Koki Eto claims WBA interim 112 lbs belt after brutal 12 round war with Kompayak Por Pramuk

[webfact]

Koki Eto claims WBA interim 112 lbs belt after brutal 12 round war with Kompayak Por Pramuk
by James Goyder

BANGKOK: -- Kompayak Por Pramuk and Koki Eto went toe to toe in Bangkok in a 12 round war for the interim WBA flyweight title which the Thai fighter has held since April. After a grueling battle which saw both fighters take plenty of punishment the belt changed hands with the challenger winning by unanimous decision.

The Japanese fighter has a staggering advantage in terms of both height and reach which he used to good effect in the opening round, circling away from Kompayak who struggled to close the distance or find his range. A right uppercut stunned the Thai and Eto moved in for the kill and was unlucky not to score a knockdown as his opponent lost his balance only for the referee to rule it a slip.

In the second round Eto discarded the tactics which has worked so well for him in the opening exchanges and instead elected to allow Kompayak on the inside where he went toe to toe with him. Despite fighting the Thai veterans fight he still managed to hold his own as they exchanged blows at close quarters.

In the fourth round Eto began to use his footwork again and was able to pick the former WBC light flyweight champion apart but Kompayak kept pressing forwards and as soon as the tall Japanese fighter stopped moving they were straight back to trading blows in the pocket.

The fifth round followed the same pattern with Eto moving well to begin with but Kompayak catching up with him eventually and going to work with hard shots to the body. In round six both fighters just threw caution to the wins and stood right in front of each other throwing leather.

The rounds were all close with Eto slightly the more accurate but Kompayak constantly pushing the pace. The Thai fighter has 35 knockouts to his name so the scant regard which his opponent showed for this punching power must have been demoralizing but he stuck to his task and barely took a backwards step all fight.

Rounds 10 and 11 saw both fighters matching each other blow for blow again with no quarter asked or given but they saved the best for last. In the final round Eto came out with a brutal barrage which drove Kompayak back against the ropes but he simply would not go down and was somehow able to recover and start to come back stronger with the early flurry evidently taking a toll on the visibly tired challenger.

Kompayak's face was a bloody mess by this stage. Despite having taken some brutal punishment he kept coming forwards but was badly hurt again in the final minute of the fight and this time, as he staggered back against the ropes and his left glove touched the ground, the referee did decide to give him a ten count.

It proved to be decisive as the scorecards read 113-114, 113-114, 111-116 in favour of Eto who improves to 14-2-1 while Kompayak drops to 50-5 and loses the title which he won by stopping Jean Piero Perez earlier this year.

In the co main event Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep won his 25th straight fight by beating Sammy Hagler for the second time in less that a year. The Indonesian showed limited offensive ambition but did a good job of covering up and soaking up the Thai fighters punches by keeping a tight guard.

In the fifth round the 22 year old got through with a right hook which hurt Hagler and had him holding on and trying to buy a bit of recovery time. Normal service was resumed soon afterwards with the Indonesian backed up against the ropes and Yodmongkol banging away trying to break his guard but this time the referee had seen enough and decided to call off the fight.

Yodmongkol's WBC Youth World light flyweight title was not on the line but the win takes his record to 31-2 while Hagler drops to 16-16 and maintains his record of having lost every single fight in Thailand. The Indonesian is now 0-12 against Thai opponents.

Source: http://combat-asia.com/index.php/koki-eto-claims-wba-interim-112-lbs-belt-after-brutal12-round-war-with-kompayak-por-pramuk/

-- Combat Asia 2013-08-02