By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Newly crowned WBO Asia Pacific light flyweight champion Along Denoy who won the title with a spectacular fifth round TKO over Thailand’s Kaichon Sor Vorapin who was ranked No.1 in the world by the WBOsays he is hoping his victory would propel him to a world title shot, possibly against WBO champion Hugo Cazarez of Mexico.
Ranked No. 2 is Wlfrido Perez of Colombia while Brian Viloria, the former WBC champion is at No. 3 while Denoy was not even in the top ten. He is expected to crash into the ratings following his impressive victory over Kaichon Sor Vorapin.
In a long distance telephone conversation from the airport in Cebu following his arrival Saturday evening, Denoy said he was confident he could win another world title for the Philippines if given a chance to follow in the footsteps of IBF minimum weight champion Florante Condes and flyweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire.
Denoy said his excellent physical condition helped him survive a second round knockdown when he was decked by a strong left hook and took a beating the rest of the round. But his dedicated training regimen and his being in top shape enabled him to fight back, dropping the Thai champion twice in the fourth round. Thai boxing writer Damrong Simakakornboon reported that Denoy dropped Kaichon with " vicious left hooks" before he floored the champion with what were described as " brutal left hooks" twice more in the fifth forcing referee Cherdchai Srirat to call a halt at 2:40 of the round.
By scoring an impressive victory over Kaichon Sor Vorapin who was rated No.1 by the WBO, southpaw Denoy is expected to crash into the ratings and hopefully set himself up for a title shot. With the win Denoy improved his record to 15-6-1 with 8 KO’s compared to the Thai champion’s 25-10 with 9 KO’s. Denoy and Kaichon previously met on July 8, 2005 in a bout which Kaichon Sor Vorapin won by a sixth round technical decision.
Respected boxing patron Tony Aldeguer was full of praise for the 23 year old Denoy saying he was “ a disciplined fighter and a good boy” which is typical of figters from the famed ALA Gym.
