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Although you might not know much about him, Gympie native Billy ‘The Kid' Degoumois has been fighting high-level Australia Muay Thai for a long time. Some of his belts include the WMC Super-Lightweight Champion, two-time WMC Lightweight Champion, WMC Welterweight South Pacific Champion, WKA Super-Welterweight Champion and Current WKBF World Champion. Here we talk to one of Australia's best-kept secrets
How did you get involved in kickboxing in the first place?
I did a bit of boxing when I was still in high school, just to get rid of a bit of frustration, because I was a bit of a wild kid. I moved up to Noosa from Gympie for a bit and looked for a boxing gym, but I couldn't find anything but kickboxing gyms, so I had a go. That's where I first met Bruce ‘Preacher' Macfie. We were all about 17 then and they gave me a bit of a kicking and I decided I wanted to do that and be as good as them, because they were already up-and-running and had a few fights by then.
What about training now?
I'm back in Gympie now and I have my own gym. I have all my own fighters now. I started training out of my backyard about eight years ago. We are the only Muay Thai gym around here. I've been doing it for a lot of years, but I've only just opened a proper gym to the public in town in the last 12 months. It's been going really good and I have a few new fighters and they've been getting some fights too. I have a few guys coming through all the time. I trained up George Groth, he's done well himself.
Tell us more about your word title fight last year?
My training was perfect for it. I took time off work and went and stayed at Corporate Box gym. I stayed there and trained with Preacher and Shaggy and all the boys there. That was a big help; there are some good boys there. Just before the fight I had a tear in my meniscus, just below the kneecap. I couldn't run, I was barely walking and I couldn't do pads leading up to the fight. It was a bit of a worry leading into the fight and I just had to stay fit for that week and do little else. Then I fought and in the first the Cambodian cut me with an elbow in the eye, so I stepped it up after that, thinking my time was limited because I didn't know how bad the cut was. I dropped him about three times with elbows. He went back to his corner after the third round and didn't come back out. It was excellent, especially in front of the home crowd and winning the world title. It was the best fight I ever had. I was going to be defending my world title in September, but now that I have my broken hand, it's off now. Shaggy and Preacher were going to put the show on again here in Gympie.
Did you break your hand at your last fight at Detonation 7?
Yes. I was supposed to fight Taylor Harvey, but he pulled out on me two days before the fight. Apparently he had an injured knee, but I heard a few weeks before he fought in France and got bashed. My mate Kurt (Finlayson) bashed him pretty well not too long ago as well. I think Harvey was lucky to walk away from five rounds of that! But anyway, Doomar at Detonation was a tough dude. It wasn't an overly hard fight, but he is tough. I broke my hand in the first round, and fought the whole fight. I think it was the first right hand I threw in the first 20 seconds. I knew something was wrong, but wasn't sure if it was broken. I just got in close and tried to elbow him - that worked pretty good. I cut him under both eyes and I think I broke his nose too.
Would you like to fight Kurt?
Well, I've known Kurt for a long time; I think we're kind of on the same level. We were supposed to fight years ago, but it never happened. I don't think we'll fight. I'm mates with Kurt and we started around the same time and we've always run into each and talked. I think there is a whole world of people out there to fight, so I'd rather not fight someone I like [laughs]. It's not going to do either of us much justice anyway, when there's all these international opponents waiting out there to be fought.
What do you have planned for the future?
I definitely want to defend my world title here in my hometown, hopefully against a Thai or a Cambodian. I think there is more recognition in that, if I take on a Thai or something. If you see an Aussie take on an Aussie, it's not really a big deal. When an Aussie takes on a Thai, you never know what's going to happen.
Have you fought in Thailand yourself?
I haven't fought over in Thailand myself, but I would definitely like to. I'm just always juggling the full time job and the mortgage and everything. I know people travel around and fight and don't worry about it, but at least at the end I will have my own house. I work at the Nestle factory as my day job, working on machines and driving forklifts.
Thanks for your time, Billy.
Thanks mate. If anyone wants to train in Gympie, check out Billy The Kid's K6 Gym Fight & Fitness. I train from beginners to professionals, fight fitness classes, women's fitness classes and kid's classes. You can contact me on 0400 829 088.IK
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