Ponsaneh Sitmonchai vs Pakon Sakyothin 2010

This was the first fight between the two. It was hailed as Fight of the Year when it went down and was just awarded that status at Lumpini for 2010.

Ponsaneh is the master of go-go-go. At first sight, he looks to be employing a Dutch style but, while the tools are the same, the rhythm and application are entirely his own, (or his camp's. I've heard all Sitmonchai fighters specialize in hands and lowkicks). Ponsaneh's style is the same in every fight so I won't spoil anything by saying that he comes out in this one throwing bombs and chopping trees. Bouts with him are intense affairs, the opponent always having to grit their teeth and intensify their own game just to make it into later rounds. The drawback of Ponsaneh's style is that punches do not score that much in Thailand so, unless they do some obvious damage or the low kicks really accumulate, he loses on points. He also has surprisingly little head movement for a fighter who uses so much boxing. He normally fights at 124 lb but has been fighting as high as 128 lb. He wears red in this bout.

Pakon or Pakorn Sakyothin became a big name and a contender after this bout. I assume he was reputable already in order to earn a bout with Ponsaneh, but the closeness and intensity of this match meant his stock shot way with promoters and especially gamblers. Pakon's style is much more conservative. He keeps his defense strong and utilizes a powerful base to counter and impose his game on opponents. In the clinch, he is very strong, though there is less of that in this bout, and his game of jab, teep, left kick is very solid. Pakon is ranked at 126 lb in the stadiums and wears the blue shorts in this bout.


Part 1


Part 2


Thanks to Quakepunk for the videos. You can bet both these guys did some serious damage to each other. It's eye-widening to see the tide slowly turn in round 3 and Pakon start to advance. He is phenomenally strong, even for a stadium fighter, to absorb the damage he did and advance apparently unfazed. Ponsaneh resorts to using teeps and middle kicks himself to hold Pakon off and score some points. He fades a little before Pakon, but when they're both tired is when the bout becomes a very brutal back and forth, with the fighters taking turns advancing and landing hard techniques. In the 5th round, Pakon knows he's won and you can hear the gamblers in the audience yelling "teep." Pakon knows to do it anyway, keeping his distance with teeps and jabs.

Ponsaneh outlands Pakon in the earlier rounds but, as I've mentioned, it's the later rounds that really score in Muay Thai. Pakon was scoring well with middle kicks throughout and when he brought knees into play, Ponsaneh really slowed. These two rematch a couple of months later in an even more tightly fought bout. I'll post that and some fights from Bovy Sor Udomson, another strong, advancing fighter, later.