Kathmandu, March 6

Gymkhana Muay Thai, Nepal’s first premium fitness centre, is organising the third edition of the Gymkhana Fight Nights here at the Lord of the Drinks on Saturday.

A total of eight bouts — four each in boxing and muay thai — will be played in this edition of the GFN, which is co-sanctioned by Nepal Boxing Association and Nepal Muay Thai Association.

In the main event of the competition, Karan Bajracharya of Gymkhana will fight against Faphayao Sorsorjeeradech of Thailand in the 60kg weight category muay thai bout, while Manish Daku Dangol of Gymkhana is scheduled to face Indian boxer Shiv Kumar of Cross Train Fight Club in the 60kg boxing bout which is the co-main event, informed the organisers at a press meet and weigh-in ceremony today.

Other boxing bouts included Duran Sunuwar of Tribhuwan Army Club againt Jenish Gurung of Pokhara (60kg), Robin Thapa of Gymkhana against Buddha Lama of Tikathali Boxing Club (55kg), and Rabi Sunuwar of TAC agaisnt Pratik Tamang of Tikathali (75kg). Likewise, muay thai bouts included Lakpa Sherpa of Rage Fitness agaisnt Sandeep Gurung of Gorkha Fight Academy (60kg), Koshish Shrestha of Rage Fitness against Suman Ghising of Gorkha Fight Academy (70kg), and Deewez Piya of Gymkhana against Santosh Khatri of Rage Fitness (65kg) (Morang).

Gymkhana CEO Raul Moktan said the event was getting bigger and they were trying to improve.

“Hats off to all the players for their hard works as it is very hard to survive as a fighter in our country,” said Moktan. “We have been training 16 fighters at Gymkhana and the players have sacrificed a lot in this process,” he added.

Moktan said the participants were picked up after coordinating with the national associations of boxing and muay thai. “We know about the good fighters but we selected the players only after consulting with the NBA and NMTA,” he added.

The winners will earn Rs 50,000 each, while others will get the appearance fee of Rs 25,000 apiece. Thai Airways, Yak & Yeti, Fonepay, KTM CTY and Nepal Mediciti are the sponsors and supporters of the event.

International referee and former boxer Pushkar Raj Pant lauded the efforts of Gymkhana in organising professional boxing in Nepal.

“I believe Gymkhana is doing a great job and the NBA will always welcome the productive events from private sectors,” he said.