory to determine a winner.[8] After 5 rounds, as it is mandatory to crown a new champion, Lone Chaw was declared winner and became the new Openweight Champion.[4]

On April 26, 2008, the fight against Win Tun ended in a bloody draw. The result was a big blow to Lone Chaw's reputation, as the 63 kg challenger Win Tun controlled most of the fight.[13]

On July 27, 2008, Lone Chaw who was coming from 10 consecutive draws, defeated Lethwei rising star Wunna by TKO in Yangon. Wunna was dropped by a fury of punches and wasn't able to answer the count.[14]

On March 1, 2009, Lone Chaw lost the Openweight World title to Saw Nga Man in Yangon, Myanmar. Lone Chaw violated the MTLF traditional code of conduct and regulations in when he landed a heavy flying kick when on Saw Nga Man when he was in the corner of the ring with his back turned. The violation caused chaos and fans were calling for Lone Chaw's eviction from the ring. The organisers were forced to turn the lights out on the angry crowd. The three judges reminded Lone Chaw to abide by the traditional boxing rules. The electricity was restored within a few minutes but the crowd had turned on the champion Lone Chaw and was now cheering for Saw Nga Man on for the remainder of the bout. The chief judge U Dang Ni said he had taken Lone Chaw's conduct into account to crown the new champion "The win was deserved for Saw Nga Man because he was superior to Lone Chaw, both in technique and in adhering to the rules and regulations." he said. Lone Chaw expressed that he never set out to deliberately break the code of conduct. He stated that the violation was made out of frustration since Saw Nga Man had been elusive and did not allow him to land his trademark flying knee or his straight right punches.[15]

On 4 May, 2009, as reported by MMA Mania, Lone Chaw faced Shwe Sai in Yangon and the fight ended as a draw after a spectacular knockout from Shwe Saw, however Lone Chaw used his special time-out and finished the fight aggressively and almost knocked out Shwe Sai at the end of the bout.[16]

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