Belt farce needs to be addressed

PUNCH Lines

Usanakorn Kokietgym had a green WBC championship belt strapped around her waist after stopping Rie Fujimoto in Phangnga on Monday afternoon, but the title was bogus because the WBC already has a female super-flyweight champion.

Last Saturday night in Mexico - the headquarters of the WBC - Ana Maria Torres knocked out Paulina Cardona in the fourth round to be crowned the best woman at 115lb.

So how, just two days later, can Usanakorn and Fujimoto be fighting for the "interim" belt in Thailand?

WBC rule 1.27 states that "the WBC may order an interim title bout when a world champion is temporarily inactive and unable to defend the title for a period exceeding six months due to certified medical reasons, legal impediment or a reasonable cause strictly beyond the boxer's control."

Clearly none of those stipulations apply to this situation.

After her victory, Usanakorn was also presented with a WBC plaque which clearly read "world champion".

Alongside her in the ring was light-flyweight Nongmuay Sithkruleor, who was wearing the WBC belt she won by outpointing Korean Dan-Bi Kim in Nakhon Ratchasima in January.

At the time of Nongmuay's win she was hailed as Thailand's third world boxing champion alongside WBC strawweight ruler Oledong Sithsamerchai and WBA flyweight king Denkaosan Kaovichit.

Yet according to the WBC's website, Japan's Naomi Togashi is the WBC women's light-flyweight champion and she defended her belt seven weeks before Nongmuay took on Kim.

So in reality, neither Usanakorn or Nongmuay are legitimate champions.

It is a confusing situation which hurts the credibility of the sport and also damages the reputation of women's boxing, which is still in the early stages of development.

Usanakorn is ranked 25th at flyweight on the WBC's website so it is hard to understand why she was involved in any kind of title fight anyway.

Monday's outing was only her fourth fight as a professional while the real WBC champion Torres has won 17 times against three losses and two draws.

The best female super-flyweight in the world is probably Germany's Alesia Graf who has a very impressive 22-1 ledger, so Usanakorn is clearly a long way from those at the top.

As for the fight on Monday, it was an extremely poor spectacle because Fujimoto didn't appear to have any idea how to defend herself.

Lanky southpaw Usanakorn couldn't miss with her lead left hand and repeatedly snapped the shorter Japanese girl's head back.

Usanakorn won two gold medals as an amateur at the SEA Games so can box but Fujimoto was an open target as she moved in with her hands held at chest height.

Rie was stunned in the second by a hard left but didn't know how to cover up and was hit with four clean punches before she regained her composure.

It was difficult to watch as she was belted across the ring in the fourth session by three consecutive left hands that all landed flush before dipping to the canvas.

She bounced back up and took three more lefts before the referee stopped it.

To try and sell that as world championship boxing was absurd, especially when you compare it to the superb performances delivered by lightweights Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz in the USA at the weekend.

The WBC had not responded to a request for an explanation at the time of going to press.

Julian Turner is the Bangkok Post's Deputy Sports Editor.

Email: juliant@bangkokpost.co.th