By Cliff Rold
Arguably the best fighter in a sensational 115 lb. division, and regarded by many as one of the sports best pound for pound in general, 26-year old WBC/WBA titlist Cristian Mijares (36-3-2, 15 KO) easily retained his belts on Saturday night at the Monterrey in Nuevo León, Mexico, stopping 38-year old former World Flyweight champion Chatchai Sasakul (64-4, 39 KO) of Thailand in three rounds.
It was Mijares first bout since unifying the WBA title of Venezuela’s Alexander Munoz with the WBC title he’s worn since a 2006 win over former World champion Katsushige Kawashima of Japan. The loss ends a twelve fight winning streak for Sasakul is his first title try since being knocked out for his crown by Manny Pacquiao in 1998.
Mijares is expected to pursue further unification in the near future after a fight that was expected to be easy turned out to be. The other titlists at Jr. Bantamweight are Mexico’s Fernando Montiel (37-2-1, 28 KO) and Australia’s Vic Darchinyan (30-1-1, 24 KO).
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com