My knuckles talk more than my mouth
By John Evans www.undisputedfightmag.com
Boxing throws up many unusual stories and characters. One such character is the reigning British flyweight champion Shinny Bayar. Bayaar, or to give him his full name Shinebayar Sukhbaatar, has found a new home 4000 miles from his place of birth in Töv province, Outer Mongolia and is relishing the opportunities his new life has presented him with.
Since arriving in 2001, Bayaar has settled well in the north west of England and his hard fighting, awkward southpaw style has made him a tough challenge for his British rivals. So how did a Mongolian flyweight find himself in a small town in northern England? “I knew Choi Tseveenpurev (the highly rated Mongolian super featherweight and Bayaar’s stablemate) from school and we boxed together as amateurs. We had a friend called Aka who bought Choi over and he said he could help me. I’d had quite a few amateur fights and four or five professional ones and came over as a professional fighter. After a while, Jack watched me spar and I signed with him. We’ve gone from there”. The Jack in question is Jack Doughty, the trainer who took both Tseveenpurev and Bayaar under his wing at his gym in Shaw, Lancashire. Although Bayaar (15(4)-4-2) had a lengthy amateur career under his belt he was raw when he first came under Doughtys tutelage. “Jack taught me to calm down. I was very aggressive in the ring. When I was younger I used to attack a lot and put a lot of pressure on but now I’m quite experienced, I try to wait for them to open up so I can take advantage” says Bayaar. Experienced is an understatement. In just Bayaar’s second professional bout he ventured to the Philippines and went the full 12 rounds with former world champion Manny Melchor.
2009 saw Bayaar make massive steps in both his personal and professional life. By gaining British citizenship, he opened up more lucrative avenues both in and out of the ring. As well as qualifying for British and European titles, Bayaar is also fully qualified as a personal trainer. “Being given British Citizenship is a big thing for me” says Bayaar “I thought about it for a long while as I was worried about having to give up my Mongolian Citizenship but eventually I thought it was time I did it to help secure my wife and kid’s future. Mongolians are very proud people and it was a big decision”.
Title chances can come quite quickly for British flyweights yet Bayaar toiled away for years before being awarded any kind of title shot. It is telling that as soon as he became eligible to fight for the British belt, he won it with a points victory over Chris Edwards. Does he feel he was avoided for all those years? “Honestly I don’t know if I was being avoided. I think people knew Choi was a dangerous guy, a massive puncher who was walking through everybody and they put me in the same bracket. Stay away from those Mongolians!” laughs Bayaar.
Bayaars last bout took him to Brentwood Essex, right into the backyard of his opponent the much hyped Ashley Sexton. In front of the live Sky tv cameras and a hostile crowd, Bayaar boxed beautifully through eight rounds against a fired up challenger. Eventually the frustration became too much for Sexton and he came out in the 9th looking to employ some rough tactics to shake up the champion. He was successful. By leading with his head and, to put it politely, fighting crudely Sexton inflicted a terrible cut over Bayaars right eye and the final rounds descended into a bloody brawl. Despite the tough finish, Bayaar seemed a clear victor at the bouts conclusion and was as stunned as most of the people watching when the decision was announced as a split draw. “Yeah, after the fight Sky asked me if I was happy with a draw and I said yes but that was just the language barrier. A draw was good for him but not for me!” says Bayaar “If you watch the fight again you see I was a clear winner. Everyone tells me I won clearly and Jim Watt said so on TV. I cant see how one judge gave me eight rounds and another gave him eight rounds. I taught him some boxing skill until he started using the head and elbows. Then the blood was in my eyes and I couldn’t see the punches. In a clean fight I win easily”.
Having come through his first defence and beaten the divisions bright young hope, next up for Bayaar is a defence of his title in Belfast on December 15th against the inexperienced Liverpudlian Paul Edwards. It is just Edwards eighth fight and he is yet to go past six rounds. How does Bayaar feel about the bout? “I have had lots of people saying to me that I’ll walk through him and smash him. I don’t say anything though. I am always respectful of my opponents. Everyone has something to offer. My knuckles talk more than my mouth”. As Edwards has so few rounds under his belt, It is safe to assume that Bayaars intention will be to apply more pressure as the fight goes on and exploit Edwards lack of experience. “Yeah. That was the plan with Sexton too but I hurt him around the 7th or 8th round and tried to take him out. Then he headbutted me. I have more experience now and will be more patient if it goes that far”.
Although the great veteran Thai fighter Pongsaklek Wonjongkam is doing his best to prove otherwise, 33 is ancient for a flyweight. If Bayaar has ambitions to step up from British level and attempt to reach greater heights, he needs to start moving. “I see who they give me. My job is to train. It is for my promoter Frank Maloney and Jack to decide who I fight. I take who they give me and try to beat them up!” says Bayaar. “A European title fight would be great but I just go step by step. Paul Edwards is first and then we will talk. If they give me the chances I will do my best to take them. Now I have the Lonsdale belt I am always active because there is always somebody who wants to take it off me”.
Read the full interview at: http://www.undisputedfightmag.com/2010/11/19/my-knuckles-talk-more-than-my-mouth-shinny-bayaar/
