Thailand's Nop Kratingdaenggym hopes to make full use of his youth to dethrone WBA super bantamweight champion Nehomar Cermeno of Venezuela in Wenzhou, China, today.
In his first crack on the world title, the 24-year-old Nop (Anurak Thisa), who is ranked 15th in the division and is currently the Paba super bantamweight champion, is being seen as an underdog to the experienced Cermeno, who is 12 years older than the Thai.
His manager Taweesin Laosuwanwat is confident that Nop is good enough to take home the belt.
"Nop is in an excellent shape for the fight and we have carefully studied Cermeno's style," Taweesin said. "I am 60 percent sure that Nop can topple the champion and win the title."
Taweesin added that the Venezuelan champion is very experienced and powerful, but Nop is younger and faster.
"Because of his age, we will try to make him spend as much energy and power as possible in the earlier rounds," he said. "I am sure he would fade late in the fight and that will give us the opportunity to beat him."
Nop has won all his 17 professional fights, including five through knockouts, while Cermeno is 24-5-1 with 14 knockouts.
Cermeno is making his first title defence. He won the title in June with a win over Jun Qiuxiao in a fight for the vacant title in China.
Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday it had handed "severe reprimands" to three boxers for betting on fights at the Rio Games, two of them Irish.
Michael Conlan, Steven Donnelly and Britain's Anthony Fowler -- cousin of the former Liverpool and England footballer Robbie Fowler -- breached rules introduced for the Games in August.
Donnelly was found to have made two bets on himself to lose one of his bouts -- which he later won so did not win any money.
"Participants at the Olympic Games are not permitted to bet on Olympic events and are obliged to report any approach or suspicion of manipulation," the IOC said in a statement. Bangkok Post/AFP