In the West we, as boxing fans, have seen calls for a number of fighters to retire. They have included legends like Roy Jones Jr and James Toney. One name that hasn’t been mentioned in the West, though should come under the same banner as being a fighter who needs to retire is former WBA Flyweight and WBA “interim” Flyweight champion Denkaosan Kaovichit (63-6-1, 26).
Earlier today it was announced that Denkaosan’s long career, which began back in 1996, will continue until April, at the very least.
That’s because the Thai veteran will be fighting in Osaka, Japan, on April 3rd against the hotly tipped Kazuki Tanaka (4-0, 3), who will be looking to add Denkaosan’s name to his record and build his reputation on beating a man who claimed a number of notables scalps in Japan.
The Thai veteran, now 39, fought his first bout back in 1996 when he immediately entered title level winning the PABA Flyweight title with a 12 round decision. After winning 20 straight fights Denkaosan would fight in his first world title bout, coming up short against Eric Morel for the WBA Flyweight title, in later 2002.
Another 20 fight winning streak saw Denkaosan climb to 40-1 before getting his second title shot, a very controversial draw with Takefumi Sakata in 2007. That bout seemed like a win for Denkaosan before he was deducted a point very late in round 12, that resulted in a split decision draw. A rematch in 2008 saw the then 32 year old Denkaosan finally become a world champion, stopping Sakata in the 2nd round.
As a champion Denkaosan defended the belt twice, defeating Japan’s gutsy Hiroyuki Hisataka in a controversial bout in Thailand and outpointing the much younger Daiki Kameda in a bout in Osaka. A rematch with Kameda in early 2010 saw Denkaosan’s reign come to an end and the Thai fall to 48-2-1 (20). Then aged 33 that looked like the perfect time to leave the sport with his head held high.
Since then Denkaosan has fought on with mixed success, running up a 15-4 record in subsequent bouts. With all 4 of those losses coming by stoppage and only a couple of notable wins, with the first of those being a technical decision over the “better than his record” Rey Megrino, immediately after the loss to Kameda and the other being a very close win over Nobuo Nashiro in 2013 for the WBA “interim” Super Flyweight title. Incidentally Nashiro announced his retirement soon after that loss, knowing he was no longer the fighter he had once been.
Denkaosan’s first loss in the post-Kameda era of his career was arguably the worst, a 90 second blow out loss to Luis Concepcion. There is no harm in losing to Concepcion but to be dropped 3 times in 90 seconds seemed to suggest that the Thai’s career at the top was all but done. Amazingly he proved there was some fight in the old dog with 12 straight wins after the loss to Concepcion, including the win over Nahsiro, as he moved to Super Flyweight.
That fight however seems to have been beaten out of him by Kohei Kono, who stopped him in 2014 for the WBA Super Flyweight title. That bout, an 8th round TKO win for Kono, saw Denkaosan being dropped in round 4 and 8 and always look like he was worried by Kono’s power, despite the fact Kono isn’t a big puncher and does many other notable stoppage wins. A subsequent return to Japan in late 2014 saw Ryo Matsumoto stop the Thai in 2 rounds, dropping him in both the opening round and the second.
It seemed that that loss to Matsumoto would be the end and Denkaosan would sail off into the sunset but return to the ring 13 months later saw a then 39 year old Denkaosan get battered by Australian based Irishman TJ Doheny over 5 one sided rounds.
Today’s announcement is a sad one for Denkaosan who will be given no chance against Tanaka, a former Japanese amateur standout who really needs to walk away from the sport before he is seriously injured. He still has a name value but his punch resistance is completely gone and he’s fighting well above his best weight as he heads towards 40 years old.
The calls for Jones and Toney to retire might be louder, but Denkaosan also deserves a mentioned before he ends up being another of boxing’s many tragedies.
Scott Graveson covers the Asian boxing scene for www.asianboxing.info
