Somjit suffered a huge disappointment at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 when he was beaten by Cuban favourite and eventual champion Yuriokis Gamboa, despite taking a three-point lead into the final round.

He said the Saturday competition would be his last four rounds before he quit the boxing ring for good, after serving his country in the sport for 12 years.

"I would like to invite Thai fans to watch my final fight. I promise to make it an entertaining match and I will do my best for the country."

Also in the ring on Friday was Manus, gold medalist from the Athens Games. He has a good chance to make history by being the first Thai to win two gold medals at two Olympics.

He has already become the first Thai to win medals at two successive Games, showing his boxing prowess in a simple 10-5 victory over Cuba's Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo in the light welterweight 64 kg division.

Manus, who also won Asian Games gold in 2006, took control in the second round and received unexpected help through a two-point penalty in the third round when Iglesias head-butted his chin.

Manus, 28 is notorious for being a playboy who squandered prize money worth around 20 million baht within months after he claimed the light welterweight gold in Athens in 2004. But he returned to win the Asian Games gold medal in 2007, vowing his bad habits would be a thing of the past.

Manus will meet Felix Diaz of Dominican Republic in Saturday's final after his dramatic 12-10 win over Alexis Vastine of France.(TNA)