Thailand's hard-hitting Pongsaklek Krating-daeng Gym had to dig deep into his reserves before claiming a deserved unanimous decision over No 1 contender Monelise "Showtime" Myekeni of South Africa in his 16th World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight title defence yesterday.

In a frustrating afternoon at his hometown of Nakhon Ratchasima, the 29-year-old Thai southpaw had to put on a gritty performance to tame the dangerous South African, who opted to avoid a confrontation in the bout, leaving the champion lunging forward at times trying to connect with his punches.

Despite the tactics of the challenger, the longest reigning WBC flyweight champion ever, cheered on by a boisterous crowd at a packed makeshift arena, kept moving forward and had his opponent staggering many times, but failed to land the knockout blow.

Pongsaklek, who is the first boxer ever to be inducted into WBC Hall of Fame while still on the throne, was disappointed despite winning his first mandatory fight since 2003 because he was determined to please the fans with a knockout.

"I'm glad that I won the fight. I'm very thankful for the overwhelming support from my hometown fans," said Pongsaklek, who improved his record to 63-2 with 31 knockouts.

"I initially expected to get another knockout, but it was very difficult to box in my style in this fight as my opponent didn't want to fight and kept running away.

"In the closing stages, I tried to avoid trading blows with him because I knew that I was leading on all scorecards. The cut [on the right eyebrow] is not wide and I don't feel much pain from this fight.

"After such s performance, I think I can fight anybody, anywhere in the world. It's up to my manager where he would like me to box," added Pongsaklek, who has been widely accused of shunning a title defence abroad.

Manager Piyarat Wachirattanawong hailed Pongsaklek for winning the bout with the brain in one of his stiffest tests for years.

"He [Pongsaklek] boxed in accordance with our plan. In boxing, when you are leading on points, you don't need to stand there and trade blows. In this fight he used his brain very well."

Piyarat added that Pongsaklek's next opponent would be old foe Naito Daisuke, who has faced the champion twice. Their fight may be held in March in Japan.

Pongsaklek turned up at the arena wearing his red wool hat, which he said was his lucky charm from respected monk Luang Phor Khoon. Before stepping into the ring, the Korat-native spent a few minutes praying.

When the fight started he sent the South African to the canvas with a shape right hook only seconds into the opening round. However, the contender recovered well and managed to survive until the final bell.

The southpaw dictated the fight but sustained a cut in the third round from an accidental clash of heads, causing the referee to call a medical check.

The gash proved to be only a hic-cup for Pongsaklek as he resumed to gain a stranglehold on the rest of the bout before closing out with a worthy victory, with the three judges scoring the fight 119-108, 117-111 and 118-110 in favour of the champion.

Pacquiao disqualified

nHector Velazquez of Mexico beat Bobby Pacquiao of the Philippines by disqualification in the 11th round on Thursday to capture the WBC super featherweight championship.

Velazquez won after suffering a low blow at 2:56 of the 11th round, which prompted the referee to halt the close bout. Pacquiao had one point deducted in the third and fifth rounds for low blows, helping precipitate the referee's decision.

The fight was scheduled to go 12 rounds.

Pacquiao was leading on two of the three judges' scorecards through 10 rounds, 95-93 and 94-93; Velazquez lead on the third 94-93.

Pacquiao, who had a five-inch reach advantage, knocked down Velazquez in the third round with an uppercut to the head.

Velazquez, 31, now has a record of 46-11-2 with 32 knockouts. The 25-year-old Pacquiao has a record of 27-12-3 with 12 knockouts.

Pacquiao weighed in at 133 pounds (60.3 kilograms) - three pounds (1.4 kilograms) over the limit - and lost his title on the scale. Had he won the bout, the title would have been declared vacant.

Kitinan Sanguansak

The Nation