Blair helped promote Wayne 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 and lived in a Muay Thai camp for four years, training in Pattaya and Bangkok, competing in 30 fights and winning two world titles.
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"[2] and he also started participating in traditional boxing bouts.
[3] On 24 April 1999, he fought against Kenichi Ogata, the Japanese national shoot boxing champion, winning by KO with left hook in the second round.
Next month, on 17 August, he challenged Nader Hamdan for his IBF Pan Pacific Junior middleweight title, but lost by unanimous decision after 12 rounds.
JWP won the prestigious vacant title of WMC World Muay Thai Champion with a unanimous victory over Alexandre Cosmo.
It was Parr's first time fighting inside a cage using 5oz MMA gloves and he has said he enjoyed it more than traditional Muay Thai and would come out of retirement if Buakaw Por.
[9] On 6 July 2013, Parr forced two eight counts on Marco Piqué en route to a decision win at Boonchu Cup: Caged Muay Thai 3 on the Gold Coast, Australia.
[10][11] Parr intended to tryout for the Australia vs. Canada season of The Ultimate Fighter mixed martial arts reality TV show in September 2013 but a minimum of five professional MMA fights was required for candidates and so he was rejected in spite of his kickboxing and Muay Thai credentials.
[13] However, Alexandre did not apply for his visa in time and was unable to enter the country and so he was replaced by New Zealand's Brad Riddell who Parr defeated by unanimous decision.
[14] Parr defeated Yohan Lidon by decision at Boonchu Cup: Caged Muay Thai 4 in Gold Coast, Australia on 1 March 2014.
[15][16] Parr lost the WKA World Middleweight (−72.5 kg/159.8 lb) Oriental Championship when he was knocked out by Toby Smith in the third round at Powerplay Promotions 24 in Melbourne on 21 June 2014.
[19] On Friday 14 October 2016 in Perth, Western Australia, Parr defeated Daniel Dawson by unanimous decision in their third bout at Origins 8 promotion at Herb Graham Rec Centre, Mirrabooka, WA.
[27][28] In his second outing held in Florence, Italy on 9 December 2017 at Bellator Kickboxing 8 Parr scored the third-round TKO win against Piergiulio Paolucci.
[37] 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.
[38] 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.
From his bloody contests with Thai marvel Orono, which is considered the making of the Gunslinger's legend, to his contemporary battles with Mike Zambidis, Lamsongkram, and the three all out wars with Yodsanklai Fairtex.