It has (as of last Sunday) been six months since his battle with previously undefeated Pinoy challenger Rhenrob Andales, taking a technical decision when a bad gash forced a premature halt to proceedings and deprived us of what had seemed to be coalescing into a fun & close fight. We're past the half-a-year mark, and nothing scheduled. WTF is going on? Was the damage to his eye tissue worse than we initially realized in August? The only thing even being rumored for him thus far in 2020 has been a clash with fellow southpaw Hasanboy Dusmatov - and that's only because the Uzbek (who claimed an Olympic gold medal in 2016 and just made his pro debut in November) has been calling him out. Which is bananas, first of all. This rivals Lomachenko going after Orlando Salido for his sophomore bout - except that Niyomtrong is probably even more formidable than was Siri and Dusmatov, while very good in the amateurs, was no Loma. He's arguably the second best Thai p4p (depending on whether you place him or his countryman & friendly rival Seansuree Moonsuree aka "Wanheng Menayothin" as the #1 at 105lbs, either one having to be content with slotting in behind Wisaksil "Srisaket Sor Rungvisai" Wangek) - but the one area in which he clearly lags behind the WBC minimumweight titlist is the rigor of their schedule. I don't think Moonsuree has ever gone six months without at the very least having something lined up since his pro debut thirteen years ago.
Kind of snuck up unheralded, but he's fighting former Japanese straw-weight champion (vacated the national belt last month for this opportunity) and one-time OPBF challenger Norihito Tanaka tomorrow. This will be Tanaka's first time competing on foreign soil; he's 19-7 (10) at home. Anybody know the teevee deets? (if any)
Also, given that some people have been observing KO to be "slipping", is Norihito Tanaka good enough to be the one to bring down a, say, 80% version? Or would he need to decline a lot more to lose against this caliber of contender at 105?
Well. Having stayed up to watch him and his compatriot fight many times I'll take that with a grain of salt. We've heard it before and usually end up having to watch a handful of Thai matches and endure weird Thai commercials before the main attraction.
I reckon the Argumedo fight is next. He could very well lose that one although he outclassed Tanaka today.
Nah Wanheng has the better resumé of the two. Beat a myriad of top 10 opponents in the division whereas Knockout is often fighting guys who just about get into the top 50 or 40.
Hasanboy should have a go for Knockout in his second fight and make some history. Then square off against Wanheng for a WBA/WBC/Ring/Lineal unification title fight in his third. That's the kind of stretch you could retire off and remain a boxing enigma heralded as a mercurial talent.
