By Jake Donovan
Knockout CP Freshmart lived up to his adopted gym name for the first time since enterting the tite fray, dominating Alexis Diaz to the tune of a 4th round stoppage Thursday afternoon in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.
The batle of unbeaten strawweights was believed to be competitive on paper. It never played out that way, as Freshmart overcame a slow start to eventually overrwhelm the visiting Venezuelan.
Action picked up in round three, but was all one way as Freshmart grew increasingly aggressive. Right hand bombs had Diaz hurt and in trouble before being dropped by a wicked body shot. The knockdown came seconds before the end of the round, as Diaz was able to beat the count to enjoy a stay of execution.
Freshmart—with all of 10 fights of pro experience heading into the afternoon—looked like a veteran champion in closing the show. Diaz was back on the canvas in round four, once again courtesy of body shots. With time to finish what he started, Freshmart pounded on the visiting challenger until forcing referee Silvestre Abainza to step in just as Diaz was on his way to hitting the deck for a third time.
The official time was 2:45 of round four.
Freshmart moves to 11-0 (6KOs) with the win, while Diaz suffers his first career defeat, falling to 16-1 (10KOs) in his first title fight and also first career bout outside of The Americas.
With the win comes the second successful defense of the interim title Freshmart acquired in a decision win over Carlos Buitrago last October. There was a touch of irony in a fighter named 'Knockout' going the distance in two straight fights, having also claimed a 12-round decision over Muhammad Rachman earlier this year.
Both victories were impressive considering they represented just his ninth and tenth pro bouts. Buitrago was unbeaten at the time of their vacant interim title fight, while Rachman previously enjoyed a strawweight title reign earlier in his lengthy career.
This particular title fight came with additional motivation for the 24-year old Thai, who is wise enough to recognize his interim title is nothing more than means to pursue bigger game.
On that note, Freshmart wasted no time in calling out unified titlist Hekkie Budler. Many view Budler and another unbeaten titlist from Thailand, Wanheng Menayothin as the two best strawweights in the world at the moment.
If that's the case, then Freshmart has served notice as no worse than number three with a bullet adafter living up to his name and resuming his knockout ways.
The bout aired live on Thailand Channel 7, and was also
streamed live on the network's website
.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox