THAIS PREVAIL IN TWO TITLE FIGHTS IN JAPAN
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 28 Mar 2010
Former WBC flyweight champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and reigning WBC minimum weight champion Oleydong Sithsamerchai have prevailed over tough Japanese opponents in title fights at the Ariake Coliseum Saturday.
32 year old veteran Pongsaklek (74-3-1, 39 KO?s) who is the current Interim champion scored a well-deserved majority decision over previously undefeated Koki Kameda to win the flyweight crown in a tough battle.
Predrag Aleksic scored the bout even at 114-114 but the two other judges John Keane ?and Max DeLuca had Pongsaklek the winner by margins of 116-112 and 115-112.
Kameda started off well to take the opening round but the Thai veteran Pongsaklek found his rhythm and began to connect to come back and take the next three rounds with some effective combinations.
An accidental clash of heads opened up a nasty cut on Kameda?s right eye which sparked a change of strategy by the Japanese champion who began to work on the inside.
Mark Vester of boxingscene.com reported that the action began to heat up in round six as Kameda started to come on strong in the dying seconds of the seventh round in an effort to impress the judges and hopefully steal the round if he could.
In another close round Pongsaklek and Kameda exchanged some solid punches but again the champion ended with a flurry although the Thai interim champion countered by combinations to the body and head moving into the tenth round.
Kameda, probably feeling that the fight may have slipped away from him came charging out of his corner in the final round but Pongsaklek, using his vast experience to advantage kept shoving him back. Both men were swinging at each other until the final bell sounded.
Oleydong successfully defended his WBC minimum weight title for the fifth time with a narrow victory over Japanese challenger Yasutaka Kuroki in his first defense outside Thailand. All three judges scored it for the champion by the narrowest of margins. Rey Danseco of the Philippines scored ot 113-112, Predrag Aleksic 114-113 and Jae Bong Kim 114-112.
Oleydong who was dropped in the eleventh round as he began to fade but Kuroki was often guilty of failing to connect with wild punches while the champion connected with occasional counter punches that made the difference .
Although he was deducted a point by referee Bruce McTavish for repeated holding and was caught by a solid left from the challenger in the final round Oleydong had apparently done enough to earn the nod of all three judges.
The 24 year old Oleydong improved to 34-0 with 12 knockouts. Oleydong won the world title with a unanimous twelve round decision over fellow Thai Eagle Den Junlaphan who had been fighting in Japan for years as Eagle Kyowa.
In his previous title defense Oleydong won by a majority decision over Juan Palacios last November 27, 2009 in Thailand.
The 28 year old Kuroki another southpaw who dropped to 23-4-1 with 15 knockouts is the former Japanese and Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation minimum weight champion and was coming off a 6th round TKO win over Takumi Suda last February 1, 2010.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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