It’s fair to say that a lot of boxing was seemingly on hold during the Olympics with only a handful of interestingly bouts actually taking place through August. Over the coming weeks however there is a lot of boxing and a lot of it is really interesting, including 3 of the 4 bouts featured in my “A Summer of Super Fly’s article”. One of those takes place this coming Sunday in Kanagawa and sees the ring return of the incredible Naoya Inoue (10-0, 8).
The “Monster”, as he is known, will be seeking the third defense of the WBO Super Flyweight title that he ripped from Argentinian veteran Omar Narvaez at the end of 2014 and will be coming up against the highly experienced Petchbarngborn Kokietgym (38-7-1, 18).
Obviously Inoue is the betting favourite, he’s priced at 1/100 and expected to walk through the Thai like a knife through hot butter. The Japanese sensation has made a career out of destruction, stopping the likes of Oriental contender Crison Omayae, Japanese contender Yuki Sano, world title contender Warlito Parrenas and world champions, Adrian Hernandez and Omar Narvaez. He has however had issues recently with damaged hands, hands that left him looking relatively human against David Carmona.
For much of his last bout Inoue was left looking like a 1-handed fighter, and not for the first time having also fought Sano with just his left hand. Against some opponents that won’t be an issues, though it could be against 16/1 under-dog Petchbarngborn who is experienced, full of confidence and driven to make a name for himself.
The Thai, who is now frustratingly listed by most places by his birth name of Karoon Jarupianlerd and not his fighting name, has under-gone a long and arduous training camp under the watchful eye of Chatchai Sasakul. The name might not mean much to some fans but Sasakul is well known for involved in two upsets of his own, and beating his own fearsome monster. The former WBC Flyweight champion ended the long term reign of Yuri Arbachakov in the 1990’s in Japan before being stopped by a then unknown 19 year old Manny Pacquiao. Sasakul is said to have remodelled Petchbargborn’s style coming into this one and has him punching harder than he has in the past.
Not only is Petchbarngborn working with a new trainer but he’s also in the form of his life, running up 16 straight wins, and he’s one of the few Super Flyweights who is taller than Inoue, boasting a 1.8CM height advantage at the medical examination earlier today. The pressure is certainly not on the visitor, given that this will be Inoue’s first bout in his home of Kanagawa in 3 years, and he’s been incredible confident since arriving in Japan last week.
Yes Inoue is the bigger puncher and more talented fighter. Yes Inoue should win, but the Thai has certainly not travelled to just fall over and he’s not been working with Sasakul to just spend time with a Thai boxing hero. He’s taken this very seriously and shouldn’t just be written off based on his record.
Of course Inoue’s bout with Petchbarngborn isn’t the only one with gambling opportunities so why not click here for today’s boxing matches and pick your winning bet with other bouts coming up featuring 2 of the other bouts from the “Summer of Super Fly’s”, including this Saturday’s bout between McJoe Arroyo and Froilan Saludar along with the huge clash on September 10th between Roman Gonzalez and Carlos Cuadras.
