Lethwei legend Too Too has been tortured to death by the military in Myanmar according to reports. He was arrested last year and is believed to have died in custody in April.
His family were only informed last week that Too Too was dead. But according to local news outlets in Myanmar he actually died on April 26th.
Too Too was detained by the military on April 11th, 2022. Photos showed Too Too blindfolded and kneeling along with five other men in front of various items including mobile phones and hand guns.
Too Too, a Burmese Lethwei champion boxer, has been killed by the junta in #Myanmar. He was arrested and tortured to death in April. News of the killing comes as the junta informed his family on July 11th that he was dead.
RIP🌹 pic.twitter.com/roczsWqC5e
— Jake Hanrahan (@Jake_Hanrahan) July 14, 2023
Biggest names
Too Too won a gold medal in Muay Thai at the SEA Games in 2013. But it was in lethwei that he made his name, fighting some of the biggest names in Myanmar as well as foreign opponents like Dave Leduc and Cyrus Washington.
Too Too has been in with the likes of Tun Tun Min, Soe Lin Oo and Saw Nga Man. He held the WLC middleweight belt and the 75kgs ‘golden belt’.
Incredibly Too Too appears to have gone undefeated until 2020, although he drew 26 fights. Most lethwei fights can’t end in decision but his luck ran out when he was outpointed by Naimjon Tuhtaboyev at WLC 11 in Yangon.
This 30-year-old lethwei veteran, Too Too regarded as one of the best Lethwei fighters in history! He has the reputation of being a powerful and accurate counter striker who likes to turn the fight into a brawl.
Too Too's full WLC action – https://t.co/yoO6eQP6dc pic.twitter.com/gGu2XeWOw4
— World Lethwei Championship (@WorldLethwei) January 24, 2021
Vocal opponent
The lethwei scene in Myanmar has ground to a halt following the military coup. Two years ago ONE Championship featherweight Phoe Thaw was arrested after being badly injured in a bomb blast.
Thaw was a vocal opponent of the military who had attended protests. It appears that a bomb was planted at his gym and he suffered severe burns in the blast.
His Instagram page has not been updated in over a year, and Phoe Thaw has not been seen in public since being hospitalized and arrested. The military launched a coup in 2021 to overthrow Aung San Suu Kyi and her democratically elected government.
A civil war has been raging ever since and a series of atrocities have been committed by the military who only have certain areas of the country under control. Several fighters have spoken out against the coup and the consequences have been severe, with Too Too among those paying the ultimate price for his resistance.
