The only woman Thaiboxing fight promoter in the country has been invited to compete for the World Muay Thai Bantamweight Championship in Bangkok, Thailand early March, and has started the hard work needed to prepare for the international contest.
A fighter for almost 10 years, Rayana Ameeroedien currently holds the South African Bantamweight Thaiboxing Championship title, in addition to her fight promoter day-job.
"We were offered the fight a year ago when visiting and training in Bangkok," Ameeroedien told gsport, "But felt I wasn’t ready at the time. As you know my focus the whole of 2007 was on promoting and hosting tournaments, to provide opportunities for SA’s talented thaiboxers.
"I will be competing for the World Muay Thai Bantamweight championship title on 8 March, and my training entails 2 training sessions daily. The first at 7:30am with my trainer which includes padwork, bagwork and sparring.
"In the evenings I do cardio and run, shadowbox and strength training. I’m working with a highly motivated and supportive team of professionals. who are preparing me for this fight.
A vital part of success is planning, but Ameeroedien’s perspective will come as a revelation to seasoned fighters. "At this stage my opponent is a Japanese fighter, but I am not going to study her fights.
"Past experience has made me aware of last min changes and having to re-strategise. So my plan is to stay focused and go hard and hopefully bring that belt home to South Africa."
How does Ameeroedien keep up with her professional responsibilities, while training for the fight? "Fortunately for me my work is my passion, and its not like I have a normal 9 to 5 job.
"Right now my training is a priority so I schedule meetings etc around it and my coaching does not interfere with that," says Ameeroedien. "Time management plays a big role."
She admits that her efforts as a trainer has assisted her as a fighter: "I have a better understanding of how and why different strategies work in the ring."
Apart from fighting and promoting, Ameeroedien takes time to make sure that the benefits of her discipline are also used to play a part in the emergence of women’s sport in South Africa. "I get a kick out of seeing young upcoming fighters develop, and through hard work continue to go from strength to strength. "
There are a few hugely talented prospects in my gym alone, but South Africa in general has so much potentially great fighters," laments Ameeroedien. "The evidence of this is clear at the tournaments we host."
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