The column “Tam Tob Kai Kor Kong Jai Rueng Keela Madmuay” is back from a hiatus during the Olympic Games season to answer your questions about boxing and muaythai. The fans may read this column on Khaosod newspaper or listen to the “Fan Pan Tae Keela Muay” radio show on FM 99 on 11.00-12.00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Today’s questions came from Pariyet Intakong of Bangrak, Bangkok.

Q: Has Oscar De La Hoya decided to choose Manny Pacquiao as the opponent for his last professional fight?

A: It is now certain that De La Hoya has chosen WBC lightweight champion Pacquiao over WBA welterweight champion Antonio Margarito to be his opponent on a match on December 6. De La Hoya earlier announced he wanted to fight the winner of the WBA title match that pitted Margartio against Miguel Ángel Cotto. However, after Margarito became the winner, De La Hoya turned to Pacquiao whom he believed would better attract the spectators.

De La Hoya said there were two reasons he decided to go through a drastic weight loss to fight Pacquiao – because he had already beat all the Mexican boxers and because the spectators wanted to watch a fight of two great boxers. De La Hoya, who said he wanted to please his fans, signaled that the December 6 match might not be his last fight. Well, he probably wants to keep on harvesting his lucrative matches!

Q: How likely is Naphapol Kiatisakchokchai going to win the WBC “interim” super bantamweight title?

Naphapol will fight against Toshiaki Nishioka for this title as real WBC champion Israel Vazquez was injured from the trilogy fights against Rafael Márquez. The match of Naphapol vs. Nishioka will be held in Kanagawa, a suburb area of Tokyo, Japan, on September 15.

Naphapol’s manager, Suchart Pisitwutthinan, and the staff members have left Thailand to Japan on Monday September 8. There is not much to worry for the Thai boxer as he had a three-month intensive training including 299 sparring matches with great training partners like Yodsanan Sam-k Battery, while his mentor is familiar with the Japanese boxer’s fighting style. In addition, Suchart’s boxers seem to perform really great against the Japanese. The Thai boxers had a total of five wins and two draws out of the recent seven matches. So, let’s cheer for Naphapol to win the title. The match will be broadcasted by Channel Three network on September 15 at 3.30 p.m.