Tweet
Has anyone heard of or trained with an instructor by the name of Tony Giraldi. I'm thinking of taking Muay Thai from this man but I keep getting conflicting reports on him. I've spoken to him personally and he is a very nice guy who claims to have a record of 442 wins, 4 losses with 347 of those wins coming by knockout. Sounds very impressive, but all this information is coming from him. Now, I've heard from a guy in jiu-jitsu class who says he saw a guy he knows, fight Mr. Giraldi and pretty much cleaned the floor with him and this guys stand up game is not that great. Money isn't easy to come by and I don't want to end up wasting my money. Hope someone has heard of him.
-
-
I find this hard to believe...
Stuart,
Hello there, I hope that all is well with you. Now to respond to your question, I can`t say that i`ve heard of Tony Giraldi in any of the muay-thai circles that i`ve traveled in. so my resonse will deal with what I do know about his "interesting" record. This guy has claimed to have 446 fights, all that I can say is wow!!! if this is true he probably has more muay-thai experience than anyone else on the planet... I doubt that his claims are true for a few reasons.
For him to have a record of 442 and 4 he would have to fight every week for 8 years and 6 mos. straight without taking a break Or he would have to fight every 2 weeks for 17 years straight. This would be too grueling on a boxers body for this to be true.
Muay-thai is a very competitive and brutal fighting system and sport. The injuries that you sustain during a fight will take awhile to heal before you can fight again. For example a cut over the eye will take a minimum of 6 weeks to fully heal likewise a busted hand will take the same amount of time. After a thai bout your arms, shins and legs are worthless for 2 or 3 days from the abuse, it`s safe to say that the first week after a fight you will want to do little more than take time to heal and recoup from the fight. For you to fight every week would mean that you have no down time by which to heal your body and the day after a fight and every day for the rest of the week you would have to get in your road time, sparring, physical conditioning, bag work etc... only to go through another fight the next week-end and the one after that, and the one after that etc...without ever taking a break.
Over 8 years 6 mos. this is a grueling schedule to keep and it is impossible to keep up at this pace and be competitive for this amount of time and for this guy to claim that he has 347 wins by way of knockout is too much to believe in keeping up with the schedule required for this accomplishment.
I`ve known great Thai champions in and around Bangkok who were considered "busy" fighters which have fought only 60 to 70 fights in their whole career and they felt that they were pushing the envelope some in that they were`nt really able to prepare well enough inbetween fights and may have lost a few fights because of it.
When I was fighting I only had 31 fights over 8 1/2 years and was only really busy from the 2nd to 6th year. I would take a fight every 3 mos. or so and felt that this was the standard amount of time needed as to prepare for each fight. At this pace it would have taken me 111 years to rack up a record of 446 fights. Every one that I was fighting would span their fights at about the same interval 3 mos in between their fights. Some would push the envelope and try and take 5 or 6 fights a year but even at this rate it would take them 73 years to accomplish a record of 446 fights.
I don`t know anything about this guy stuart but I do know that he is exaggerating his fight record by large margins. Maybe he is a good Thai instructor that feels the need to embellish his record as to get more students or... he is a Muay-thai wannabe trying to impress people with a record and talants that he does`nt possess.
I`ve found that a person whom will exaggerate his record will be more than willing to exaggerate in other areas as well so if you train under this guy tread lightly and try to get proof of anything that he tells you. Be well...
~ Guro Dave Gould
[Edited by Guro Dave Gould on 01-17-2001 at 10:19 PM] -
Guro Dave, thanks for the response, I really appreciate your input. This guy also told me that he fought 4 fights a night every 3 days.Comment
-
Stuart,
Hello again, wow!!! the more that I hear about this guy from you the worse that it gets... If he has a record of 442 and 4 he has to have been a champion in his division and possibly others for a long, long time. Have him give you the names of some of the people that he took down for the championship(s), as well any contenders that he has fought in addition to fight dates, locations, other people fighting on the same cards, etc...
Also ask to see his belts, photos of him after victories in the ring after fights, write ups and press releases from local news papers covering the event and ask what organization that he fought for. anyone legitamate with this kind of record would have no problem in supplying you with this information. Take the information that he gives you and work from the most recent fight back.
Check to see if the organization that he claims to have fought for has ever heard of him if so get his official record from them as they should still have it filed away. Especially with a record of 442 and 4 that would be a record that any organization would be proud of for one of their fighters to have as this would get them much publicity. As well try and get in touch with his trainer, fight promoter, corner guys, or anyone who could verify his claims that was an eye witness of any of his fights...
If he can`t come up with any of these things than he is trying to put the touch on you for lessons. As for his fight intervals of 4 fights a night every 3 days this is absurd exaggeration unless he was fighting 7 year old boys. There`s no way that a person could keep this kind of fight schedule and win the amount of fights that this guy has claimed to have won especially with 347 wins coming by way of knock-out.
I think that you should spend your money else where Stuart, just my opinion... Good luck in finding someone worthy of your time, devotion and loyalty as a student. Take care and be well...
~ Guro Dave Gould
Comment
-
Guro Dave, once again thanks for your comments and suggestions, which I will follow. I thought you'd like to read what Mr. Giraldi says in his flyer:
In 1971, at the age of 11-year's old Mr. Giraldi also known as "Narongnoi Kriadundit & Snow Tiger" started training with World-Renown Charlie Solkoloff. Part of Mr. Giraldi's certification and fighting career was to live and fight in Lampang, Northern Thailand, this part of the country is known for highest rate of death in ring "fight to the finish." With a fight record of 442 wins, 4 losses, 347 by knockouts. A former 3-time World Junior Lightweight Muay-Thai Champion in Thailand (fighting every 3-days, 4-times a day). To add to his collection of Championships, Hawaii WKA Super-Lighweight Champion, International Muay-Thai Super-Lightweight Champion, increasing his record to 22-wins, 21-by knockouts, and a total of 464-wins and 369-by knockouts in 20-years of fighting before retirement in 1993.Comment
-
Hate to say it...
Honestly, if he's won so many fights people will have heard of him, and if he feels the need to bolster his reputation with so much fabrication, I wouldn't depend on his instruction.
The guys just sounds a bit like bad news. Find an academy where thai boxers teach if you can.
FE.Comment
Comment