Wanheng MATCHES Mayweather

[webfact]

Wanheng MATCHES Mayweather

sports May 03, 2018 01:00

By LERPONG AMSA-NGIAM 
THE NATION

 

Wanheng Menayothin lands an uppercut on Panamanian contender Leroy Estrada Nakhon in Ratchasima yesterday.

 

THAI OVERPOWERS PANAMANIAN TO DEFEND TITLE

 

THAILAND’S “Dwarf Giant” Wanheng Menayothin successfully matched the world record of 50 straight wins by Floyd Mayweather by outclassing Panamanian contender Leroy Estrada to defend his WBC minimumweight title in Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday.

 

The 32-year-old from Maha Sarakham, who has gone unbeaten since January 2007, ended his 23-year-old opponent’s challenge with a vicious uppercut in round five at the makeshift ring outside the Provincial Hall of the northeastern town.

 

“I expected a harder fight as he is younger and is a tough boxer,” Wanheng said in a post-fight interview.“But he missed and allowed me to land a few punches first. So it was a bit easy from then on,” said Wanheng, after scoring his 18th win by knockout.

 

“But I never wrote off his chances as it was a 12-round fight. It wasn’t until the referee stopped the fight that I was convinced I had won,” added the diminutive fighter, who stands just 158 centimetres tall.

 

After an even start, Wanheng began showing superior skills in the second round by unleashing a barrage of punches with his right hand that buckled the younger rival. The pressure paid finally dividends in the third round as the local fighter sent the Panamanian to the floor twice with powerful rights, only to see the tough Central American beat the count each time.

 

The roar of fans grew louder in the fourth round as both fighters launched fierce counter-punches, but it was the slower Estrada who took most of the punishment but again showed durability under pressure.Wanheng, shrugging off a cut on his left eyebrow, upped the aggression and sent Estrada to the floor two more times before the bell saved him. But the gritty Panamanian was visibly wilting in the face of Wanheng’s relentless attacks, forcing the referee to stop the fight in the fifth round to save Estada from further punishment.

 

 

Wanheng is now one win away from breaking the record of the retired Mayweather. After fighting his whole career on home soil, he would now like a chance to defend his title overseas.

 

“I’m happy to match his [Mayweather’s] record but breaking it is not what I have in mind right now. I need to focus on my training first in order to win my next fight. I’d love to fight abroad as well but it all depends on my promoter,” said Wanheng, who received a special commemorative watch from WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman after the fight.

 

Wanheng’s coach Suparb Boonrod is convinced his fighter can rewrite the record books despite his age.

 

“He is 32 but still very strong. He is very disciplined and is a hard-working man, so winning his 51st consecutive match definitely not out of reach,” Suparb said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/sports/30344489

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-05-03

[Somtamnication]

Okay. If I could, I would vote him for PM.

[Baerboxer]

Fantastic achievement.

 

 

[Xaos]

Do he match his bank acc?

[AsiaHand]

I wonder how long he would last against the top armatures in the US or Europe. With the reputation of Thai professional sports this does not empress me at all.

[Doowat]

8 hours ago, AsiaHand said:

I wonder how long he would last against the top armatures in the US or Europe. With the reputation of Thai professional sports this does not empress me at all.

Firstly, he's not just competing against fellow Thais, but international boxers (Panama for example!) all of whom he's beaten and secondly the professionals and amateurs inhabit a completely different code.Amateurs box over three rounds, a world champion professional boxes over 12 rounds. As a guide, Vasyl Lomachenko, arguably the best amateur the world have ever seen and now possibly the best pound for pound professional in the sport, lost to Orlando Salido, a seasoned but not exceptional professional, in his (Lomachenko's) second or third pro bout.

[tukkytuktuk]

This guy is tiny, no wonder they call him a dwarf.

[tukkytuktuk]

Watch him go, the Jack Russell of boxing.

 

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and the replies have been removed. 

[madmitch]

Great achievement for which he deserves accolades. 

 

It's a shame he has never fought outside of Thailand. Floyd Mayweather is a multi-millionaire. I wonder how much Wanheng earns per fight? It's be wonderful if a top promoter would take a look at his record and put him on the undercard of a major promotion in Vegas and let him have one decent payday.

Edited May 5, 2018 by madmitch

[oldlakey]

20 hours ago, madmitch said:

Great achievement for which he deserves accolades. 

 

It's a shame he has never fought outside of Thailand. Floyd Mayweather is a multi-millionaire. I wonder how much Wanheng earns per fight? It's be wonderful if a top promoter would take a look at his record and put him on the undercard of a major promotion in Vegas and let him have one decent payday.

That would be good for him no doubt, but you have got to get people to part with their money to watch anything undercard or not

The weight does not hold much interest for boxing fans

There is a reason his 50 straight win took place in a makeshift ring outside a provincial hall of a northeastern Thai town

One can only wish him well against all the odds

[champers]

13 minutes ago, oldlakey said:

That would be good for him no doubt, but you have got to get people to part with their money to watch anything undercard or not

The weight does not hold much interest for boxing fans

There is a reason his 50 straight win took place in a makeshift ring outside a provincial hall of a northeastern Thai town

One can only wish him well against all the odds

Fought on a weekday afternoon, which I find odd. He would surely get more recognition if he fought on a Saturday night.

[oldlakey]

5 minutes ago, champers said:

Fought on a weekday afternoon, which I find odd. He would surely get more recognition if he fought on a Saturday night.

Its the genuine interest factor its just obviously not there its a real shame for the bloke with such a wonderful record

Kick boxing takes preference in Thailand plus you have the limitation of less opponents as the weight goes down 

World boxing as a whole is at a low ebb as far as I am concerned my favourite weight was middleweight in the late seventies onwards not least because there were a few good Brits in amongst our North American cousins and not forgetting the others 555

Then of course most people remember the heavies

[madmitch]

3 hours ago, oldlakey said:

That would be good for him no doubt, but you have got to get people to part with their money to watch anything undercard or not

The weight does not hold much interest for boxing fans

There is a reason his 50 straight win took place in a makeshift ring outside a provincial hall of a northeastern Thai town

One can only wish him well against all the odds

True, but with the right management and promotion there could be an interest factor for many fight fans, even if just a one-off. It's a world title fight, even at a practically unknown weight, and some of the little guys produce very entertaining bouts. This could easily open a major show, though as the majority of ticket holders don't turn up until close to the main event, it might take place before a very sparse crowd.