Thailand’s PABA minimumweight champion Kwanthai Sitmorseng, formerly Kwanthai Chor Nor Pattalung, has defeated Filipino challenger Donnie Mabao by split decision yesterday.

At the event at Wat Kemapirataram School in Nonthaburi, Thailand, on September 8, Kwanchai was seen as not performing well in defending his PABA title against Mabao. The Thai was hit with a right hook in the second round and was too busy ducking flurries of the aggressive Filipino in the fifth round.

However, Kwanthai landed some one-two punches in the sixth round and from then on seemed to be able to hold himself up against Mabao and gain control of the fight. His performance dropped somewhat in the last two rounds, but the judges allowed him to win the fight anyway with split decision of 106-104, 105-104 and 105-105.

WBA “interim” bantamweight title holder Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym will fight the ordinary title holder Bernard Dunne in Dublin, Ireland, on September 26.

Poonsawat, the latest Thai boxer bidding for a world title, is currently in a training program at the Galaxy gym in Nakorn Pathom in central Thailand in preparation for the WBA title match at the end of this month. So far, he seems to be confident and does not consider the Irish title holder as a strong opponent, and said he and Dunne would have about equal chance of winning.

“I have studied the video records of Dunne’s earlier bouts. I think he is a fast striker, but is not as strong as Ukraine’s Wladimir Sidorenko, the only boxer who was able to beat me,” he said.

WBC “interim” youth bantamweight champion Fahpetchnoi Sor Chitpattana of Thailand was killed in a road accident on Monday.

The 21-year-old Piyapong Sao-sawaeng who was known to his boxing fans as Fahpetchnoi left a military site at the Thai-Cambodian border where he worked to return home in Roi Et in the night of August 31, but never showed up and was found dead the next morning.

According to the report, his motorcycle slipped out of the road and clashed into a tree not far from his home. Upon examination, the forensic authorities believe he died instantly.

Thailand’s WBC “interim” flyweight title holder Pongsaklek Wonjongkam has defeated Japan’s Takahisa Masuda by technical knockout in the sixth round on Friday, while the Thai pugilist’s next match against Japan’s Naito Daisuke will be delayed to the beginning of the next year.

Pongsaklek, although considerably shorter, was able to land a right punch to the chin of the Japanese challenger, sending him down to the canvas for a count of eight in the second round of the WBC international title match held in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai on August 28.