October 10, 2005
TOKYO, JAPAN-WBC flyweight champ Pongsaklek Wonjongkam Kratindaeng-gym(58-2, 31 KOs), 112, successfully kept his belt as he outclassedJapanese ruler Daisuke Naito (27-2-2, 19 KOs), 112, with his sharpercombinations and tight defense and was awarded a unanimous technicaldecision at 2:38 of the seventh round on Monday in Tokyo, Japan. Theofficial tallies were: Gale Van Hoy, Gary Ritter and Ray Hawkins (allUS), all 68-64 in favor of the Thai champion. Pongsaklek, making histwelfth defense, cautious started fighting and coped with theaggressiveness of the tricky Japanese challenger with short counters.The champ was in command in the second, but Naito’s cutcaused by an accidental head-collision had Pongsaklek deducted a pointbecause of the WBC rules. The gash kept bleeding blood badly since.The 29-year-old southpaw champ, in the third, often connected withsouthpaw left-right hook combos with Naito, 31, occasionally losing hisbalance after swinging wildly. The champ looked to dominate the fourthtoo, as he kept his better balance and continually threw sharpercombinations to Naito, who often hit the air with roundhouse shots. TheJapanese apparently took the fifth, as he caught the champ with loopinghooks with his unorthodox footwork. Pongsaklek took back the initiativeby landing crisp punches to the bloodied challenger in the sixth andseventh. Midway in the seventh, Mexican referee Lupe Garcia hadNaito’s worsened gash examined by the ring physician. Thoughit continued, the third man again called the doctor, who finally advisedhim to stop the affair. The technical decision was rendered thedefending champ, who couldn’t show his best. This reporterhad expected Pongsaklek’s advantage over WBC interim titlistJorge Arce in case of a WBC unification bout, but should the Thailandermeet Travieso in such a poor condition as tonight, yours truly may haveto reverse my opinion. Pongsaklek might be a little too overconfidentin this rematch as he previously iced Naito just 34 seconds into theopening session in Thailand in 2002. Anyway, Naito fought well byshowing his heart, and it lasted longer than 34 seconds.
Promoter: Miyata Promotions.
WBC supervisor: Chandru Laluwani (Indonesia).
(10-10-05)