Female Boxing Champ Sells Movie Rights

Associated Press

BANGKOK, Thailand -- A female drug dealer who won her release from jail by becoming a boxing champion while behind bars signed a contract Wednesday to have her story made into a movie.

Timothy Zajaros Jr., an independent producer based in Los Angeles, signed a contract with Siriporn Thaweesuk, who last year became the World Boxing Council female world light-flyweight champion while serving a prison term for selling amphetamines.

Siriporn, also known as Samson Sor, received a pardon after winning the title and was freed from the women's prison in Pathum Thani province, 32 kilometers (20 miles) north of Bangkok, three years before the end of her 10-year sentence.

Her title victory over Japan's Ayaka Miyano in a prison yard bout in April last year was loudly cheered by other inmates and prison guards.

A first-time offender, Siriporn grew up in a poor family in Bangkok, where her family made a living by selling clothes on the roadside.

"I will never get involved in drugs again," she said Wednesday, her eyes brimming with tears as she sold the rights to her story.

Zajaros, who declined to provide the details of the deal, said he will develop the story into a film and negotiate to have it made by a studio.

"It's an absolutely remarkable story," he said. "I think it's an inspiration to everybody."

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