Knockout thrashes Pongsaklek
Undefeated Knockout CPF comfortably stopped his Thai compatriot Pongsaklek Sithdabnij in the third round to retain his WBA minimumweight title yesterday.
Knockout, 31, knocked down Pongsaklek for an eight count in the second round at Chang Arena in Buri Ram.
The champion, whose real name is Thammanoon Niyomtrong, knocked down the challenger again in the third round.
When Pongsaklek got up after an eight count, he faced a barrage of punches from Knockout prompting the referee to stop the contest.
Knockout improved his unbeaten record to 22 wins, while Pongsaklek suffered his sixth defeat with 23 wins and one draw.
Meanwhile, world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s next fight after his title rematch with American Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas this weekend is likely to be in Britain, promoter Frank Warren said.
Fury, the WBC champion, completes a trilogy of fights against Wilder on Saturday.
The 33-year-old’s last four bouts have been in the United States, with his most recent “home” appearance in Belfast in 2018, but Warren told the BBC he could see “a great homecoming” for Fury.
“If Tyson wins the fight we’ll sit down. There’s a few options there,” he said. “Usyk would be a massive fight here. The Joshua fight is still a massive fight.”
Fury had been scheduled to face compatriot Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia in August for a heavyweight unification title fight but an American arbitrator ordered the “Gypsy King” to first fight Wilder for a third time.
Joshua then lost the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts to Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk in London on Sept 26. A rematch between those two is expected in February, 2022.
Warren had said after Joshua’s defeat that a unification fight looked unlikely.
He told the BBC, however, that a meeting of the two would still be big box office.
Fury told the BBC: “I’m not fighting to be the greatest of all time, I’m not fighting to be a legend.
“It wouldn’t benefit me earning another £50m or £200m, you don’t need to be rich to live my life. I’m just a normal person who is very good at boxing.”