Brooke's battle in home of muay thai
Burpengary’s Brooke Cooper is switching fight codes, for one night, to reach a sporting milestone.
The 22-year-old is in Bangkok as part of the Infliction fight team, which is representing Australia against Thailand on tomorrow (Saturday) night.
It will be a return to muay thai (using fists, elbows, knees and shins) for Cooper, a two-time world champion in the martial art after winning 27 of 39 fights.
She then switched to boxing and already has the WBC Super Lightweight Australasian title after just three bouts in eight months.
More fist-only fights are planned, possibly overseas, but Cooper said recently she had hoped to ‘round up’ her muay thai career to 40 fights.
“I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity of having my 40th (muay thai fight) in Thailand,” she said of the martial art also known as Thai boxing.
Tomorrow Cooper will face Thailand’s Yodying in the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, where Infliction will be the first foreign promoter to present a muay thai show.
Cooper said it was also the first time she had researched her opponent, usually leaving that to the team at Kaos Martial Arts in Morayfield, where she trains.
“She (Yodying) looks very strong. It’s going to be a battle, but I’ve been training super-duper hard,” said Cooper, an executive investment administrator.
The Australian v Thailand series is being screened at Nerang RSL and Memorial Club on the Gold Coast on Saturday night.
At the time of publication, there seats available for the live screening. To book a seat visit: inflictionfightseries.com.au