Teeraphong Utaida: Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr.’s Title Fights
Teeraphong Utaida, better known in boxing as Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr., is a Thai professional boxer who challenged for a world minimumweight title in 2015.
World title challenge in Osaka
On April 22, 2015, Sakkreerin Jr. faced IBF minimumweight champion Katsunari Takayama in Osaka, Japan. The fight was stopped in the ninth round after an accidental clash of heads opened a cut on Takayama. The three judges scored it 90–81, 87–84 and 86–85 for the champion, who retained his title by technical decision. It was Sakkreerin Jr.’s first world-title challenge.
BoxRec identifies the boxer as Teeraphong Utaida and lists Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr. as his ring name. This is separate from his father, Fahlan Sakkreerin, the former IBF minimumweight champion. Keeping their records distinct avoids attributing the senior boxer’s championship history to his son.
Selected career results
A later opportunity came at light flyweight rather than minimumweight. On November 26, 2016, Sakkreerin Jr. faced Milan Melindo at Cebu Coliseum in the Philippines for the interim IBF 108-pound championship. Melindo won a twelve-round unanimous decision, with scores of 115–113, 115–113 and 117–111. The interim status was significant: the contest did not replace the separate full championship held by Akira Yaegashi.
Selected career results
Contemporary ringside reporting described Sakkreerin Jr. using his jab and movement during the first half before Melindo’s pressure became more effective in the middle rounds. The Thai challenger rallied with combinations in the tenth and stayed aggressive in the closing rounds, but Melindo retained the points advantage. This twelve-round contest contrasted with the technical-decision ending of the Takayama bout a year earlier, showing two different outcomes in Sakkreerin Jr.’s championship attempts across neighboring weight classes.
Selected career results
Before the Takayama challenge, Sakkreerin Jr. had already defeated a former world champion. He stopped Ryo Miyazaki in the third round in Osaka on December 31, 2013, in a non-title light-flyweight contest. The WBA later cited that loss in its account of Miyazaki’s career after leaving minimumweight.
Sources
- BoxRec: Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr. (Teeraphong Utaida)
- World Boxing News: Takayama–Sakkreerin Jr. result
- World Boxing Federation: Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr.’s 2015 title challenge
Sources: https://philboxing.com/story-124294
Sources: https://www.wbaboxing.com/boxing-news/wba-orders-taguchi-miyazaki-title-bout; https://www.boxingscene.com/articles/upset-alert-sakkereerin-jr-kos-miyazaki-three-rounds
