Thai kickboxing champion Johnney Roye is focusing on his students rather than himself after tasting World glory in 2009.
Roye, 38, of Penwortham, defeated Germany’s Heiko Rainhardt at Lava and Ignite on Church Street to capture the Light Heavyweight World Muay Thai Council title in November.
Now the six-footer, who teaches Thai kickboxing and boxing at Preston’s Total Fitness gym on West Strand Road, is hopeful of finding a youngster to emulate his own success.
“There are a couple of lads who come to train that have real potential and if they stick with it, they have what it takes to go a long way,” said Roye.
Roye must choose between travelling to Thailand to defend his title or staying at home and overseeing the development of Lancashire’s most promising fighters.
He has indicated that any potential opponents may have to come to Preston to try and take his belt.
“I’ve been offered the chance to go to Thailand for my first defence but with my commitments to the students I’d rather just have the fight in my home town where all the people who have supported me can come to watch.”
Roye is free to select an opponent ranked in the world top 10 but so far no suitable fighter has been identified.
The powerhouse started boxing when he was six years old and continued until he was 16 before switching to Thai kickboxing.
He said that his early boxing training had benefitted him by instilling a ‘survival instinct’ in the ring and that he has worked hard to harness his footwork.
After lifting the world title in his home city, Roye described the moment as a ‘dream come true’ and also revealed that he wasn’t even confident heading in to the title deciding fight against Rainhardt.
“You always have to respect who you’re fighting and I tend generally not to get over-confident.
“To do it in Preston was just such a great feeling, I’ve won a lot of belts but this is by far the most prestigious in my career.”
Prior to his world title win, Roye had lifted the British Middleweight and Light Heavyweight belts, and can also boast European Light Heavyweight and Commonwealth Middleweight titles.
tomisha, chester around 1 year, 6 months ago