Seansuree Moonsuree vs. Jeffrey Galero

This will be the only world title bout this week, flying entirely under the radar.

Of course, that is understandable considering that Moonsuree (aka Wanheng Menayothin) has only recently broken onto the world scene with his capture of the 105lb green belt three months ago from Oswaldo Novoa - himself a Mexican domestic-level journeyman who found himself in the right place at the right time and capitalized on a favorable styles match-up with Xiong Zhao Zhang to become, if briefly, a paper titlist. Meanwhile, the challenger has literally never fought outside his native Philippines and his biggest achievement to date by far is narrowly outpointing losing-record countryman Donny Mabao. So these are not exactly household names even for those who do follow the boxing scene in the Orient. In fact, there is virtually no footage of Galero available. Some exists of Moonsuree, but only a couple of his thirty or so opponents (several of them double-dipped in rematches) have been remotely notable.

Fortuitously, it has been revealed today by AsianBoxing.info that Galero recently sparred with Knockout, the WBA 105lb champion and Moonsuree's compatriot from Thailand. (Knockout obtained his title just a month before Moonsuree - and in 27 fewer bouts, just his ninth in the pros!)

It was a light spar but surprisingly competitive. Galero is tall, with a nice jab and very keen defensive instincts and reactive speed. He obviously knows how to deal with a smaller fighter pressuring him with body shots, and Knockout may well be the superior of the pair of Thai belt holders. (his win over Buitrago easily trumping Moonsuree's best couple of results over Novoa, or Ardin Diale)

Galero has less than a third of the experience of the champ, however, and is heading into hostile territory in Nakhon Sawan. Tall order for him, without any real KO power to speak of (though neither does Moonsuree), to convincingly extract his objective - especially in the notorious Thai heat which often thwarts visitors (Nakhon Sawan averages 12-15° hotter than Galero's home of Cagayan de Oro City). Encouragingly, none of the judges are Thai - or Filipino. They are one South Korean and two Australians.

 

This card will air live on Ch7 from 2pm-5pm local time in Nakhon Sawan (2am-5am EST in the wee hours of Wednesday night; 7am-10am GMT on Thursday morning)

 

Poll added.

 

Moonsuree vs. Novoa:

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Galero vs. Knockout (light sparring, not even w/ headgear, Jeff's wearing a t-shirt):

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Now, I consider Knockout a better champ than was Novoa - but you also can't really compare a real world title bout apples to apples with a light spar. :think

 

While you can't read too much into that footage, there were some interesting revelations...

First, it helped confirm Galero's listed height:

Moonsuree has no height listed on BoxRec or Wikipedia, but looked about ~1.5" shorter than Novoa, who is listed at 5'3".

Knockout has no height listed; he was about ~2.5" shorter than Buitrago who in turn had just a half-inch or so on 5'4" Sabillo.

So I think Galero's listed 5'4", same as Sabillo, is accurate...meaning he will have a roughly 2.5" advantage over the champ.

As far as Galero being orthodox in the video instead of southpaw like he's listed on Boxrec, it could be that he is ambidextrous or trains in both stances.

He may have just happened to box right-handed in that particular spar, but could still end up being a lefty on fight night

(or BoxRec could just be wrong )

What jumps out at me, even though it was only sparring, is nice defensive movement, intuitive yet fluid, & educated footwork. He stuffed most of KO's jabs, kept judging distance and making on-the-fly adjustments when KO rolled in low to attack, executing quarter-turns as he stepped back, limiting the damage of KO's body shots. He could actually be a live underdog.

 

Have you seen Galero in action by chance, Drew?

I've heard that Galero vs. Mabao was possibly televised (would've most likely been on ABS-CBN in the Philippines) but it seems to be a case of "you saw it live or you missed out" since there is no upload known of anywhere online.

Certainly none of his earlier bouts were televised, having all been part of small-fry promotions with nothing beyond local implications. (except for his TKO3 of Jaymar Calunsad on the undercard of Richard Betos vs. Petchnamnung Sithsaithong, which actually was for the interim WBC Asian Boxing Council super bantamweight title - but AFAIK the only footage of Betos vs. Sithsaichong was taken by a home camcorder from the front row, so I don't think even that was broadcast anywhere)

 

Wow, really?

How tall is Knockout, do you know?

I could've sworn from the comparisons outlined above that Galero was at least as tall as Novoa if not taller.

 

Yeah I was expecting more.

Knockout must be really tiny, like five nothing at most! (In the public workout he seemed a lot shorter than Galero...and Novoa towered over the champ, so Wanheng can't be more than 5'1.5" putting Galero at like 5'2" by those pics, although Wanheng is wearing sandals and Galero is barefoot...)