‘One Step At A Time’ – How Lyndon Knowles Overcame The Loss Of His Father To Become A Muay Thai Superstar
Lyndon Knowles has spent more than two decades fighting his way to the top of the Muay Thai world, and on April 4 in U.S. primetime, he’ll finally have his shot at the most prestigious belt in the sport.
In the main event of ONE Fight Night 30 on Prime Video, the hard-hitting Brit will challenge two-division, two-sport kingpin Roman Kryklia for his ONE Heavyweight Muay Thai World Title in front of a rowdy Thai crowd at the historic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok.
It’s been a long and winding journey for “Knowlesy,” as he’s overcome personal tragedy and plenty of ups and downs on his way to this life-changing opportunity.
Before he makes his ONE debut and challenges Kryklia for 26 pounds of gold, Knowles shared with his life story with onefc.com.
An Idyllic Childhood
The youngest of three athletic and energetic boys, Knowles has nothing but fond memories about his childhood, which was filled with activity and competition between the brothers.
He recalls his father working long hours day and night to provide for the family, while his mother was a constant and supportive presence at home:
“Growing up, my father worked his nuts off to give us everything we needed. He had two or three jobs. He was a carpenter and joiner during the day, and worked security at night and other jobs on the weekend.
“My mum stayed home looking after us three menaces, but she did a fantastic job. We didn’t have to get the bus or train anywhere. We were spoiled. My mum would drive us all to school and pick us all up. All my friends were jealous. She’d take us to football, to swimming – everywhere. We didn’t go without. We were really lucky in that respect.”
Throughout his early years, Knowles tried his hand at practically every sport he could. Even at home, he and his brothers never stopped competing against each other.
It wasn’t until he was nearly finished with high school that he finally landed on Muay Thai:
“Being three young lads, we all had a competitive drive with one another. So my mum had us in several sports. We were competitive swimmers, we played football on the weekend, anything my mum could do to get us out of the house to stop us from fighting with each other, she did.
“I had my first swimming race and football matches from the age of six up until I started Muay Thai at 17 years old. But our backyard growing up was a multipurpose arena. During the winter it was football and during the summer it was cricket and tennis.”
Tragedy Strikes
Following in the foot steps of his oldest brother, Christian, the young Knowles quickly fell in love with “the art of eight limbs,” and before long, he found himself traveling to Thailand to learn from the best in the birthplace of the sport:
“I’d always been comfortable backing myself, but I got into Muay Thai at 17 after seeing Christian do so well. That was my impetus. I went to Thailand with him a few times afterwards and just caught the combat sports bug. I just loved it.”
Then, just two years into his Muay Thai journey, Knowles lost his beloved father to a heart attack at the age of 59.
The entire Knowles clan was, understandably, devastated. The family patriarch was both the life of the party and the image of hard work, and his death left a massive hole in the close-knit family.
Ultimately, it was the death of their father that led brothers Christian and Lyndon down the path of professional Muay Thai that they remain on today:
“When I was 19, my dad passed away. That was a hard time for the two of us, losing our father and role model who’d laid the blueprint for us to see how hard work pays off.
“Christian took the loss in that he decided life’s too short. He didn’t want to have a normal life, or have a normal job. So he carved out his own path and opened up the first full-time UK Muay Thai gym, and I helped train classes.
“I had my second fight just after [my father] passed, which was a real test after going through that hardship. That’s when Christian and I decided to embark on this journey together.”
The Grieving Process
Since then, both Christian and Lyndon have cemented themselves among the UK’s top Muay Thai fighters and coaches. Their gym, Knowlesy Academy, is home to some of the planet’s best strikers, including reigning ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan “The General” Haggerty and recent ONE World Title challenger Marie McManamon.
Behind the scenes, though, “Knowlesy” struggled with the loss of his father at such an early age. As the family’s youngest, he had the least amount of time to create memories with his father:
“My mum always said I was his favorite, but we never went out for a beer together. The family holidays we had I was so young, so I don’t remember much of that. But I still have a lot of memories of him. I just wish we could have done more. That’s the thing with family, though. No matter how much time you get with them, it’s never enough.”
At the time, Knowles nearly lost himself in grief and heartbreak. He felt depressed, unmotivated, and stuck without his father around.
His older brother Julian helped Knowles battle through his grief and, little by little, regain a sense of normalcy:
“If it wasn’t for my other brother Julian, I don’t think I’d have gone back to work. I was bed bound. I didn’t want to do anything. He went back to work and eventually got me to as well. If it wasn’t for my two brothers, I’d probably still be in bed now.
“I knew I had to get back to life, but it wasn’t easy. My brother told me I had to get back to work. My family are good communicators, and our word is our bond. So I knew because I’d said it, I’d have to do it. It’s all in little steps.”
Before long, Knowles was back in the gym and would spend the following 20 years largely dominating the UK Muay Thai circuit, winning a WBC Muay Thai World Title in the process, and eventually earning his shot in the world’s largest martial arts organization.
Still, he admits that the sting of his father’s death is still there and still fresh. Of course, he’s gone on to accomplish plenty in his life, but that pain has never completely gone away:
“It’s one step at a time. It’s like training when you’re tired. You’ve just got to trust the process. People tell you it gets easier. I don’t think it does. I think you just learn to live with the burden.
“You learn to carry the stones of burden in your pocket. You carry that weight and learn to deal with it.”
‘You Have To Appreciate The Little Things’
While Knowles was devastated by the loss of his father, he admits that the experience taught him an invaluable lesson:
“It taught me not to take everything for granted. In this career, you have to appreciate the little things.”
Indeed, as he’s now just days away from his shot at gold, against one of the planet’s top pound-for-pound strikers, on the biggest stage for martial arts – and at Muay Thai’s most iconic venue – the 38-year-old is determined to appreciate every moment.
Of course, he’s supremely focused on defeating Roman Kryklia and leaving Bangkok with 26 pounds of gold in tow, but that doesn’t mean he won’t enjoy himself along the way.
Knowles explained:
“As fighters, we can be too focused on a time and date and miss out on the little things. You don’t realize that until later on. But having competed for two decades now, I know how to pick out the little moments. So I’m enjoying all of this. I’m grateful for all of it.
“There’s times in every fighters’ career where you feel like you’re wasting your time. But it’s the little things like this that mean something and make your sacrifices seem worthwhile.”
