By Ronnie Nathanielsz

 

Unheralded Filipino boxer Javier Malulan has lost by a unanimous decision to Thailand’s Pungluang Sor Singyu in a WBC Youth bantamweight title fight in Ayutthaya Province.

 

The undefeated Pungluang who is ranked No. 28 by the WBC has a record of 17-0 with 11 knockouts compared to Malulan who, according to boxrec.com has a record of 5-3 with 4 knockouts.

 

The Thai champion won the WBC Youth title when he demolished another Filipino, Bryan Vicera in the very first round in July 2006. A report by Thai boxing writer Damrong Simakajornboon said Pungluang “started well when he pressured the southpaw Filipino with his vicious combinations” to sweep the first three rounds.

 

But Malulan, a WBO Asia-Pacific Youth title holder used the uppercut effectively and a counter-punching style against the aggressive Pungluang. The Thai then switched to his own counter-punching style and dominated the last three rounds to retain his title by scores of 97-93, 98-92 and 97-93.

 

Elpher Paganpan was not as lucky as he was dropped twice by WBC No.4 featherweight Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo with vicious right hooks according to Damrong and was knocked out at 1:45 of the third round in a scheduled eight round bout.

 

The undefeated Chonlatarn had a record of 24-0 with 13 knockouts while Paganpan’s fight record according to boxrec.com dropped to 4-6-2 with 3 knockouts. However, it must be noted that boxrec fight records are not always accurate or up-to-date.

 

The glaring disparity in the records of the Filipino boxers compared to the Thai fighters who were both undefeated once again raised questions as to how the Games and Amusements Board approved these fights abroad.