Pungluang Sor Singyu: "I want to fight Koki Kameda"

The boxing world always has tremendous respect for any fighter who goes on the road. To win behind enemy lines is never easy and to do, so as a sizeable underdog, winning a world title is even more difficult. That’s exactly what Thailand’s Pungluang Sor Singyu did when he recently travelled to the Philippines and met hometown favourite AJ Banal for the vacant WBO bantamweight strap. It was nip-and-tuck for eight rounds with Pungluang ahead on two cards by a solitary point. Whilst behind on the third, in the ninth round, he took things out of the judges’ hands stopping his weary foe. Pungluang broke down Banal with nonstop pressure, dropping him twice before referee Tony Weeks stopped the beatdown at 1.45 of the round. The 24-year-old, who boxes out of the Onesongchai camp in Bangkok, is currently spending time as a Buddhist monk (yeah, folks, even up against a 14-day vow of silence, I still find a way to smoke these guys out!) before returning to what he does best. So far, Pungluang has run his record to a very impressive 43-1 with 28 wins inside the distance; the sole arbitration was his first (of only two) fight on foreign soil when he lost a split decision to Stephan Jamoye in Belgium back in May of 2009. That experience certainly seems to have put him in good stead and helped the quiet, humble Thai (currently ranked #8 by The Ring magazine) progress accordingly.