Lord of the Flys

Lord of The Flys Decades ago when there were only 8 weight classes, not the 17 that exist today with only 1 champion per division and titles weren’t handed out like social security, things were much simpler. The World over knew who the Heavyweight champion was. There was no confusion. Slowly but surely as you went lower and lower in weight classes the names of the champions became less familiar to the general public. In those days the Flyweight division was the lowest; unless you were a real aficionado of the game you most likely hadn’t heard of whom even the champion was at that time. Some fantastic fighters throughout the years have passed through the land of the 8 stone men: Jimmy Wilde, Pancho Villa, Benny Lynch, Pascal Perez and more recently Manny Pacquiao even reigned here in the 1990’s. It’s not a division that has produced many big fights. If you head 3 pounds North to the Super Flyweight division in recent memory Johnny Tapia & Danny Romero met in as much of a Superfight as you get below Featherweight on Showtime back in 1999. Drop 4 pounds and the Light Flyweights have Chiquita Gonzalez & Michael Carbajal who will forever be linked together like the Yankees & the Red Sox or Siegfried & Roy. They made a million dollars in their rematch. Even at Strawweight the Great Ricardo Lopez fought Rosendo Alvarez. The closest there is at Flyweight is Koki Kameda-V-Pongsaklek Wongjongkam. As recently highlighted in The Ring magazine 4 of the top 5 Flyweight’s reside in Tokyo, Japan. More’s the pity that some of them couldn’t pair off and fight each other. Back in March the aforementioned Kameda & Pongsaklek clashed. It appeared going in as though Kameda would cement his place as top man at 112 and further add to his growing reputation. Pongsaklek, 32, was the long reigning former WBC champion who was ready for the taking and would allow Kameda to win and add his name to his ledger. Only someone forgot to tell Pongsaklek, as he soundly outboxed Kameda over twelve heats to reclaim his old title from Kameda. The win made him the Best Flyweight of his Generation and also most certainly sealed his place in Canastota. Instead of the brash young outspoken Japanese fighter we got the grizzled veteran from Thailand. While Kameda may have reigned for several years and brought plenty of attention to his division, it’s unlikely Pongsaklek will reign for many years. However, hopefully what Pongsaklek may do is look for the biggest and best fights he can get. Interesting future options for Pongsaklek would include a fifth fight with Naito. Recently Edgar Sosa moved up from 108 where he was the WBC champion, Sosa has said he wants a title shot after two more fights. Also the winner of the Light Flyweight unification between Ivan Calderon & Giovani Segura would also make for a pretty sizeable fight. A quick look at the Top Ten according to the Ring. C Pongsaklek Wongjongkam (Tha) 76-3(40) WBC Made a record 17 defences in his 2001-07 title reign. Appeared to have slipped when he lost the title to Naito then drew with him, only to rededicate himself and bounce back with a terrific away win in Japan over Koki Kameda back in March. Now 33, will hope to make a successful first defence against Suriyan Por Chokchai 14-4-1(4). 1 Koki Kameda (Jap) 22-1(14) Brash Japanese fighter was supposed to beat Pongsaklek and add his name to his resume, but that didn’t quite work out. Looks like Kameda may jump to 115 and look to do something no Japanese fighter has ever done by becoming a three-weight world champion. 2 Daisuke Naito (Jap) 34-2-3(22) You have to admire his resilience, if at first you don’t succeed try, try again. Lost in a record breaking 34 seconds to Pongsaklek, came back, lost a Technical decision before winning the third time, later drew with his Thai nemesis. At 35, he likely has only one more title run in him whether that be at 112 or 115. 3 Daiki Kameda (Jap) 15-2(11) WBA The second of the three Kameda Brothers. Only 21, will likely out grow 112 in the next few years if his recent non title fight where he fought up at Bantamweight is anything to go by. Has a tricky title defence with former champion Takefumi Sakata coming up on 25 September. 4 Denkaosan Kaovichit (Tha) 50-2-1(20) Another former champion fights Concepcion in Panama in October. A win and he’ll be a shoe-in for a WBA title fight; a loss will likely move him out of the top 10. 5 Takefumi Sakata (Jap) 34-5-2(15) Like Naito, third time was lucky when he finally beat Lorenzo Parra to claim the title. At 30, he’s a 12 year veteran hoping to reclaim his former title against Daiki Kameda in what will be a huge fight in Japan. 6 Luis Concepcion (Pan) 19-1(14) The best Flyweight outside of Asia. Has an interesting changing of the guard fight with Kaovitchit. A win there would establish him amongst the top 3-4 Flyweights in the world. Claimed the Interim title with a twelfth round stoppage, followed that with 2 more KO’s. 7 Moruti Mthalane (RSA) 25-2(16) IBF Gave Nonito Donaire trouble before being stopped on cuts, rebounded to beat Julio Cesar Miranda for the vacant crown and has an intriguing title fight with Tete at the end of August. 8 Zolani Tete (RSA) 13-0(11) Heads to Mthalane’s hometown of Johannesburg for a title shot very early in his career. So far only has 42 rounds as a pro. The Southpaw can punch in what is sure to be a big fight in South Africa. 9 Cesar Seda (PUR) 18-0(14) Puerto Rican hopeful is only 24 and squares off with compatriot Jose Lopez at the end of August in a changing of the guard fight. Rated highly by all four sanctioning bodies. 10 Julio Cesar Miranda (Mex) 32-5-1(25) WBO Bounced back from losing to Pongsaklek & Mthalane in 2009 title fights to soundly thrash Richie Mepranum for the WBO crown. No wasting anytime he gets back into action on 4 September against Columbian Ronald Ramos..

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