Sot Chitalada vs Muangchai Kittikasem I (Great all Thai flyweight brawl)

Chitalada dug his heels in and tried to grit this out but his legs and reflexes were very faded by this point through excessive weight-draining and it showed. Kittikasem couldn't miss him with the left hook at close range, though it was a punch that Chitalada struggled against anyway throughout his career, much like his big influence Ali did against Frazier. Like you say, Kittikasem snapped his head back repeatedly with clubbing rights and uppercuts typical of his rough, pressuring style too and Sot didn't have the inside game to cope up close once his mobility was gone.

Very good fight while it lasted though, they're supposedly both good friends with each other btw and were at the time. Kittikasem always said that he didn't like having to beat Chitalada I think.

 

Kittikasem was a very hard puncher, you're right mate. Clubbing, two-fisted hitter who threw with real force and snap. Not the best chin as Carbajal and Arbachakov showed though. I like him, Chitalada too. Don't have a preference for one or the other, though Sot should objectively rank as the more accomplished fighter I think. Kittikasem wasn't the quickest of foot and would've struggled a lot more with Chitalada's movement earlier in his career and his straight punching, though likewise I see Chitalada always having a tough sort of time with Kittikasems relentlessness and better close range game, especially if some refs didn't allow him to push Kittikasems head down as he liked to do to opponents who tried to bullrush him.

 

It saddens me to see Kittikasem smashing Chang though, who was beyond past it imo by that point and undersized to boot.

 

****, I typed out a really detailed response and my phone crashed before I could post. It did the same on McGrains Sahaprom/ Hasegawa/Marquez thread after Id typed a mini ****ing essay. Serves me right for being so long-winded.

 

Here we go again. Don't get me wrong, Chang was winning alright, he put forth a terrific effort before Kittikasem finally got him but I still think he was far removed from his best, just such a talent that he was still able to compete with the best by and large. I thought he beat Chitalada in their rematch too.

He still had a good engine, his natural fighting instinct and offensive timing as he showed, but his speed was really diminished, especially of foot when it came to closing the gap and slipping shots on the way in. His defensive reflexes were also faded, he was much easier to hit in protracted exchanges than before and I don't think he had quite the same variety or versatility in his approach as before. More of a skilled mauler than the dynamic multi-faceted swarmer/boxer of yore.

He'd looked as though he was slipping before retiring initially tbh, he'd struggled in rematches with the likes of Ohashi and Germa. Torres after beating them easily first time out.

 

Bump.

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