Former world champion Pungluang Sor Singyu will travel to Mexico next month to challenge Tomoki Kameda for the World Boxing Organization’s 118-pound title, a bout which will be broadcast live in Thailand.
Mexico might seem like a strange location for a fight between boxers from Japan and Thailand, but neither camp was willing to allow the match to unfold with a home advantage for either fighter, meaning a neutral venue was in order.
In order to recapture the belt he won in 2012 but lost early last year, Pungluang will need to do something which no other boxer has ever managed to do: overcome the undefeated Kameda, who has won all of his 28 fights to date.
The famous One Songchai stable of boxers in Thailand is currently without a world champion, and that is a situation Pungluang will be looking to address. His record stands at 46-2.
He won the organization’s 118-pound title in October, 2012, by stopping Filipino boxer AJ Banal in a fight which took place in Manila. But Pungluang came up short in his first defense when he lost an unanimous decision to Namibian Paulus Ambunda in Windhoek.
Since then he has been on the comeback trail. Pungluang won the WBO International’s 118-pound belt and defended it twice, with all three fights finishing inside the distance. However he faces the toughest test of his career to date against Kameda, who outpointed Ambunda in the Philipinnes last August and has successfully defended it once since.
One Songchai is probably the best known boxing promoter in Thailand, and its stable has been home to famous world champions such as Yoddamrong Sithyodthong, whose war with Mahyar Monshipour was named the Ring Magazine’s 2004 “Fight of the Year.”
While the likes of Kwanpichit 13RienExpress and Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo are moving closer to contention for title shots the lack of a current world champion on the One Songchai roster will hurt the venerable Songchai Ratanasuban as well as his daughter Pariyakorn Ratanasuban, who has a very hands on role in running the promotion.
In Mexico on Sunday, Pungluang will have a chance to become world champion for the second time. He will be determined to hand Komeda his first ever career loss and take the belt back to Thailand.
The match will air live in the kingdom on Channel 7 at 10am on Sunday.
Photo: James Goyder
