The last 12 months have been awful for Thailand's boxing fans. They've not only seen notable names retire, including Pongsaklek Wonjongkam but also seen numerous Thai fighters losing notable match ups, such as Tepparith Kokietgym being stoped by Kohei Kono. Despite the horror of 2012 they still have 1 man holding a world title and that is the little known WBO Bantamweight champion Pungluang Sor Singyu (43-1, 28) who will make the first defense of his title this coming Saturday.
Sor Singyu, who defeated Filipino AJ Banal for the title will travel to Namibia to face unbeaten Namibian Paulus Ambunda (19-0, 10) in what promises to be an excellent clash, not only for the locals but for any lucky fans who get to see this clash.
The champion is one of the sports most under-rated fighters on the planet, a real issue with being from the east. In his two fights outside of his homeland Sor Singyu was impressive, losing a very controversial decision in Belgium to current European champion Stephan Jamoye and defeating Banal in the Philippines. Aside from those two fights however his competition has been limited.
Despite the limited nature of Sor Singyu, 24, he is a class fighter who is a very solid pressure fighter and likes to force the action with cleaver footwork, tough defensive and hurtful, though not concussive shots. Those hard, hurtful shots aren't going to take a top fighter out early though they will help to discourage opponents and break them down gradually, whilst his defense will also discourage and tire out opponents, as he showed against Banal.
Whilst the champion is a defensively solid and offensively smart fighter his challenger looks a little bit more crude and limited. Although Ambunda, the WBO #1 does look like a fun action fighter many of his shoots are wide and somewhat wild, especially his right hand which has looked easily avoidable in the past.
Ambunda is getting this fight due to his long reign as WBO African Bantamweight champion as well as his recent reign as the WBO International Bantamweight champion. Those titles have helped to raise his rankings dramatically. Sadly despite his reigns with various titles, Ambunda hasn't yet faced a recognisable fighter, in fact his best win to date is quite possibly over Brazilian William Prado, not a name that you'd have highly ranked in the Bantamweight division.
With the challenger having both an unbeaten record as well as home advantage he may well feel he's the favourite, from my point of view however Sor Singyu is the type of fighter who's just as good, if not better, on the road. If the Thai comes to fight there is no one in the Bantamweight division who will have an easy day with him and with that in mind I'll be tipping him to win. The thing about the challenger is that he's never faced a fighter who will do what Sor Singyu will do and with that in mind I think Sor Singyu will force a stoppage in the second half of the fight.
Prediction- Sor Singyu TKO8
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