Veeraphol Sahaprom Appreciation Thread

[JK1700]

I watched the 4th Nishioka fight again recently and I have come to the conclusion that the formidable Thai great is the most underrated/underappreciated boxer of my generation. He was incredible. Didn't start boxing until his mid to late 20's, won the title from a very experienced champion in just his 4th contest, remained WBC champion for over 6 years, made 14 successful defences, 4 of them against the excellent Toshiaki Nishioka, and didn't lose the title until he was 36 years old having spent 26 of them in Muay Thai and boxing. Yet hardly anyone mentions his name on the forums and you would struggle to find 10 pictures of him online. I understand that as a general rule the lower weight divisions don't get much attention in boxing, but I think it's a shame that such a great fighter gets so little attention. He was phenomenally skilled and his ability to throw quick, accurate and powerful straight right hands was amazing. I have never seen anyone do it better, and his defence, speed and reactions were also first class. I can only imagine how great he might have been had he started boxing 5 or 10 years earlier, he was brilliant, and someone who is starting boxing (like myself) could learn a great deal by watching him. Not least how to overcome southpaws. His 4 battles with Nishioka are a must see, he overcame a younger, taller, stronger, faster opponent with pure skill and intelligence.

Based on their careers, I don't think he quite rivals Khaosai Galaxy as the greatest Thai boxer of all time, but he's up there and skillwise I think he was superior to Khaosai and would have had an excellent chance to beat him had they fought. Use this thread to discuss Veeraphol's career, his best performances and best victories. His best performance was undoubtedly the career defining 2nd win against Nishioka but his victory against the far more experienced Daorung Chuwatana is also highly creditable and his drubbing of Adan Vargas is a technical masterclass against a much bigger opponent, who was ranked #1 in the world at the time. The quatrology with Nishioka is what ultimately defines his career, of course. For me it is just as good if not even better than the Vazquez-Marquez series. The Hasegawa fights are also great.
The first Tatsuyoshi fight has to be seen just for the incredibly brutal knockout. Tatsuyoshi was by no means an elite boxer but he beat some very solid opponents and for Sahaprom to demolish him the way he did was highly impressive. What I like most is his style, I think it's very pleasing to watch.

I have been wanting to make a tribute to him for a while. I definitely will if Nishioka beats Donaire, which I think is a very real possibility, assuming that the judging is fair, which is something that I am very worried about with Bob "I Have No Soul" Arum running the show. Maybe then Veeraphol will get some more respect and appreciation for what he achieved against him. I think he deserved to win all 4 of their bouts, although I can understand the 2nd and 3rd of them being draws because they were very closely contested.

His finest hour...



Thoughts?

[BennyST]

He is one of my favourite little guys of all time!

He's got some great fights and I agree that he was one of the best P4P fighters for a long time, but flew way under the radar. Great combination of skill, defense, speed and power. It's such a pity he started so late. He was a beast.

I also think he should have started back for a title shot sooner than he did after the Konadu loss. It was an experience thing, so I can understand it, but Konadu was such a great fighter and Sahaprom thought he was going to get the KO in the first round when he hurt him. Silly.

Anyway, one of my very favourite modern fighters. Real joy to watch. His series with Nishioka is epic. Both in their primes, both great fighters though Sahaprom was just that little bit ahead of him at every step.

[JK1700]

He is one of my favourite little guys of all time!

He's got some great fights and I agree that he was one of the best P4P fighters for a long time, but flew way under the radar. Great combination of skill, defense, speed and power. It's such a pity he started so late. He was a beast.

I also think he should have started back for a title shot sooner than he did after the Konadu loss. It was an experience thing, so I can understand it, but Konadu was such a great fighter and Sahaprom thought he was going to get the KO in the first round when he hurt him. Silly.

Anyway, one of my very favourite modern fighters. Real joy to watch. His series with Nishioka is epic. Both in their primes, both great fighters though Sahaprom was just that little bit ahead of him at every step.

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, he was really good. What I like most about him is his rythm and style. The Konadu loss and the fights after it definitely shaped him into a much better technician. His right hand leads in particular were excellent and his ring IQ was also very good when he was champion. I also think he could have done better if he fought at 115 instead of 118. I mean, both Hasegawa and Nishioka were 3 inches taller than him and the fact that he was able to make 118 all the way to 2008 suggests to me that he could have made 115 during his peak years and I think he wouldve done even better in that division. Most of his opponents were bigger than him.

I have seen about 40 of his fights and I think more people should check them out, plenty of them on youtube. He was a truly great fighter with lots of skill. As far as Thailand and their great boxers go, I think he's in the Top 4 or 5.

[GrandpaBernard]

I watched the 4th Nishioka fight again recently and I have come to the conclusion that the formidable Thai great is the most underrated/underappreciated boxer of my generation. He was incredible. Didn't start boxing until his mid to late 20's, won the title from a very experienced champion in just his 4th contest, remained WBC champion for over 6 years, made 14 successful defences, 4 of them against the excellent Toshiaki Nishioka, and didn't lose the title until he was 36 years old having spent 26 of them in Muay Thai and boxing. Yet hardly anyone mentions his name on the forums and you would struggle to find 10 pictures of him online. I understand that as a general rule the lower weight divisions don't get much attention in boxing, but I think it's a shame that such a great fighter gets so little attention. He was phenomenally skilled and his ability to throw quick, accurate and powerful straight right hands was amazing. I have never seen anyone do it better, and his defence, speed and reactions were also first class. I can only imagine how great he might have been had he started boxing 5 or 10 years earlier, he was brilliant, and someone who is starting boxing (like myself) could learn a great deal by watching him. Not least how to overcome southpaws. His 4 battles with Nishioka are a must see, he overcame a younger, taller, stronger, faster opponent with pure skill and intelligence.

Based on their careers, I don't think he quite rivals Khaosai Galaxy as the greatest Thai boxer of all time, but he's up there and skillwise I think he was superior to Khaosai and would have had an excellent chance to beat him had they fought. Use this thread to discuss Veeraphol's career, his best performances and best victories. His best performance was undoubtedly the career defining 2nd win against Nishioka but his victory against the far more experienced Daorung Chuwatana is also highly creditable and his drubbing of Adan Vargas is a technical masterclass against a much bigger opponent, who was ranked #1 in the world at the time. The quatrology with Nishioka is what ultimately defines his career, of course. For me it is just as good if not even better than the Vazquez-Marquez series. The Hasegawa fights are also great.
The first Tatsuyoshi fight has to be seen just for the incredibly brutal knockout. Tatsuyoshi was by no means an elite boxer but he beat some very solid opponents and for Sahaprom to demolish him the way he did was highly impressive. What I like most is his style, I think it's very pleasing to watch.

I have been wanting to make a tribute to him for a while. I definitely will if Nishioka beats Donaire, which I think is a very real possibility, assuming that the judging is fair, which is something that I am very worried about with Bob "I Have No Soul" Arum running the show. Maybe then Veeraphol will get some more respect and appreciation for what he achieved against him. I think he deserved to win all 4 of their bouts, although I can understand the 2nd and 3rd of them being draws because they were very closely contested.

His finest hour...



Thoughts?

Did he really beat Nishioka all four times!?