Amnat Ruenroeng vs. McWilliams Arroyo RBR

Round 12

Clinch and carry by Ruenroeng. Arroyo is just letting himself get shifted across the ring, saving his energy for a KO try. Ruenroeng is well aware of his motives and giving him nothing except a few snicking left hooks on the body - after which Ruenroeng uses two-handed shoves to propel away. Ruenroeng hops around the ring, jumps in with light body taps and ties up. Arroyo is dutifully stomping after him but lacks the steam to run. Arroyo winds up shots but can't time Ruenroeng or prevent him from jumping in and clinching before anything can happen.

10-9 Ruenroeng

115-112 Ruenroeng

 

Official cards:

Jonathan Davis 115-114
Ben Keilty 113-114
Ignatius Missailaidis 114-113

SD for Amnat Ruenroeng

 

I call Ruenroeng vs. Reveco close to a pick 'em.

Cotón is unexceptional but solid. He gets wild at times but is an excellent body-puncher (and McWilliams' best and most consistent success this morning came by way of body shots - though in fairness Ruenroeng did flip the script and ultimately poison him with a taste of his own medicine).

He is another of those longtime belt-holders that manages to have fought a lot of not-quite-championship-grade middling talent at the outer fringes of contention serving as org ranking flotsam and jetsam for long title reigns to be padded up comfortably at home (particularly common in Argentina) but he does have some quality in there with Guerfi and Kuroda and especially his latest run of Matematico Nuñez (who I maintain was declining but still not quite shot when Reveco fought him and basically put the finishing touches on his ruination), Vides (who got absolutely wrecked) and the very game Alvarado whom I saw running Ioka extremely close (regardless of the official scorecards).

Reveco has been operating in the shadows for a while now but has been among the best (top 5ish) at 108 and 112 for several years now.

He and Roman Gonzalez were supposed to have fought in 2010 when Chocolatito was first moving up from straw in a WBA champion vs. champion marquee event to headline that big Sumo Hall card that featured Nishioka vs. Munroe, Linares vs. Chavez, Kamegai vs. Alfaro, and Yamanaka vs. Silveira - but Reveco was injured and Chocolatito of course fought (and destroyed) Francisco Rosas instead.

Too bad, as that could have given us a much clearer idea of where Reveco fits in the picture. Even a loss wouldn't have necessarily ruled him out as belonging with the elites depending on the nature of the loss. If he were to have made it as competitive as Estrada or Rodriguez Jr., we could say his name probably deserves mention with the best. If he suffered the same fate as Rosas... :conf


As for Ruenroeng, the Ioka upset is huge but I'm starting to wonder if that was just down to a styles thing and fortunate matchmaking.

He would have lost today if Arroyo had been able to maintain the intelligent pressure from the first seven. Arroyo was actually in with a great chance on the cards to have taken away Ruenroeng's belt in Thailand.

Puerto Rico came very, very, very close to crowning a new champion today. Arroyo will come back and probably get there again, he's still young.

 

I was holding off before today on saying that just because Ruenroeng was still a total question mark (emerging from obscurity to claim victories over Fuentes and Ioka proving that he is very good but still with doubt as to just how good...) - but after Gonzalez vs. Yaegashi last week and this display, yeah, Gonzalez slices and dices him. He might drop a few rounds chasing after him and getting hit a bit more than we are used to seeing (but never hurt) with jabs and flurries, but eventually he will solve the puzzle and get to him.

 

I was incredibly sleepy (and disappointed in Ch. 7 for giving me no clue who it was in the ring and starting their coverage in media res - I had to find out their identities when they were halfway done by pure happenstance from the feed of Asian Boxing whom I happen to follow on Twitter) but Sakkreerin vs. Fukuhara looked fun. I wish it had been more organized so I could've enjoyed watching and maybe scoring it, though it did seem that Sakkreerin was pretty much in control throughout. I hope that winds up on YT so I can have a fresh look at it.

The main event will undoubtedly be uploaded by the end of today, I'm sure.