Unheralded Filipino Jilo Merlin in tough battle against former world champ Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym today in Chiang Mai
By Carlos Costa
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 05 Mar 2012
This afternoon in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, the PABA super bantamweight title fight will take place between former WBA world title holder and defending PABA champion Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym (45-2, 31KOs), and unheralded huge underdog filipino challenger Jilo Merlin (11-12-1-, 2KOs).
Jilo Merlin, 23, who has lost seven of his last 10 fights, will be making his sixth fight in the Kingdom, all of them loses, plus KO defeats from the hands of undefeated Japanese Teiru Kinoshita and top ranked bantamweight Pungluang Sor Singyu (KO in round 1).
Nevertheless, Jilo Merlin, 23, has been ranked among the best Asian fighters by the Pan Asia Boxing Association PABA, an organization of the WBA.
The supervisor for this combat is PABA director himself, Mr. Alan Kim of Korea, while the Thai promoter is the well-known promotion company Galaxy Boxing of Mr. Niwat Laosuwanwatt who will air the combat live on open TV channel 7 throughout the Kingdom of Thailand.
International boxing agent Brico Santig of Highland Boxing of Baguio is the Filipino matchmaker and cornerman who will assist Jilo Merlin in his very difficult assignment against the powerful seasoned world ranked warrior Poonsawat
Brico Santig expects to bring good luck to Jilo Merlin as Santig was member of the Sonny Boy Jaro's boxing team during the recent stunning KO victory of Sonny Boy over durable world champion Pongsaklek Wongjongkam last Saturday in Chonburi, Thailand. With the triumph Sonny Boy Jaro became WBC flyweight champion of the world and Santig keep high hopes for another surprising success, the PABA super bantamweight title.
The weight-in ceremony for Poonsawat and Merlin took place successfully yesterday in Chiang Mai City, the legendary beautiful northern spring city in the Kingdom of Thailand.
In the mind of boxing analysts, the fight will be an extremely tough battle for Jilo Merlin as Poonsawat is a fighter of strength, stamina and experience who dishes out harmful shots in lethal combinations.
Indeed, Poonsawat, 31, possesses an aggressive stalking fighting style, accompanied of a harmful left jab, accurate straight right and dangerous left hook in repetition to the chin and mid-section, which he throws with devastating power.
In addition, Poonsawat is one of the star fighters of Galaxy Boxing, one of the top boxing promotion companies in the Kingdom.
Therefore, Jilo Merlin's chances of victory are rather slim, but not totally impossible.
In aim for victory, Jilo Merlin would have to use extreme speed of hands and feet, a precise jab, quick lateral movements to avoid Poonsawat entrapment into the corners and, most importantly, a very effective counter punching technique, a technique similar to the one used by Juan Manuel Marquez to successfully control attacks attempted by Manny Pacquiao.
This PhilBoxing reporter has been in ringside to witness Poonsawat in fighting action. One of those intense actions was Poonsawat's WBA title battle in the remote City of Mahasarakham in Isam, northeastern Thailand, not far from the Cambodia border, against Japanese Shoji Kimura.
The unequivocal conclusion is that this Thai gladiator Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym is a huge damaging puncher with skills, ring savvy and a patient hunger for KO, definite tough nut for Jilo Merlin to crack.
Photo: Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym and Jilo Merlin pose with officials for the cameras during the weight-in ceremony yesterday in Chiang Mai. In the far left of the photo is Mr. Alan Kim fight supervisor and director of PABA.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Carlos Costa.
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