NAGOYA, JAPAN-Thai southpaw Pongsaklek Singwangcha(left), 112, impressively kept his WBC flyweight title as he dropped Japanese Hayato Asai(right), 112, twice in the 4th and once more in the next round to stop him at 0:47 of the 5th session at Aichi Martial Arts Hall.
The 23-year-old Pongsaklek, making his first defense, kept himself aggressive from the outset, stalking the trotting Japanese. After he was in command in the first two rounds, the Thai champ caught him with a wicked southpaw right hook, flooring him to the deck. Asai fought back hard, but hit the deck again with Pongsaklek’s another right hook in the 4th.
Pongsaklek swarmed over Asai, also 23, with a flurry of punches and had him down to the deck with solid short combos, pinning him to the ropes. As the champ battered him from all angles, ref Bruce McTavish intervened to save the loser from further punishment.
The fine victory raised Pongsaklek’s credentials to 41-2, 24 KOs. Asai dropped to 16-3-2, 12 KOs. The champ is unbeaten in his last 32 bouts.
Scored after the 4th: Barbara Perez (US) and David Chung (Korea) both 40-34, and Herbert Minn (Korea) 40-33, all for the vastly talented southpaw Thailander. Referee was Bruce McTavish (New Zealand).
Naoto Takajo, 129.75, had a tough time outscoring a durable and defensive Indonesian named Ahmad Fandi, 125, over 10.
It was a terrible mismatch, because Fandi is a 122-pounder, while Takajo, now 16-0, 12 KOs, is a 130-pounder. Despite his unblemished mark, Takajo is not yet rated by the JBC. Takajo couldn’t penetrate Fandi’s tight guard throughout the dull affair.
Promoter: Toshiro Matsuo’s Midori Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi (as for the world title bout).
(7-15-01)