PUNCHLines
JULIAN TURNER
Denkaosan |
Although he sportingly accepted the decision, Denkaosan Kratingdaenggym had every right to feel aggrieved at not winning the WBA flyweight title in Japan on Sunday.
Denkaosan drew with champion Takefumi Sakata, which meant the Japanese boxer kept hold of his title.
One judge counted it 115-112 for the Thai and the other 114-112 for Sakata, while the third judge scored it 113-113.
It was a superb see-saw fight but the decisive moment came in the final round with just 30 seconds to go.
Both men knew the contest was close and tried to win the 12th session yet American referee Mark Nelson suddenly stopped the action and deducted a point from Denkaosan for holding.
With so little time left in the fight, it looked a petty ruling at best.
When an official deducts a point from the "away" boxer in the dying seconds of an extremely close fight then it is bound to raise a few eyebrows, even if it was done for legitimate reasons.When it costs the challenger the title then questions have to be asked because Denkaosan would have won by split decision if the referee hadn't intervened.
Sakata and Denkaosan had locked horns throughout in a good fight which contained plenty of action.
The Thai started quickly, scored a shock knockdown in the first round but struggled to fend off strong Sakata after the halfway mark.
He was warned for holding in the ninth but was still contributing when Nelson intervened in the final stanza.
That point ended up costing Denkaosan dearly, a fact that Nelson repeated when the scores were read out.
He said to Denkaosan "one point, one point" as if to reiterate how much of an impact his decision had made.
A less-restrained boxer may have reacted angrily in what could easily have become a volatile situation.
The Samui-born boxer didn't rise to the bait, though he did say later he was surprised by the deduction.
At the very least, the WBA should order a rematch and let Denkaosan have another shot at the title.
Sakata should be open to the suggestion because he was given a rematch by Roberto Vasquez after losing out on a split decision to the Panamanian last December.
The Japanese beat Vasquez second time around, in July, so perhaps will feel Denkaosan deserves the same chance.
The Thai 31-year-old is the second-ranked contender behind Koki Kameda and I don't think the Japanese public will be crying out for a fight involving a Kameda family member for a while yet.
They are still outraged by the behaviour of Koki's brother Daiki in his WBC flyweight defeat to champion Daisuke Naito last month.
Koki flew out to Mexico last Friday to watch youngest brother Tomoki, 16, box in an amateur tournament and plans to stay there for one month to allow the media storm over Daiki's antics to die down.
That situation could provide the WBA with the perfect reason to give Denkaosan another chance.
One fight I would love to see now is Denkaosan against former WBC champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam.
Style-wise I think it would make for a cracking contest.
Denkaosan impressed on Sunday and I wonder if he might be able to overcome a slightly shopworn Pongsaklek.
I doubt it will happen as Pongsaklek heads towards a fourth meeting with Naito in an attempt to reclaim his belt.
Maybe Denkaosan can beat Sakata next time for the WBA title while Pongsaklek wins back his WBC crown to set up a flyweight unification.
More than 50,000 fans paid to see Joe Calzaghe beat Mikkel Kessler to unify the super-middleweight division in Wales at the weekend so I'm sure there is a few baht in a Denkaosan v Pongsaklek match in Thailand.
Sakata v Denkaosan 2 should happen first though and the Thai should be able to win next time, as long as he isn't fighting against the referee too.
juliant@bangkokpost.co.th
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