Vietnam Boxing Thread

Vietnam is going through its best era ever in terms of boxing. That is, they have fighters who aren't just fighting for liquor in Cambodia. Let's cut the fat and get to know the players who will likely be making notable appearances in this thread in the future.

Huu Toan Le 4-0 (2):

A minimumweight. He really tries to put power into every shot he throws, and this works well coupled with his very high volume. Ordinarily, high volume combined with constant power shots means a fighter will be burned out by the later rounds, but given that you can substitute five Huu Toan Le for two Joyce's, the strategy works well for him. Also, he really likes going for the body, he is one of the most proactive body punchers in the division, and given that the division's second most successful country is Japan, that's saying something.
He struggled in his last fight with at-first seemingly mediocre Kitidetch Hirunsuk (now 9-4) in a WBA Asia title fight, but if you actually look past Kitidetch's current record and watch the fight, Kitidetch is a fairly crafty infighter with surprisingly skillful counter punching ability. Also, Kitidetch was 8-0 and hadn't moved up to light fly at the time of the fight, signaling to me that he was more dedicated to the game prior to this, which as I implied, was his first defeat.
Le will be fighting no hoper Silem Serang (19-23-3 2KO) in an eight rounder on the 1st of October that'll very likely end with his knockout percentage getting a boost.

Van Thao Tran 14-1 (9):

A bantamweight. He's actually very well known in his home country and is definitely the most highly regarded boxer in Vietnamese history. His lone loss came to former featherweight world champion Billy Dib in a super featherweight bout that saw Tran outweighed on the scales by three kg, or about 6.6 pounds. In reality he was probably giving up at least ten and likely 15 pounds to the former world champion, in a fight that Tran still managed to win some rounds in. Despite the decent KO percentage, this guy can really, really punch. If he lands clean on an opponent his size's chin that's basically it. He also has decent foot work and doesn't like to let an opponent get away from his rear hand. That said, he has incredibly poor defense on the inside and surprisingly poor timing for such a massive puncher. With all of that said, I do expect him to crack my top ten BWs at some point and challenge for a world title as long as he keeps developing.
Tran will be fighting tall (170/5'7) but wiry Filipino title challenger Prince Andrew Laurio (12-3-1 9KO) in an IBA world title contest on the 30th of September.

Trinh The Long 3-0 (3)

A super middleweight. Named for his incredible height, I think he's max 180cm (5'11). I can't find any pro fights of this guy, but he trains at Saigon Sports Club and there is some footage of him in unsanctioned fights. Is he any good? If he's the tall guy in the video, no, absolutely not, he was not good at all in 2018. If he's the short guy, yeah, he looks decent. But he's definitely undersized massively for 168. So a bit of a double edged sword. The sad thing is that he's still likely the second best professional super middleweight in East Asia. That is, unless Murata can somehow convince Canelo to let him get a pay day, or Fanlong decides he doesn't need to drink water anymore.
He'll be fighting no hoper Ibrahim Aroby (8-6-4 2KO) on the first of October.

Hong Dat Vo 2-0 (2)

A lightweight. The guy does not seem good defensively, but he fights 5 ft lightweights who can't damage him or take his punches, so maybe he just doesn't care about avoiding their punches. He comes in lighter than his opponents despite towering over them by a laughable amount. He is incredibly arrogant and something of a Jin Sasaki/Kubrat Pulev figure, beating his chest and circling around the ring after landing a KD or KO.
He'll be fighting 5'4 former Indonesian champ Alvias Maufani (7-5-2 4KO) on the 1st of October.

Eric Pen 6-0 (5)

A heavyweight. He's actually American/Khmer and represents Cambodia, but he lives in Vietnam and trains at the Saigon Sports Club, so I'm including him in this thread (so I have a place to discuss him). Against the very limited competition he's fought, he has looked pretty decent. He's easy to hit, but throws with intent and gets the KO far more often than not. That said, I'm convinced Pen is undersized and likely only around 182 to 187 (6' to 6' 1 1/2") which is especially not good given that he's in bad shape. He's also way too easy to hit and will 100% be knocked out when he fights a decent boxer with power. All of that said, he's still highly entertaining and the current WBA Asia champ.

 

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They did beat both France and China later, though. In 6 years they defeated USA, China and Cambodia. If you extend it to 15 years they defeated USA, China, France, Laos and Cambodia.

 

Update 01/10/22

Van Thao Tran (now 15-1) saw a very impressive KO 1 win over Prince Andrew Laurio. There's not much to report on other than that the win likely sets VTT up for a regional title shot.

 

Finally! An update from the 1st!

Trinh the Long KOs Ibrahim Aroby in 2 at super middleweight to move to 4-0 4 KO
Dinh Hoang Truong KOs Robert Kopa (14-11-3) in 3 at super middleweight to move to 3-0 3 KO.
Huu Toan Le KOs Silem Serang (19-23-3) in 3 at minimumweight to move to 5-0 3 KO
Hong Dat Vo KOs Alvius Maufani (7-5-2) in 1 at super lightweight to move to 3-0 3 KO.

No major updates, I'll review the film soon enough if it's available to give my thoughts.