Chonlatarn Outpoints Yoddamrong

September 25, 2006, The Mall Bang Kae, Bangkok, Thailand: Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo (16-0-0, 7 KO’s) used a steady boxing attack and his superior hand speed to outpoint former WBA super bantamweight champion Yoddamrong Sityodtong (45-5-1, 20 KO’s) and win a lopsided, twelve-round unanimous decision. Piriyapinyo is ranked 11th by the WBC at featherweight and is now pining for a shot at the winner of the In Jin Chi – Rudolfo Lopez title fight in November. The loss is Sityodtong’s third in a row and his better days now surely seem behind him. At the very least it should force the IBF to reevaluate his number twelve ranking at super bantamweight.

Highly regarded Thai fighters squaring off against each other instead of the usual Filipino suspects is a rarity and fights like this one only take place once every month or two. So the bout was highly anticipated in Thailand’s boxing community.

The fight started off slowly, with both fighters jabbing to gauge their distance. It was clear from the outset Piriyapinyo had the edge in speed and this proved to be the difference. Sityodtong moved forward cautiously for the first few rounds but was steady in his approach up until the seventh round.

The majority of the fight was spent in the center of the ring with both fighters head to head. Piriyapinyo would let loose a left hook to the body and Sityodtong would follow suit, ripping left hooks and the occasional uppercut. Sityodtong pressed forward like a machine but Piriyapinyo stood his ground, firing off left hooks and left-right combinations. Throughout the fight Sityodtong struck with left hooks to the hip of Piriyapinyo and in the final rounds the punches took their toll. The only problem was that while the shots wore down Piriyapinyo, Sityodtong was even more tattered by the body punching of Piriyapinyo.

By the end of round six Piriyapinyo seemed to have the advantage; he stunned Sityodtong with a left-right combinations but the bell sounded and any chance of a knockout slipped away. The one weakness, albeit a glaring weakness is Piriyapinyo’s lack of KO power; although undefeated in sixteen starts, he’s only scored seven knockouts, all against mediocre opponents. He’ll be hard-pressed to keep In Jin Chi or Rudolfo Lopez off him and with this could prove to be too much for him to overcome and surely makes him the underdog against either of the two.

The seventh round was to be Sityodtong’s last hurrah. Piriyapinyo started the round with a crisp four-punch combination but Sityodtong continued his assault to the body, tearing into Piriyapinyo’s body with left hooks and refusing to give him breathing room. With ten seconds left Piriyapinyo rattled off an eight-punch combination to steal the round and pull out in front on the scorecards. It was all Piriyapinyo from that point forward.

From the eighth round on Sityodtong was content to stand in front of Piriyapinyo with his hands held high as Piriyapinyo blasted away with everything but the kitchen sink. Sityodtong was stunned several times but always managed to recuperate and was never in any serious danger of being stopped.

Piriyapinyo finished strong; landing five punches to Sityodtong’s one the last two rounds. There could be no disputing the decision in favor of Piriyapinyo.

Judges scores: 118-110, 118-110, 117-111. The Sweet Science scored it 116-112 in favor of Chonlatarn.

When asked if Piriyapinyo would be facing the winner of the Rudolfo Lopez – Chi fight, promoter Siraphop Ratanasuban made it clear he didn’t think his charge was ready.

”I thought the fight was much closer than the scores reflected,” said Ratanasuban. I actually thought he was having a hard time and needed to do more to be sure he won.”

Ratanasuban also stated he thought Piriyapinyo would fight several more times in Thailand before taking on the WBC champion – whoever he might be.                                                            

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On the undercard, the WBC’s #22 lightweight Saddam Kietyongyuth (11-0-0, 7 KO’s) won a unanimous decision over Filipino trial horse Arniel Tinampay (6-6-1, 2 KO’s). The bout was a back and forth affair which saw Kietyongyuth having more problems with Tinampay than he probably should have. Judges scores: 117-111, 117, 111. 116-112. The Sweet Science scored it 116-113.

After the bout Kietyongyuth apologized profusely to the Thai audience for failing to stop a fighter he knows he should have stopped.

Pungluang Sor Singyu (12-0, 9 KOs) KO7 Somsak Sithsaithong (0-1)
Thiti Sithkosol (4-2, 2 KOs) UD6 Bovy Sorkor Sugaigym (0-1)

Promoter: Onesongchai Boxing Promotion

Thai Tidbits

September 29, 1972: Venice Borkorsor knocks out Betulio Gonzalez in Bangkok, Thailand to win the WBC flyweight championship. The Thai won a fifteen round unanimous decision over Erbito Salavarria in his only defense and then lost a fifteen round split decision to WBC bantamweight champion Rafael Herrera at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles, California. Herrera defeated Rueben Olivares twice, the first time by an eighth round TKO and the next via majority decision.

October 4th, 2006 – Nakorn Ratchisima, Thailand
Somsak Sithchatchawal vs. Celestine Caballeros
WBA Super Bantamweight Title

October 7th, 2006 – Mandaue City, Philippines
Donnie Nietes vs. Heri Amol
WBO Asia Pacific Minimumweight Title

October 9th, 2006 – Korakuen Hall, Tokyo Japan
Wandee Singwancha vs. Munetsugu Kayo
WBC Light Flyweight Interim Title

October 18th, 2006 – Ariake Colosseum, Tokyo Japan
Koki Kameda vs. Juan Jose Landaeta
WBA Light Flyweight Title

November 7th, 2006 – Grand Cube, Osaka, Japan
Katsunari Takayama vs. Carlos Melo
WBA Minimumweight Interim Title

November 13th, 2006 – Nihon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan
Hozumi Hasegawa vs. Genaro Garcia
WBC Bantamweight Title

Eagle Kyowa vs. Lorenzo Trejo
WBC Minimumweight Title

November 17th, 2006 – Nakorn Ratchisima, Thailand
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam vs. Monelisi Myekeni
WBC Flyweight Title

November 26th, 2006 – Seoul, Korea
In Jin Chi vs. Rodolfo Lopez
WBC Featherweight Title