True4U: Kittithat Ungsrivongs vs. Amnat Ruenroeng RBR

The man does hate testicles.

 

Round 6

Ungsrivongs is crowding Ruenroeng into the ropes and the older man shows a bit of venom, exploding out like a cornered animal with some of his biggest shots all day. He is left depleted by this effort, however, and spends most of the next minute retreating and getting banged in the mush by Ungsrivongs' lead right. High guard by Ruenroeng tiptoeing around the ring still catching his breath, and Ungsrivongs settles for hooking the body with both hands from outside, wherever is exposed. Big uppercut by Ungsrivongs, spreading Ruenroeng's forearms like a wishbone.

10-9 Ungsrivongs

58-56 Ungsrivongs

 

Round 7

Long delay answering the bell for the second consecutive round. Issues with Ruenroeng's gloves; they keep needing to be retaped by his crew. The bell rings at least half a minute after it was supposed to. Ungsrivongs is jabbing the face and hooking the body, same old recipe, keeping Ruenroeng on the defensive and commanding all the open space in the ring. Triple jab attempted by Ruenroeng to panel-saw his way free, but Ungsrivongs just smashes through his opponent's extended left arm with a lead right. Hard digs on the body from Ungsrivongs reaching in, as Ruenroeng slides away, pivoting off the ropes, and occasionally jumping in with light straight window-dressing flurries.

10-9 Ungsrivongs

68-65 Ungsrivongs

 

Round 8

Ungsrivongs is leading off with the left hook under Ruenroeng's elbows, sapping his wind, and then bashing down with the right when Ruenroeng inevitably doubles over. The problem is that Ruenroeng is hedgehogging and curling into a ball while hunched over, causing Ungsrivongs' right arm to slam into his cranial base. Ruenroeng appeals, with the ref sighing and ordering a break. Each fighter touches gloves in a silly, effeminate way, palms of both hands out and pressed together symmetrically like they were a prisoner and his conjugal visit. Ungsrivongs keeps working the body to wind down the remainder of the clock.

10-9 Ungsrivongs

78-74 Ungsrivongs

 

Note that I'm not using any qualifiers like "very close" for these rounds; they're pretty unambiguous. The old man was competitive for exactly three, and has been low-key getting hided since.

 

WBC open scoring through eight:

A: 78-74
B: 78-74
C: 77-75

(Ungsrivongs)

 

Round 9

Ruenroeng stages an early rally, darting in with jabs in multiples up top and then nimbly long-stepping out to reset. Ungsrivongs indulges him for a bit, and then resumes pressuring behind jabs and body shots. Ungsrivongs finding Ruenroeng an increasingly easy target for the first blow in every sequence, although to his credit the savvy ex-champ keeps finding a way to slither loose or tie up before the damage can accumulate.

10-9 Ungsrivongs

88-83 Ungsrivongs

 

Round 10

Ruenroeng is bouncing on the ball of each foot, rubber-soling his way around the ring and baiting Ungsrivongs with bursts of quick-jabbing at different altitudes. One such assault is square on the crotch, but Ungsrivongs doesn't even flinch, probably because they're not powerful shots, just gnat-like flicks. Ungsrivongs walks Ruenroeng into the ropes, throwing jabs and crosses at the head, all partially screened out by Ruenroeng's bunched fists, but enough getting through for him to make a hasty side-door exit. Ruenroeng strafes at mid-range with a cruising pace, watching Ungsrivongs warily, left arm resting by his side ready to draw up into a defensive, vision-chaffing jab if need be. Ungsrivongs seems to not have any steam left, or much thirst for violence anymore in the final ten seconds. He lets Ruenroeng see the final bell unmolested, and when it rings the older man sinks to his knees in a weird display of emotion, hugging the knees of Ungsrivongs.

10-9 Ungsrivongs

98-92 Ungsrivongs

 

Official cards:

inaudible - the production team of true4U is playing very loud (epic orchestral) music and the commentators are talking atop their lungs but still can be just barely made out themselves, so didn't even realize the ring emcee was reading the scores. They just cut from the commentators to Ungsrivongs holding up his arms being declared the winner.

UD for Ungsrivongs

 

My goodness, look at Ruenroeng's face awaiting the verdict.

https://i.ibb.co/HgjXJ7t/ruhrohruenroeng.png

That's straight-up comedy gold.

"I uh...didn't quite do enough here, did I? Yeeeeeah..."

 

My takeaway on Ungsrivongs: kid ain't bad, actually. It's been now almost four years since the minor upset loss abroad to Que Xu, and he is showing improvement. He did what he needed to here, in what stands as his biggest step up to date (if a very faded chubby version of the former IBF flyweight titlist) and honestly? I'm not sure he isn't close to surpassing the p4p value of his Menayothin/CP Freshmart teammate Wanheng (born Chayaphon Moonsri, due to have a rematch with Panya "Petchmanee CP Freshmart" Pradabsri in January) - but then, I always found the now 36 year old Moonsri to be somewhat overrated.

 

He was quite unpopular during his championship days for his often negative and foul-filled style (and that unfortunate face; he's no matinée idol ) but you have to respect the way he's squeezing every last drop of ability in his twilight and even going to war a bit more than he did in his prime, diversifying his portfolio across three different sports (amateur boxing, pros, and kickboxing) even though he is often getting his ass kicked.

But yeah, enough is probably enough. He's going to get SERIOUSLY hurt sooner or later.