From boxer to playboy to monk, Manus is reborn

DOHA, Dec 13 (Reuters) Reincarnation is central to the beliefs of millions of Thais, but there can be few in the kingdom with as spectacular a rebirth as Manus Boonjumnong.

After winning Olympic gold in Athens, the boxer enjoyed the giddy highs of fame and fortune before losing the lot in the card games and drinking dens of Bangkok.

His strutting, triumphant return to the ring at the Asian Games in Doha, however, suggests his life has come full circle.

''My problems are behind me now. I made mistakes, it was a difficult time, but I have to look forward now,'' Manus told Reuters after a typically flamboyant victory over South Korea's Shin Myung-hoon in the light welterweight final.

''It's all about winning the Olympic gold medal again now.'' Manus, who named his son Athens, won the hearts of a nation when he broke down in tears after Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej called to congratulate him on his success.

But the celebrity and reported 0,000 his gold medal earned him disappeared in a blaze of ugly headlines as Manus swapped the sweat-stained ring for Thailand's more tempting social scene.

MONASTIC LIFE Without a fight since Athens, Manus was on the verge of being washed up at 26 before Thai boxing chiefs took the matter into their own hands, sending him to a boxing boot camp in Cuba without a penny to his name.

''It meant a lot to me to come back and win gold after so long without a fight,'' said Manus, who carried a portrait of his king into the ring after the final.

''It showed me that if I want something enough, then I can do it.'' After being away from the fight game for two years, it was no surprise Manus struggled to shake off the ring rust during his early bouts in the Qatari capital. But by the time the final came around he was back in business.

His Korean foe chased shadows for the four two-minute rounds while Manus picked up points at will, landing snapping short lefts and thumping body blows from seemingly impossible angles.

Reminiscent of a peaking Prince Naseem Hamed, Manus is quite the showman.

''What goes on in the ring is an act. That's the way I fight, and it works,'' he said. ''I'm confident in the ring, but outside I'm quite shy.'' PLAYBOY LIFESTYLE Tipped to join the ranks of Thailand's mushrooming stable of professionals at the lighter weights after the Beijing Games, Manus is aware of his talent.

''I know I'm good, but that's just in Asia,'' he said, hopping from foot to foot after drinking four bottles of water in the doping control room.

''I can't say whether I'm the best in the world. It's too early to tell. I'll settle with being the best in Asia for now.'' Thailand's boxing chief, retired army General Thaweep Jantararoj, told Reuters he would keep Manus on the straight and narrow from now on.

The 26-year-old will become a shaven-headed Buddhist monk for two weeks at the start of January, wearing saffron robes and collecting alms early in the morning.

Training will resume immediately after his monastic endeavours.

''I know a real champion boxer more than anyone and Manus is that. That's why I sent him to Cuba,'' Thaweep said.

''I'm very happy he came back. It would have been a waste of his talent.'' Thaweep said Manus has ditched the playboy lifestyle for good, but that he still plans to control the boxer's finances.

''He's very young and he learned his lesson now, and it was a valuable lesson. Now, he can start afresh.'' REUTERS PDS BST1640