Momo Koseki (RT) in her losing bid for a world title against Samson Sor Siriporn in November 2007

Uchiyama Stops Por Chokchai in Five

Every year, from the last week of April until the end of the first week of May, Japanese have a holiday season called “Golden Week.” On one of these days, May 2, there are excellent multi-title promotions with three OPBF title bouts and two female world title fights.

The main event was a battle of world ranked boxers for the OPBF super featherweight title in which the WBC’s sixth ranked & WBA’s ninth rated defending champion Takashi Uchiyama TKO’d the WBC’s 5th ranked Thong Por Chokchai of Thailand, at 1:05 of the round five. Uchiyama, 129.75, now 12-0, 9KOs, was simply too strong for Por Chokchai, a former ABCO champion.

Uchiyama peppered Por Chokchai, formerly undefeated against seven Japanese boxers, with long, stinging left jabs and hard straight rights in round one. The muscular Uchiyama had a five-inch reach advantage and continued to press the fight with hard lefts and rights to the body.

It quickly became apparent Por Chokchai would have problems keeping the pace set by the Japanese fighter after Uchiyama hit the Thai repeatedly with power shots, eventually cutting him over the left eye.

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Can Rachman Win the Title Again?

Thomas Soa retained his Indonesian Jr. Lightweight national title (IBC version) by knocking out Irfan Bone in round seven Saturday night at TVRI Studio in Jakarta. The top rated contender Bone came in to fight and attacked the champion on the inside. Soa was not lured into Bone’s trap, he kept stable and punched back with excellent, accurate combinations to his face and body.

In the second round, Bone tried to increase the pressure, while the Soa responded to the attacks. However, once Soa got the opportunity, he punched back with brutally efficient combinations to the body and the face.

In round four, Bone slowed down as his stamina waned from his aggressive actions in the previous rounds. On several occasions, Bone tried to pressure his opponent, but Soa anticipated the attacks well. The following round there was minimal action, as both fighters applied a tactical boxing strategy in the middle of the ring.

In the beginning of the third minute of round six, a sharp left uppercut hit Bone on the jaw, sending him on the canvas. After the knockdown, instead of keeping his distance, Bone attacked Soa on the inside, forcing him into a defensive shell.

In the middle of round seven, Soa again sent his opponent to the canvas with sharp right hook to the jaw. Bone quickly got up but instead of nodding to continue the bout, he stepped to his blue corner and said ‘no mas.’ Referee Pujo Santoso then waved his hands and declared Soa (reportedly as 9-1, 7 KOs) as the winner by TKO in round seven.

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Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton having a laugh

The boxing world is currently running out of superlatives to appropriately describe the performance of one Manny Pacquiao (49-3-2). The left that the Pacman landed flush on Ricky Hatton’s (45-2-0) chin is still the talk of the town. It was a performance for the ages with Pacquiao landing so many right hooks in the first round that Hatton was basically begging to be hit with a left. However, unbeknownst to many, there were four more Filipino fighters who won last weekend. But because the attention of the media was all on Pacquiao, the four wins were hardly given attention.

A night before Pacquiao made history again, three Filipino fighters went up the ring at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, also in Las Vegas. The first to strut his stuff inside the ring is light welterweight Dennis Laurente (31-3-5) who went up against Marvin Cordova Jr. (20-1-1). It was a highly entertaining bout with a lot of action but the Filipino had the upper hand in many of the exchanges. Cordova was deducted a point in the seventh round for hitting after the bell and, when the dust settled, Laurente was awarded a unanimous decision with all three judges scoring it identically at 77-74.

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World Champion Gerry Penalosa

Gerry Peñalosa (54-7-2) came into the ring against Juan Manuel Lopez (25-0-0) fully aware that he was up against a very good fighter who will be one of the best fighters in boxing very soon. But he did not flinch, he agreed to go up in weight and fight the champion in his own backyard. That alone should earn Peñalosa a medal of honor.

The last boxer who went up against Lopez had to make up a story about evil men threatening him with death unless he gets knocked out in the very first round. Peñalosa on the other hand did not need to make a story to save face. He did not need to say anything at all as his courage spoke for itself. Peñalosa walked into the ring, took everything Lopez had, threw some back, lost, and walked out of the ring with another loss, with bruises all over his face, and without the WBO super bantamweight title.

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Is Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym Currently Thailand’s Finest Fighter?

While the world rightly proclaims Manny Pacquiao as one of the greatest fighters of all time after knocking Ricky Hatton spark out, Thailand’s most exciting boxer continues to glide under the radar.

Two days before Filipino Pacquiao worked his magic at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, super-bantamweight Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym dominated and then stopped Venezuela’s Rafael Hernandez in nine rounds at the Mor Seng building in Phatum Thani just outside Bangkok.

