PUNCH LINES
JULIAN TURNER
Chatchai Sasakul took his beating and collected a decent pay cheque last weekend, but it was sad to see him so hopelessly out of his depth against WBC/WBA super-flyweight champion Cristian Mijares.
In sporting terms, it wasn't much of a contest as Mijares did as he pleased before knocking down the Thai in the second round and then finished the job in the third.
Chatchai looked old, slow and small against the Mexican champion and he crumbled from the first decent shots 26-year-old Mijares threw.
There's no disgrace in that as Mijares is one of the best fighters in the world at any weight, but 38-year-old Chatchai should be thankful he wasn't more seriously hurt and he needs to quit the sport now while he still has his faculties intact.
I doubt foreign promoters will offer him any more high-profile chances after his poor showing at the weekend and he should resist the temptation to box in meaningless matches in Thailand too.
At his age, and with his skills so faded, every punch he takes could rob him of his ability to remember, speak or function once the spotlight has turned away and he is left to live out the rest of his days away from the sport.
Chatchai hadn't fought a decent opponent for 10 years and so it was a real surprise when it was announced he had been granted a shot at the WBC/WBA champion in the first place.
It says a lot about the power Thailand has with the WBC that they were able to get Chatchai a chance ahead of many more deserving contenders.
I wonder why former WBC flyweight champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam or Wandee Singwangcha weren't given the match, as both have much better credentials than Chatchai.
I hadn't been looking forward to the fight and had a feeling similar to driving up near a road accident - I didn't want to see what had happened but couldn't help looking once I got close enough to see.
Mijares v Chatchai was set for last Sunday morning on Channel 7 and the heavyweight fight between Nikolai Valuev and John Ruiz was screened on TrueVisions first.
Ruiz is rarely in a good fight and he boxed true to form against the gigantic Valuev. It was boring and I had a real sense of trepidation about what was still to come.
When Channel 7 picked up the feed from Mexico, Chatchai emerged first and looked very subdued as he made his way to the ring.
His mental state can't have been helped by a 30-hour flight to Mexico, which was made even longer by a delay due to a typhoon in Hong Kong.
Chatchai is an intelligent man and he didn't need everyone to tell him what he was up against. He knew what he was heading into as he timidly walked through the crowd.
It was like watching a man go to the gallows.
I felt relief that the end came so quickly, because my biggest fear was that Chatchai's undoubted toughness would lead to him taking a terrible 12-round beating - a beating that would alter his senses in way he could never get back.
As it was, the Thai was hit with a handful of hard punches and the fight was over.
He just couldn't take the punishment and was correctly rescued by the referee.
It certainly wasn't anything like the terrible beating old-timer Veeraphol Sahaprom suffered against young gun Vusi Malinga in Bangkok earlier this year.
A journalist from the El Siglo de Torreon newspaper in Mexico sent me his report and quotes from the venue, and said Mijares is hoping to fight WBO super-flyweight champion Fernando Montiel next. IBF super-flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan is also being talked about.
While Chatchai was only ever going to be a marking time fight for Mijares, the Mexican seems determined to take on a real challenge next time.
For Chatchai, the future is less certain.
My only hope is that it lies away from the boxing ring and that we can reflect on his glory years as WBC flyweight champion in 1997/98 instead of seeing the shell of his former self getting stopped again like we did on Sunday morning.
Julian Turner is Bangkok Post's Deputy Sports Editor.
Email: juliant@bangkokpost.co.th
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