THE RECORD CONTINUES

Meenayothin surpasses Mayweather by moving to 51-0, writes Elliot Worsell

THE more Wanheng

Meenayothin keeps winning, and stretching his pro boxing record, the easier it is to forget the hype and hullabaloo that soundtracked Floyd Mayweather reaching 50-0 last year against a mixed martial artist. And that, I’m sure we’ll all agree, can only be a good thing.

Against unheralded Filipino Pedro Taduran, Wanheng increased his undefeated run to 51 fights, thus overtaking Mayweather in the pantheon of unbeatens, and did so with a decision win. It was, like Mayweather’s against Conor Mcgregor, a win never in doubt. Taduran, after all, was having his first fight outside his home country and boasted a modest 12-1 (9) pro record going in – hardly the stats to strike fear into a WBC strawweight champion, much less dethrone him.

In the end, the 32-year-old Thai stemmed the aggression of a man 11 years his junior by using his accurate right hand to keep him at bay. He figured out Taduran’s southpaw style early on and never allowed him to grab a foothold in the contest. It led to a relatively one-sided fight, during which the Valenzuela City man was deducted points for low blows in the eighth and 11th rounds. The scorecards read 118-108 (Steve Morrow), 117110 (Humberto Olivares) and 115111 (Malcolm Bulner). Stephen Blea refereed.

Bangkok’s 51-0 (18) Meenayothin has now retained his current title 10 times since winning it in 2014. He is yet to defend it against anyone of truly significant note, but if there’s one thing he has over Mayweather, aside from the obvious, it’s this: Meenayothin stopped fighting debutants 10 years ago.

Over six on the undercard of this Petpiya Fight event, seasoned former WBA flyweight title challenger Noknoi CP Freshmart, from Bangkok, unanimously outscored Tajikstan’s Abdul Buranov, who is based in the Thai capital.

THE VERDICT That’s the hard work done. All that’s left for Wanheng to do now if he’s to make the record books is retire.