Knockout CP Freshmart Owns Buitrago in Rematch

By Derek Bonnett

Back in October 2014, Thailand’s Knockout CP Freshmart won a controversial decision over Nicaragua’s Carlos Buitrago to become the WBA’s 105-pound interim champion, which these days is a glorified number one status. Buitrago seemingly landed the better punches and in greater volume than the home favorite. The narrow decision by unanimous two point margins left a bad taste in the mouth of some fans, but arguably not as bad as the one Buitrago left following his rematch. In all fairness, the rematch was more about what CP Freshmart did, which was improve greatly upon his first performance to win a clear unanimous decision in the rematch.

The taller, rangier Buitrago won the first round boxing from a distance and landing straight shots one at a time, while the interim titlists stalked him around the ring. Buitrago was awarded a couple more rounds officially, but it was really difficult to find a salient three minutes that certainly went his way. From round two on, the Thai boxer was simply more active and punched with far greater timing than his nemesis. His punches were crisp and carried enough pop to snap Buitrago’s head back on numerous occasions. Foolishly, Buitrago gave up his height in many exchange and sought to attack the body with wild hooks only to leave himself in position to be countered by the faster contender. CP Freshmart put himself in better position to punch each round and, even when Buitrago attacked, typically punctuated each exchange with a sharp jab down the middle or a couple grinding body shots to lower the Nicaraguan’s hands. Oddly enough, even when the Thai boxer missed, he remained in better punching position than Buitrago, who often covered up waiting for a moment to reset. By the seventh, most of the rounds followed the same pattern and Knockout CP Freshmart was the better man in each frame.

The official scores were again unanimous, but this time Knockout CP Freshmart won without question. The judges saw the contest 119-109 and 117-111. SecondsOut agreed with the wider margin. CP Freshmart kept his interim status for the third time and raised his record to 12-0-0 (6). Buitrago failed in his third "world title" bid and fell to 28-2-1 (16). CP Freshmart climbed one spot in the SecondsOut world rankings, bumping Kosei Tanaka from the third spot. Buitrago fell from fifth to seventh. If the buzz talk is true, CP Freshmart could be looking at a title fight with the winner of the upcoming Hekkie Budler-Byron Rojas clash.

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