By James Goyder
Petch Sor Chitpattana is one of Thailand’s top prospects but a routine stoppage win over an outmatched Chinese opponent in Bangkok this afternoon told us next to nothing about the undefeated bantamweight’s world title prospects.
In his 28th professional bout Petch was up against Hou Tinglong who despite being listed as 0-1 had been sanctioned to challenge the Thai for his WBC Youth Silver Title in a fight which was broadcast live on Channel 7 in Thailand.
In the opening round Petch looked to establish his jab and Tinglong was immediately on the back foot as he struggled to cope with the superior height and reach of his southpaw opponent. The Thai picked up the pace in the second and began to bang away to the body.
Tinglong was frequently getting trapped against the ropes but there weren’t too many clean shots getting through and the Chinese fighter was firing back intermittently so it was something of a surprise when the bout was stopped in the fourth after four unanswered punches from Petch.
It was a question of when, not if the cumulation of punches being thrown by Petch caused a stoppage so the referee probably did Tinglong a favour by stepping in to save him from further punishment. The Chinese fighter drops to 0-2 while the defending champion moves up to 28-0.
Earlier in the afternoon Palanpon CP Freshmart (7-1) scored a seventh straight win by outpointing Donny Mabao (21-24-1) although the Filipino journeyman never looked seriously troubled by the punching power of the Muay Thai veteran, who is hoping to claim a first title in boxing this year.
There was also a comfortable win for teenage prospect Kongfah CP Freshmart (10-0) although once again the standard of opposition left a little to be desired as the undefeated teenager stopped Fahpikard Twins Gym (2-8) with a left hand to the body in the third round.
