Sithluangphophun, Krungthepthonburi Grab Big Wins

Mar 13, 2015 • 12:24 PM ET

By James Goyder

Undefeated Prospects Thong Sithluangphophun and Eaktawan Mor Krungthepthonburi Victorious on Busy Day for Thai Boxing

After the euphoria of Amnat Ruenroen's win in Macau last weekend it was back to normal business for Thai boxing with up and coming contenders taking on overmatched foreign opponents in both Ubon Ratchatani and Bangkok this afternoon.

Friday’s action got underway in the North East of Thailand with the undefeated Thong Sithluangphophun taking on Indonesia’s Ruben Manakane in a six round non title bout which the Thai controlled comfortably from start to finish.

Thong, whose PABA 126 lbs title was not on the line, fought at very close quarters in the third and the fourth as he looked for an eighth career KO win but he couldn’t find the finish. The victory takes him to 11-0 while Manakane drops to 14-14-1

In the headlining fight of that show Hanuman Sithluangporphun was defending his interim PABA 108 lbs title against Stevanus Nana Bau in a one sided fight which saw the Indonesian running relentlessly right from the opening round.

Nana Bau attempted the occasional haymaker but all the offence was coming from Hanuman who looked to fire off straight left hands to the head and body from his southpaw stance. In round nine the champion connected with a right hook followed by a left cross and the Indonesian went down.

After failing to beat the count Nana Bau sprung to his feet indicating that he went down due to exhaustion rather than the power of his opponent’s punches. The win sees Hanuman move up to 8-4 after mounting a successful first defence of the title he won last November while the Indonesian drops to 2-3-1.

At Thonburi University undefeated super flyweight Eaktawan Mor Krungthepthonburi was fighting for the vacant WBA Asia 112 lbs title against Indonesia’s Ardi Tefa who showed admirably aggression but a worrying lack of actual boxing ability.

In the first two rounds Eaktawan allowed Tefa to fire off wild, looping punches at will but the Thai clearly had the ability to finish the fight whenever he wanted and in round three a short left hook connected clean and put the Indonesian down and out.

The standard of opposition was too low to tell us much about Eaktawan’s prospects as a potential future world title challenger but the win takes him to 8-0 while his opponent drops to 6-4 after a second successive loss on Thai soil.