FRESHMART VS BUITRAGO FOR WBA-105 LBS INTERIM BELT THIS WEDNESDAY IN THAILAND
By Carlos Costa
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 28 Sep 2014
Unbeaten Carlos "Chocorroncito" Buitrago (R), the tough Nicaraguan fighter who battled a 12-round draw against Filipino former champ Merlito Sabillo last year in Manila, will have another shot at a world title when he battles undefeated hard-swinging Thai warrior Niyomtrong "Knockout" Freshmart for the vacant interim WBA minimumweight title this coming Wednesday (Oct 1) in Buriram, Kingdom of Thailand, 400 Km northeast of the capital Bangkok.
According to the WBA, the neutral judges for the title fight are Byung Moo Kim of Korea, veteran Takeshi Shimakawa of Japan and Octavio Rodriguez of Panama. The referee will be experienced third man Silvester Abainza of the Philippines.
The 22-year-old Buitrago (27-0-1, 16 KO's) is already in Thailand accompanied by his team comprised of experienced head coach Jose Arnulfo Obando (also coach of 3-division world champion Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez), his father and co-trainer Mauricio "Alconcito" Buitrago, and adviser Ricardo Rizzo.
"I am not going to let pass this new opportunity of becoming a world champion. In the Philippines, I had my opponent (Sabillo) near knocked out... and I let him survive. That mistake will not happen again," said Buitrago at his hotel, the Pinnacle Hotel Lumpinee in Sathon, downtown Bangkok.
In addition, the coach Jose Arnulfo Obando shared that after his 40-minute run of today (Saturday), Carlos (Buitrago) weighed 107.5 lbs., two and half pounds above the weight. "Thanks God," said the coach. "Hope we'll be blessed on Wednesday so that this young man (Buitrago) will achieve victory and another boxing championship to our beautiful land, Nicaragua."
"We are sure going to win!" added a confident Ricardo Rizzo, a veteran Nicaraguan matchmaker with more than forty years in the sport of boxing.
The Buitrago Team exudes confidence, which is good. However, the Thai Niyomtrong "Knockout" Freshmart (his last name is from his sponsor, "Fresh Mart", a large Thai chain of convenience stores), could be an enemy much tougher than his prior foe, Sabillo.
For one thing, the Thai has been in combat mode forever, and doing it quite well.
Since at an early age, the now 24-year-old Niyomtrong "Knockout" Freshmart (8-0, 5 KO's) has been training in the grueling martial art of muay thai, competing for years as a tough combatant in the ancient Thai way of fighting. Then, he successfully switched to pro boxing to become the reigning WBC Youth World minimumweight champion, a title that he captured in his first pro-fight in June of 2012 and defended seven times.
The interesting match-up will be a clash of undefeated fighters from very different schools of boxing, featuring a fast and slick Buitrago with decent power punch, against a relentless, experienced, coming forward warrior Niyomtrong "Knockout" Freshmart.
The clash will take place in an open air soccer stadium at 3pm local Thailand time (UTC/GMT + 7 hours), a first for the Nicaraguan boxer, who is used to battle in the evenings in closed roofed venues.
But in Thailand, pro-boxing is normally on weekdays in the afternoon hours. Muay Thai is in the evenings.
The Thai is a fighter of the well-established Thai boxing group, Diamond Boxing, a company that promotes muay thai as we ll as boxing through the Kingdom; while Buitrago, a former stablemate and sparring partner of Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez, belongs to PRODESA, Nicaragua's top boxing promotional outfit.
The unbeaten Carlos "Chocorroncito" Buitrago, born Nicaragua's capital, Managua, is ranked # 5 by the WBA and WBO, while Freshmart is WBA #6.
CAN HISTORY TELLS US SOMETHING ABOUT THIS FIGHT?
If history is any indication, in recent years other Latin American boxers who have come to fight a world title in Thailand have been defeated. Tomas "El Gusano" Rojas lost his WBC bantamweight in the "Land of Smiles." Edgar Sosa lost his war for the WBC flyweight strap in Thailand. Adrian "El Confessor" Hernandez got knocked out as well during a title clash. Just last week, Puerto Rican McWilliams Arroyo lost his title fight in Thailand as well. And the list goes on.
In the 70's, Mexican Rodolfo Martinez won a razor-thin split decision in Thailand, while champion Betulio Gonzalez of Venezuela lost his WBC flyweight world crown by knock out.
Some of the few Latino boxers who have traveled to Thailand to win their world title battles are Celestino Caballero and Hilario Zapata, both from Panama. Caballero won via spectacular knockout, while Zapata won a 15-round decision.
Will Carlos "El Chocorroncito" Buitrago from the land of boxing legend Alexis Arguello, be in Thailand to defeat the local hero to grab the black/gold 105-lbs belt? Or will the strong, confident Thai, cheered by his hometown fans, be too much for the visiting Nicaraguan fighter?
The Niyomtrong "Knockout" Freshmart vs Carlos "Chocorroncito" Buitrago for the interim WBA minimumweight title this Wednesday afternoon is a production of Diamond Boxing of veteran promoter Virat Vachirarattanawong.
The fight will be televised live on open TV on BBTV Channel 7 throughout the Kingdom of Thailand.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Carlos Costa.
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