Chon Buri: WBA minimumweight champion Knockout CP Freshmart retained the title with a unanimous decision against Toto Landero of the Philippines yesterday.
The Thai was the better boxer throughout the 12-round bout at a makeshift ring outside the provincial hall of this eastern province.
The challenger kept backpedalling but the champion could not finish him off.
Following the dull contest, the three judges scored it 119-110, 115-113, 117-111 in favour of the local star.
It was the fifth defence of the title for the Surin native, who extended his unbeaten record to 17 wins (7KOs), while Landero dropped to 10-2-2 (2KOs).
"My performance was not very good. I will learn from the mistakes I made in this fight and improve my skills,'' said the 27-year-old title-holder.
"I promise to do better next time."
His promoter Piyarat Wachirarattanawong and trainer Chatchai Sasakul admitted that Knockout looked rusty as his previous bout took place last July.
"Knockout looked sluggish and he has to improve his attack," Chatchai said.
However, he said he was also to blame for his imprudent tactics. "I did not think Landero would run so much,'' he said.
Piyarat said it is highly likely that Knockout, whose real name is Thammanoon Niyomtrong, will next fight Xiong Chaozhong in China.
Knockout is one of Thailand's three current world boxing champion along with WBC super-flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and WBC minimumweight title-holder Wanheng Menayothin.
Meanwhile, Japan's Naoya Inoue announced yesterday that he will seek a title in his third weight class when he challenges WBA bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell of Britain in May.
In his 16th professional bout, Inoue, a former WBC light-flyweight champion and WBO super-flyweight champion, will face McDonnell in the Briton's seventh defence of his WBA crown on May 25 in Tokyo.
Should the 24-year-old Inoue win, he will become the fifth Japanese three-division world champion after Koki Kameda, Kazuto Ioka, Akira Yaegashi and Hozumi Hasegawa.
Inoue will vacate his WBO belt in the 115-pound weight class as he moves up to bantamweight at 118 pounds.
He defended the WBO super-flyweight title for the seventh straight time in December. "[Bantamweight] is a class that's familiar to Japanese fans. I'm looking forward to going to that stage too," Inoue said at a press conference.
In his sixth professional bout, Inoue won the WBC light-flyweight title and defended it once before jumping two weight classes to super-flyweight in 2014. He is undefeated with 15 wins (13KOs). bangkok post/kyodo