BOXING
KITTIPONG THONGSOMBAT
Thailand's Rattanachai Singwangcha stands a good chance to regain his WBO bantamweight title from champion Gerry Penalosa of the Philippines on Sunday, his manager Korkiat Panichayarom said yesterday. The fight will take place in the Philippines and be televised live on Channel 7 from 10.30am.
It will be the Thai's first attempt to win back the title he lost to Mexico's Jhonny Gonzalez in 2005.
Korkiat said before leaving for Manila yesterday that Nakhon Ratchasima-born Rattanachai (72-9, 48 KOs) had trained hard for the fight and was in good shape.
''At the age of 31, Rattanachai is stronger and fresher than Penalosa who is 34,'' he said.
The promoter added that despite being knocked out by Penalosa (52-6-2, 46 KOs) in Manila in 2000, Rattanachai has since become stronger and has a good chance of avenging the defeat.
Penalosa, who won the title from Gonzalez last August, has vowed to knock out the Thai again before moving up to the junior featherweight division.
In another development, Korkiat confirmed that he would still support Somsak Sithchatchawal to challenge for the world title although he was well beaten by Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym in this week's WBA super-bantamweight title eliminator.
However, Somsak will have to move up to the featherweight division as it has been difficult for him to meet the 122-pound limitation in the super-bantamweight class.
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