ISKA is extremely pleased to announce that John Wayne Parr will be inducted into the ISKA Modern Hall of Fame as part of our inaugural class of “LEGENDARY CHAMPIONS”. He will be honored at Sleeman Sports Complex in Brisbane, Australia on October 16th during the spectacular opening ceremonies of the 2025 ISKA AMA World Championships.

John Wayne Parr (born 25 May 1976), also known as JWP, is a nothing less than THE legendary Australian Muay Thai fighter, kickboxer and boxer. Fighting out of Boonchu Gym in Gold Coast, Queensland, he is a former ISKA Muay Thai Middleweight Champions and overall, 10-times World Champion.

Parr began training in taekwondo at the age of 11 and competed in the Queensland titles at QE2 Stadium, where he won a silver medal after winning 2 fights and losing the final in 1988. In 1990 Parr started kickboxing, training for a few months before having to move to Sydney. From 1991 to 1993 his family moved around quite a bit and then settled back in Queensland when he was 16. There he started training with Blair Moore and began competing in professional bouts. Moore trained Parr for 13 fights, with Parr winning an Australian title (63 kg) at the age of 17. Blair helped promote JWP at Jupiters Casino for 3 fights before he fought for the South Pacific title against Scott Lovelock, winning by 5th-round KO when Parr was 19.

In 1996 Parr moved to Thailand, living in Pattaya and training for 3 months out of Sidyodtong gym, eventually moving to Nonthaburi, Bangkok to train with legendary Thai fighter Sangtien Noi (Deadly Kisser). It was at camp Loomingkwan that Wayne was named “John Wayne Parr” after John Wayne of Western Show Por Monoch Borbud. During his career in Thailand, he imitated a gunfighter by drawing a gun from his holster at the end of the wai khru before the bout, and this caught the Thai public’s fancy. He gained popularity in Thailand, was voted Best Farang Fighter of the year in 1997, fought at Lumpinee Stadium three times, and at his first Thai king’s birthday. In 1999 Parr moved back to Australia to open his own training facility “Boonchu Gym” and he also started participating in traditional boxing bouts.

Parr debuted in boxing on 29 January 1998 against Tim Shannon in a four-round bout, winning by TKO in the second round. On 25 April 1998, he fought against Takayuki Kohiruimaki who would eventually win the K-1 tournament and won by the unanimous decision.

On 13 October 2000, he participated in K-1 Queensland 2000, the first K-1 event for him, and fought against Scott Bannan for his ISKA Muay Thai world championship at middleweight.

In 2001, Parr shifted his focus to boxing again. After seven consecutive boxing victories since 1998, he fought against Andriy Khamula for the vacant Australian boxing title at Middleweight on 8 July 2001. He won the championship by TKO in round 10 and got his first boxing title.

On 26 November 2002, Parr participated in the K-1 Oceania MAX 2002 tournament. He knocked out Shane Chapman with right cross in the semifinal but was beaten by Mike Zambidis by Majority decision at the tournament final. In 2004 John Wayne had his first fight for the K-1 organization in Japan against Duane Ludwig, winning on points. John Wayne made the final 8 with his first fight against Buakaw – after 3 close rounds the judges scored it a draw, forcing an extension round. After the extension round John Wayne lost via split points decision.

Later in his legendary career JWP fought for globally recognized brands like Bellator, Rizin and ONE Championships. He always entertained a brought his gritty brand of fighting integrity to the ring and the cage.

A feature-length documentary chronicling the life of Australian Muay Thai star and 10-time World Champion John Wayne Parr called Blessed With Venom was filmed. The film provides an intimate insight into Parr’s early years in Thailand where he endured rigorous training in primitive conditions, to the heights of his accomplishments around the world. We also get to see the personal side of the athlete as a husband and father of two, as a devoted family man and all-round nice guy, respected by his opponents. His wife, Angela Rivera-Parr, and daughter, Jasmine Parr, are also fighters. Angela has fought for the WBC Muay Thai title and won an IAMTF title (International Amateur Muay Thai Federation). Jasmine is an aspiring kickboxer and won the Australian women’s flyweight boxing championship in her first bout

Parr authored a book on his life called “The Fighter – The legendary life of an Australian Champion” in 2024. A LEGEND INDEED!