By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Another certified Thai patsy – Wonpichit Twins Gym whose birth name is Suwichon Boonpamnal  once again took Filipino fight fans for a ride when he was knocked out in the first round by Al Sabaupan, the IBF Pan Pacific lightweight champion with a record of 12-0-1 with 9 knockouts.

Sabaupan swarmed all over the taller Thai fighter who didn’t know how to ward off the champion  from the opening bell and was knocked out cold by a cracking punch, flush on the face.

While Sabaupan’s manager, young Elmer Anuran and his supporters and even IBF executive Ray Wheatley appeared ecstatic over the Filipino boxer’s performance and were talking about a possible world title fight, we discovered through contacts in both Thailand and Japan which has by far the finest boxing body, the Japan Boxing C omission, that Wonpichit’s much publicized record of 11 knockouts in 12 wins really meant nothing because his victories were against lousy opponents many of whom had far more losses than wins.

In fact, Wonpichit had apparently taken almost a three year break from July 2007 to April 30, 2010 when, in a comeback fight he suffered a 2nd round TKO in a fight against Sapapetch Sor Sakaorat raising serious questions as to how a fighter who was stopped in two rounds in his last fight could challenge for an IBF regional title, sanctioned by both the IBF and the Games and Amusements Board.

The more we begin to appreciate why the Japan Boxing Commission continues its refusal to recognize both the IBF and the WBO and only recognizes the World Boxing Council and the World Boxing Association.

In his previous fight on June 24, 2007 Wonpichit who came in eight (8) pounds overweight at the weigh-in for the title fight against Sabaupan  but was able to shed off three pounds, won by a 5th round KO over Chanal Sor Vorapin who had a dismal record of 2 wins as against 10 defeats and 1 draw, losing 5 of his fights by knockout.

On May 29, 2007 he beat Japan’s Shinya Kiuchi who had a record of 14 wins 19 defeats and 2 draws and had lost seven fights in a row before he faced Wonpichit.

Others in boxrec.com’s record of Wonpichit’s victories included Somthang Sithkosab who hadn’t won a fight but had lost 5 while it also showed that the Thai had beaten no less than five fighters who were making their professional debut.