After dethroning World Boxing Council straw-weight champion Wanheng Menayothin in November 2020, Panya Pradabsri seeks to repeat that performance in their upcoming rematch, which had to be rescheduled for March 29th at City Hall Ground in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand.
When they fought first time around in 2020, Menayothin was regarded as the best strawweight fighter in the world, standing out for having won 54 consecutive fights with twelve defenses of the WBC title.
However, in the ring Pradabsri did a better job with his boxing strategy. After twelve rounds of action, he took the victory on all three of the official cards, with identical scores of 115-113.
IN OTHER NEWS: Brandon Jones plans to come flying out of the blocks when he undertakes his third pro boxing contest in the light heavyweight division.
That will happen when BCB Promotions stage their first show at the Eastside Rooms, on Woodcock Street in Birmingham, with fight night set for Friday February 25.
He’s getting busy after an impressive debut last October, where he registered a TKO over Ryan Bithell, after flooring him in the third round.
Jones stepped back through the ropes in December, taking on Antony Woolery, and settled for a four-round points whitewash, through a 40-36 scoreline.
The 22-year-old Brummie, from Chelmsley Wood, had home advantage for both contests, which took place at the H Suite in Edgbaston and the Holiday Inn Queensway respectively.
His pro exploits are being led by John Costello, his first-ever coach when he took up boxing, at the age of eight, which led to a successful amateur career.
Jones amassed 38 amateur bouts, 30 of them wins, and claimed two national titles, in the 2014 England Junior Championships and the NABC competition of 2016.
He said: “All of my training camps have been wicked, so far, so it’s been the same as usual, really, with plenty of sparring. I’m enjoying being a pro.
“I’m where I want to be, this is my third fight in less than five months and I can make it a hat-trick of pro wins. If I keep that up, I could be 6-0 or 7-0, by this time next year.
“I could start thinking about titles then and I want to be the British champion, one day. I’d like to think that I can get to that sort of level and I have time on my side.
“My last opponent was a big lad. He’s been up at cruiserweight before, but I was a lot taller. I’m 6ft 2in, he’s 5ft 10 in, so I just kept him on my jab all night.
“I think I was a bit wary of him and I didn’t throw my right hand all that much, which isn’t like me, because I’m normally right hand happy!
“I could have done more. I was maybe a bit too relaxed, but I did all that I needed to win, so I wasn’t disappointed with my performance.
“I’m going to come out quicker next time and I feel like I’ve got the tools to box at a high pace. I’ve been working hard, in the gym, and we will see what happens.”
Tickets for the Eastside Rooms bill are available, priced at £40 standard or £75 VIP ringside with buffet, directly from the boxers or by visiting myfighttickets.com.