Jeff Fenech predicts a bright future for TBC
The highly anticipated debut of Thailand Boxing Championship met – and perhaps even exceeded – expectations, with eight contests that set a new standard for the amateur sport in the kingdom.
Emanating from the Ambassador Hotel in Bangkok – one of the city’s iconic and long-standing fight sports venues – TBC Fight Night 1 thrilled those in attendance, which included a true legend of the ring.
Jeff Fenech, Australia’s four-time world champion, is a frequent visitor to Thailand and a vocal admirer of the country’s amateur boxing scene. He was impressed with what he saw last weekend, both in terms of the competitors and the organisers.
Of the fighters, Fenech could not have been more complimentary: “I watched these guys today and they reminded me of pros,” he said.
And as for the event? “The guys at TBC, mate, they’re amazing people,” gushed Fenech. “They’re a great team and they’re going to get bigger and bigger, and better.”
Main-event fighters ooze class, with an excruciating KO in chief support
The main event was befitting of a brand promising to showcase some of the best international amateur boxers, with Italian-Frenchman Giuliano Fantone squeaking past Algeria’s vastly experienced Walid Halima Salem.
The lightweights did battle over four enthralling three-minute rounds that featured plenty of shifts of momentum and switches of tactics.
Ultimately youth was served as 19-year-old Fantone was judged a unanimous decision winner over 55-fight veteran Salem, but only after a battle of sublime technique followed by a thrilling photo-finish as both men unloaded over the final 30 seconds.
* The chief supporting bout looked, on paper, to be a similarly close-run affair, featuring as it did two boxers with a combined 73 contests to their name.
Few, then, would have expected the light-middleweight encounter between Oussama Ahmiti of Morocco and India’s Sandeep Malik to last just 82 seconds.
That it did was no indication of poor quality. No, it was Ahmiti’s sickening left-hook body shot midway through the opening round that abruptly curtailed matters.
Malik had until then looked an excellent talent himself, boxing with confidence behind an educated jab, But in the ring , matters are sometimes decided with one punch – and Ahmiti’s was the equaliser.
Malik reeled away from the shot and remained in distress as the standing count was applied, leaving the referee with no choice but to stop the contest.
Undercard highlighted by heavyweight brawl and lightweight upset
Heavyweights usually deliver drama, and Gino Dilibero‘s humdinger with Cornelis Van Wyk did not disappoint.
The two big men waged a close-quarters brawl from first bell to last, with Dilibero’s extra boxing experience proving the difference against a man whose reputation had been forged in MMA and kickboxing.
The difference looked stark in the opening round as Dilibero’s sharper technique allowed him to plant his South African foe on the mat with a straight right.
But Van Wyk is not labelled ‘The Comeback Kid’ for nothing, and he battled gamely with a mixture of clever counter punches and savvy spoiling to ensure he lasted the 3×3 distance.
England’s Dilibero extended his unbeaten amateur run to 12 bouts.
* If there’s anything boxing fans love as much as a heavyweight slugfest, it’s an upset.
Prospect Neil Alfred Nicolas delivered exactly that by defying the marked experience advantage of Renaud Gurgui, a respected and accomplished 32-fight muay Thai veteran.
Again, it was better boxing that made a difference, as Nicolas landed the cleaner shots and held off a late surge by his French opponent to take a close but unanimous decision at lightweight.
Always smiling and clearly thrilled by combat, the fast-improving Filipino moved to 4-1, his only defeat coming against main-event winner Giuliano Fantone.
Young stars impress – win, lose or draw!
The first half of the card showcased eight promising young talents whose performances made a mockery of their positions as debutants or novices.
An intriguing match of height vs strength and technique vs strength ended all even as local fan favourite Panitan Chinnawong went back and forth with Russia’s Yury Lyubchevskiy.
Lyubchevskiy was the better technician but Panitan unsettled him with his intelligent aggression. The judges’ draw was a worthy result and preserves both light-heavyweights’ unbeaten status. Panitan is now 2-0-1; Lyubchevskiy 1-0-1.
* Two first-timers made winning starts to their campaigns. First, Flavio Fantone – the 15-year-old super-flyweight brother of main-eventer Giuliano – kept the hard-punching six-fight campaigner Natee Thongsingclee at bay to win on points by an impressive margin.
In doing so, Flavio earned plaudits from none other than Fenech, who said the youngest fighter in the lineup was the standout competitor on the undercard.
* Debutant Intre Ngowtrakul pegged back Benz Kajonwat in an all-Thai featherweight battle, inflicting a first-round knockdown and a third-round nosebleed on his 1-1 opponent to pick up the points win.
But inexperience counted against Chris Wong as he was roughed up and outpointed by South Korea’s Brice Lee, now 5-0. However, the American can claim a moral victory in being the first man to go the distance with light-middleweight strongman Lee.
LINKS
TBC Fight Night 1 event page
Thailand Boxing Championship company page
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