Facomron Vibonchai: Thai WBC Flyweight Title Challenger
Thai flyweight Facomron Vibonchai challenged WBC champion Miguel Canto in Houston on November 20, 1978. Canto retained his title by split decision after 15 rounds.
Facomron Vibonchai’s world title challenge
Vibonchai also appears in boxing records as Tacomron Vibonchai, while BoxRec gives his birth name as Wutthichai Wongjinda. Those alternate names refer to the Thai challenger who met Canto at the Sam Houston Coliseum.
For the Houston contest, Canto weighed 112 pounds and Vibonchai 111. The recorded scores were 145–142 and 146–141 for Canto, with Bill Yeager favoring Vibonchai 145–142. The split verdict therefore reflected a genuine division among the scoring officials.
BoxRec’s account, drawing on contemporary reporting, notes that Vibonchai finished strongly after Canto had built an early lead. It also records an accidental clash of heads in the fourth round that cut the champion. The WBC’s later retrospective confirms the split decision and identifies Zach Clayton, Mark Tessman and Yeager as the officials.
Other recorded contests
Vibonchai’s available bout history includes a knockout victory over Roger Richens in Bangkok in August 1977. After the Canto challenge, he defeated Ryu Kaionji by technical knockout at Rajadamnern Stadium in July 1979. He later faced Koji Kobayashi at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall in May 1981, losing by knockout.
The Canto fight shown above remains a well-documented championship opportunity in his career. Because historical databases contain different totals for his record, the dated contests provide a clearer basis for this profile than a single unqualified career statistic.
Sources
- Athlete identification
- Selected bout record
- Fight record
- WBC retrospective
Career records and reporting: boxrec.com.
Tags
Boxing, Boxing History
