Berkrerk Chartvanchai Took the Flyweight Crown
Berkrerk Chartvanchai won the WBA flyweight championship on April 5, 1970, defeating Bernabe Villacampo by split decision over fifteen rounds in Bangkok. His championship reign lasted until October of the same year.
Career highlights
Chartvanchai was a Bangkok boxer also known as Tinapong Hantanakul. His title victory came against the reigning champion Villacampo, who had taken the belt from Hiroyuki Ebihara in Japan the previous year.
The decision in Thailand brought Chartvanchai a world championship, but his first defense required a trip to Tokyo to meet Japanese challenger Masao Ohba.
The Ohba championship fight
Ohba stopped Chartvanchai in the thirteenth round on October 22, 1970, beginning his own WBA championship reign. The two title bouts bookend Chartvanchai’s time as champion: a fifteen-round victory at home followed by a late-round defeat in Japan. Chartvanchai died on March 7, 2022, aged seventy-seven.
His professional boxing career began in 1966 under promoter Boonsong Kitklamsawan. Across his first twenty-seven bouts, through January 1970, he recorded twenty-four wins and three draws. Chartvanchai had already defeated Villacampo by decision in a ten-round contest on May 6, 1969, before the Filipino became champion. Their later world-title meeting therefore renewed an existing rivalry and gave the Thai boxer a chance to turn an earlier victory into championship recognition.
Sources
- BoxRec: Chartvanchai’s identity and WBA title reign
- BoxRec: Chartvanchai–Villacampo and Ohba–Chartvanchai championship results
- Berkrerk Chartvanchai: early career and first Villacampo meeting
