Panomroonglek Kratingdaenggym Took Koki Kameda to a Split
Panomroonglek Kratingdaenggym challenged Koki Kameda for the WBA bantamweight championship in Osaka on April 7, 2013. Kameda retained the belt by split decision in the sixth successful defense of his reign.
The Thai challenger
Panomroonglek was a southpaw from Buriram, Thailand, also billed as Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym. His world-title opportunity brought him into a twelve-round contest against the defending Japanese champion.
The championship scorecards
Two judges favored Kameda, scoring the bout 115–113 and 115–114. The third scored the contest 116–113 for Panomroonglek, leaving the challenger one card short of taking the championship.
The result kept the WBA belt with Kameda after a closely scored defense. The champion acknowledged afterward that the performance had fallen short of his own expectations.
Before his bantamweight challenge, Panomroonglek had competed successfully at flyweight. He outpointed Hiroyuki Hisataka over ten rounds in May 2007 to retain the WBC Youth flyweight title. Their May 4, 2010 rematch ended differently: Hisataka stopped him in the eighth round for the vacant WBC International Silver flyweight championship. Panomroonglek had led on all three scorecards after four rounds, but Hisataka’s later combinations forced the stoppage. That reversal handed the Thai boxer his first professional defeat and preceded the rebuilding period that eventually brought his close championship contest against Kameda in Japan.
Sources
- BoxRec: Panomroonglek’s aliases, stance and Buriram roots
- World Boxing Association: Kameda–Panomroonglek date, scorecards and championship result
- The 13th Round / Ken Pollitt: Panomroonglek’s two Hisataka contests
