Why Parham Gheirati Chose His Father’s Path Over Iran’s National Sport
In a country where schoolboys were taught freestyle wrestling, Parham Gheirati never practiced it once. His father was a kickboxer, and that settled the matter.
The 22-year-old Iranian faces Nakrob Fairtex in a bantamweight Muay Thai clash at ONE Fight Night 48 on Friday, October 2. The event airs live in U.S. primetime from Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium.
Money was tight in the Gheirati household. His mother stayed home with him and his younger sister, while his father spent long hours delivering drinks to shops across Tehran.
“My father was a kickboxer. And I was introduced to kickboxing by him. Everyone around me was doing wrestling – even in our schools, they taught us wrestling. But I never practiced it. It was kickboxing all the way,” Gheirati said.
“But actually, I never took it seriously at the start because I was only 6 or 7 years old. I was just in the gym for fun. But when I was 10, that was when I started taking it more seriously. I started training and punching properly.”
He became Iran’s junior champion at 12 and a gold medalist for the national team from 15 through 18. Finding sponsors for a World Championship run proved far harder, so he moved to Thailand despite warnings that he would never survive there.
For a while, the doubters looked right. He lost five fights in a row after arriving.
Petchsaman Gym in Pattaya eventually turned his fortunes around, and his ONE run has since produced a US$100,000 main roster contract. On Friday, he returns after a year out following surgery.
Through every setback, quitting never entered his mind. The people he left behind in Tehran made sure of that.
“Although I was just losing a lot, I never thought about giving up or stopping the sport because I didn’t have any choice. I only knew kickboxing and Muay Thai all my life. So it never crossed my mind to change to a different career. I wanted to show them thelittle boy with a big dream can become special,” Gheirati said.
“Also, I always remember the hard life my parents had when I was young. So, I was always eager to help them. I haven’t seen my father, mother, and sister for five years now. But they are my biggest motivation. I’m always fighting for them.”
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