Monday, November 29, 2010

Wanchalong Sitsonong vs Werachai Wor Wiwatanont 2010

Wanchalong's been up in the major stadium rankings for a couple of years now. According to Muaythai2000.com, he was also recently the 108 lb light flyweight champion at Lumpini. He seems to give up height in his weightclass, but obviously has fared quite well. He is a well-rounded, intellgent fighter who opens up quite aggressively. He fights in red here.

Werachai is also in the Lumpini rankings, once again according to Muaythai2000.com, but a weight class higher at 112 lb flyweight. From what I've seen, he can be a bit of a cocky fighter, and is quite elusive. Werachai wears blue in this bout.




Thanks to banana821 for the upload. I have to admit the ending was a surprise for me. The ref looks very confused about what to do and I think for a moment he was considering disqualifying Werachai but made an uncertain decision based on Werachai's cheering. It seems pretty clear from the video that Wanchalong was on the ground when the kick caught him. It has, however, long been acceptable to catch your opponent with a kick as he is falling or even after he's hit the ground. The latter part, hitting after the opponent is already on the ground after a dump or sweep was made illegal circa the late 1990s, but there is still some leeway granted. In this case, I think the ref would have been justified in handing out a disqualification.

Werachai was winning the fight up until that point, nearly dropping Wanchalong with a punch and generally frustrating Wanchalong's attacks. He used his height advantage well. He expressed a little cockiness bordering on hostility throughout the bout but, until the kick on the ground, it just made him look the more confident fighter. Though the ending soured the match for me a little, it's still an enjoyable bout. Often you'll see the taller fighter use their height to take the advantage in the clinch and grind out a decision, so it's a nice change to see a taller fighter use his hight to box and kick from the outside, evading the techniques of his opponent.

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