Poonsawat had a seven inch height disadvantage and was up against a hard-hitting southpaw but, unlike Hatton, he was able to get inside and wear his rival down with a superb display of body punching that deserved a much bigger stage and wider recognition.

If anything, the venue of Poonsawat’s victory was the perfect example of why Thailand has been unable to produce a worldwide star like Pacquiao, despite having boxers with the talent to make a real impression.

The fight was for the bogus WBA “interim” title but it was a serious match that pitted mandatory challenger Poonsawat 38-1 (27KOs) against Panama-based, and therefore WBA-favored, Hernandez 11-3-1 (10KOs).

You would think such a fight would attract a big crowd, willing to pay money to watch an intriguing contest.

Instead, as is the norm in Thailand, sponsors paid for the bout so accessibility to fans wasn’t a consideration.

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Manny Pacquiao Smacks Around Ricky Hatton

Before we break out the heretofore unknown superlatives and the extra gaudy adjectives,  I want to bring you to a moment few people saw,  just minutes after Manny Pacquiao’s  complete and total annihilation of Ricky Hatton, which seemed to perfectly define and capture the enormity of what we had all just observed.

Pacquiao had already showered and dressed, and had just emerged from his dressing room looking as fresh as the morning dew in May. A Filipino television reporter grabbed him for his first interview. Manny was relaxed and calm, with his usual kid-like grin on his face. After thanking God for giving him the strength to emerge victorious yet again, and thanking Hatton for the opportunity to fight, he turned to the reporter and said; “It’s nothing personal. It’s just my job. Now I’d like to invite Ricky Hatton to the Philippines for a big celebration.”

Man is this guy GOOD. Think about that. He kicks the living crap out of you in six of the most breathtaking minutes ever seen in the squared circle, then after showering up he invites to you break bread with him in his country, stay in his house and drink in the love and warmth of his adoring countrymen.

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Wonjongkam whipped Miranda, can he beat Naito?

Bangkok – Chachoengsao Makeshift Arena – Approximately 2000 fans braved the blistering Bangkok heat to watch former WBC flyweight champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (72-3-1, 38 KOs) bang out a twelve-round unanimous decision over hard-hitting Julio Cesar “Pingo” Miranda (29-4-1, 22 KOs) of Mexico to win the WBC interim flyweight title.

Before the contest, Miranda, ranked second by the WBC, promised a knockout. For his part, Wonjongkam, promised retirement if he were defeated. Although Miranda did manage to sting Wonjongkam several times, the Thai was never in any serious danger and clearly demonstrated he has the skills to remain at the championship level.

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Gerry Penalosa of the Philippines poses for photos during an official weigh-in ceremony for his bout with Daniel Ponce De Leon.

This is not going to be one of those, “Time to hang up the gloves” columns. I don’t like other people telling me what I should or shouldn’t do. So I make it a point not to tell other people what they should or shouldn’t do with their lives. And I’m not about to start telling Gerry Penalosa either. Already lots and lots of people are calling for Penalosa to call it quits. “Your time is up,” they say. “Your better days are gone. You’re only going to get yourself permanently injured. You’ve had a good run. Enough is enough.”

Some of these may actually be good and valid ideas. There’s no doubt that the more Penalosa fights  the more he risks permanent injury, especially brain damage. Certainly nobody would think the worse of Gerry if he indeed decided to walk away from the game right now.  He’s already a legend in Philippine boxing and many around the world consider him one of the better little men of the last generation of fighters.

Gerry certainly did himself proud by putting up a helluva fight on Saturday in Puerto Rico against Juan Manuel Lopez. From a guts and courage standpoint it was an impressive effort. He still got the crap kicked out of him. At times it was painful to watch. Most of us knew he had almost zero chance to win going in and there was not a single point in the fight that did anything to sway us in that conviction. Still his guts and determination were awesome against the young buck Lopez. But it was still difficult to watch.

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Miranda (LT) had some success when he pressed Wonjongkam against the ropes, but the Thai proved too strong and elusive for the Mexican fighter

Pongsaklek Wonjongkam’s wide points victory over Mexico’s Jose Cesar Miranda in Chachoengsao on Friday April 24 didn’t just re-establish him as a genuine worldwide force in the flyweight division - it also reopened the debate about who is the best at 112lb in Thailand.

Denkaosan Kaovichit seemed to have secured the top spot after capturing the WBA flyweight title with a stunning two-round blowout of Takefumi Sakata on New Year’s Eve in Japan.

Denkaosan’s moment of glory came just when Pongsaklek appeared on the slide.

The former long-time WBC champion delivered a series of lacklustre performances against novice opposition following his failed attempt to regain the WBC title with a draw against Daisuke Naito in March 2008.

It looked as though his long career had caught up with him.

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