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Vinny’s Views: A Closer Look at Srisaket Sor Rungvisai a Name the Boxing World Needs To Get Familiar With!

By Vinny “Glory Days” Lucci

Repeat after me, “Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.” The name doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue but this little spitfire from Thailand kicked down the door this past weekend on HBO making the correct spelling of his name mandatory for every boxing scribes and sending notice and shockwaves through the boxing fraternity at large. Perhaps we should just simply tag this firebrand “SSR,” much like the rock and roll world was able to embellish the immortal Stevie Ray Vaughn with the initial moniker.

What the world witnessed Saturday night wasn’t the traditional passing of torch from old to young, but the unveiling of crossfire hurricanes with one extinguishing the other completely.

The first time these two warriors meet Ringside Report covered the event ringside from Madison Square Garden as co –main event to Golovkin Vs Jacobs. On that night most writers and ringside fans awarded SSR four rounds, five max. He put up a spirited hell raising brawl that made for a very entertaining defense for Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez.

A clash of heads early on opened up a gash alongside the champion’s eye which his corner was never able to contain the blood flow. The judges overlooked the Nicaraguan’s punch count as well as his power punching and awarded the challenger the WBC super-flyweight title. The scores read 114-112 (twice) & 113-113.

Fast forward to the rematch which warranted main event status HBO ringside commentators to wonder aloud if the four months SSR put into training for this bout would leave him over trained in his first defense of the title? The rematch on paper had odds makers predicting Roman avenging the loss and clarifying the justice denied him the first go round.

Somewhere along the middle of the first round the clouds had begun to part and my mind reverberated to that strange night in February 1990 when one Buster Douglas overcame 49/1 odds to knockout the invincible “Iron” Mike Tyson. It was about the very same time the trained eye not in denial could see that the challenger was beating the champion to the punch and making the favorite miss shots and look awkward.

In both fights the challenger was undressing the champion before the end of the third round leaving audiences to ponder if they were witnessing the end of a legend? Rungvisi took all the drama out of the equation in the fourth round by dropping his nemesis with a right hand from his southpaw stance. He beat the count and assured referee he could continue.

Two combinations later he again timed Gonzalez perfectly and dropped the former champion on his back with another right hand. The referee waived off contest and possibly signaled the end of Chocolatito’s glory days. My Editor in Chief often reminds not to run away with a subject. This one was simple if I may quote Shakespeare. “The king is dead. Long live the king.”

The Vinny Factor:

While many will speculate that their first meeting took more out of Roman than it did Srisaket, one thing can’t be denied. In the rematch he lacked muscle tone, was slower pulling the trigger on his hammers and his timing was off. His defense was suspect and left himself often to counters. Having gone to war for twelve brutal rounds with his adversary just six months ago it appeared he could not find his distance, rhythm, or power.

Most boxers ponder retirement after their first loss, particularly after a brutal knockout. What made this ending scary was not the stoppage in itself, but the fact Gonzalez just ate a KO punch just seconds before and rose again on unsteady legs just to receive another. He was taken directly to hospital for observation.

As the fall rides out the remainder of 2017 boxing calendar we wish Roman the best of health as he contemplates his future. Should his corner decide on a comeback I sincerely wish they take next year off and let his body rest. At thirty years of age and with a ledger of 46-2, 38 KO’s he would be wise to return to either light flyweight or flyweight division where his 5’3” body might still be able to handle the adversity of pressure fighters.

Stay tuned…

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