Even in Thailand, he seems to have forgotten all about the fact that he was WBC strawweight world champion with 54 victories before he was defeated - in fact, he broke Mayweather's record. And clearly Chayaphon Moonsri "Wanheng Menayothin", we don't even know what's become of him. The latest news is that he trained in October and visited Japan. He had signed with Golden Boy for fights in the United States, of his 3 defeats only the one against Niyomtrong is legitimate, the other two defeats against Panya Pradabsri, are difficult to score, especially the first where it is a pure robbery. He should have retired with his record of 54 wins, but the Americans who pushed the Thais to make him face Panya Pradabsri broke his record with a robbery. Some blame his opposition, yes the straws category was in a bad place unlike today in terms of adversity. But he has wins over Simpiwe Konkco , Tatsuya Fukuhara 2 times (by far the best Japanese in the category at the time), Melvin Jerusalem (who is the best Filipino in the category and to this day still one of the best punchers), Pedro Taduran (with Melvin the best Filipino in the category), Omari Kimweri... Yes, he never unified, which is the only real criticism, but could he really have done it? Simpiwe Konkco dropped the IBO belt before his unification fight against Moonsri, for example.
When You're fighting in weight-class that usually lacks in depth - and then You don't fight the other top guys until You're past Your prime, people are not going to rate You. I did like him, I appreciate his defensive skills and ring craft - I also thought He edged Panya in both fights - but reality is his resume is poor for a long-reigning title holder. Some distance from even being in consideration for HOF.
His defensive style is totally underrated and is similar to that of Khaosai Galaxy. We agree on most points. It's a shame he didn't make the unification, but he fought the top 5 in his category in his time: Fukuhara, Pedro Taduran, Melvin Jerusalem, and in the end the two best Thai fighters Panya Pradabsri and Niyomtrong "Knockout CP Freshmart". The Category was in a weak era during his reign and it's not his fault. It's a far cry from today, with the Shigeoka brothers etc..
To be honest, I'm not sure if the division is stronger today. Shigeoka brothers look good, Collazo I like as well - but I don't think They are better than Wanheng and Knockout were in their prime. Wanheng also had Katsunari Takayama, Kosei Tanaka, Byron Rojas and Hekkie Budler around at some point - although I think You're probably right that it wasn't really his fault that those fights wouldn't happen. No demand for it. It's always difficult to build resume at Minimumweight - and Wanheng didn't have a frame to move up. Unlike some of those guys who starve themselves to make 105 early in their career and then move up through weight-classes, Wanheng was genuinly small. I think it's unfortunete He didn't get a fight in U.S. I was quite excited when I learned that Golden Boy signed him.
I find that in the minimum weights there are also more punchers like boxers who come out of nowhere like DianXing Zhu. Who are big punchers. I don't know whether Niyomtrong and Moonsri at their primes are better than the Shigeoka brothers because the latter are constantly improving. I hope to see Moonsri back in the ring at least. He's been training in Japan and has opened a gym at the same time as the restaurant he owns in Bangkok. It remains to be seen, but I'd like to see him back. Another fight in the pipeline is WBA super champion Niyomtrong "Knockout CP Freshmart" who is preparing a fight against WBA Regular champion Erick Rosa "Mini Pacquiao".
