By Ronnie Nathanielsz
The Philippines Arnel Porras has lost a unanimous twelve round decision in a battle for the vacant Pan Asian Boxing Association light welterweight title against Thailand’s Sirimongkol Singwancha in Nonthaburi, Thailand.
Porras got the title shot even though he was not listed in the top 15 fighters in the PABA ratings of November and was in fact coming off a fourth round knockout at the hands of Philippine lightweight champion JR Sollano who is rated No. 7 by PABA. Besides, Porras who is a lightweight moved up to light welterweight for the title bout in Thailand.
With the win, the 30 year old Sirimongkol improved his record to 58-2 with 33 knockouts while Porras dropped to 9-13-3 with 4 knockouts which raises serious questions about another mismatch.
Over at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Filipino flyweight Flash Villacura has lost by a fifth round TKO to Daigo Nakahiro. Referee Takashi Yoshida called a halt at 2:48 in round five of a scheduled ten round bout.
Well-known boxing manager. matchmaker and journalist Joe Koizumi reported that the end came after Nakahiro caught the "game Filipino with a flurry of punches."
The 26 year old Nakahiro improved to 16-2 with 7 knockouts while the southpaw Villacura according to Koizumi dropped to 24-17-2 with 13 knockouts. There were also conflicting reports on Villacura's age as Koizumi reported he was 30 while boxrec says he's 35.