Liston's Path of Destruction & Thailand's First World Champion (diary entry)

"Learn from the Fight" moved to March and April 1960. Matters began with Sonny "Big Bear" Liston and Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams clashing for the second time. This time the fight was to take place at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston, Texas. Despite being stopped by Liston in April 1959, Williams bounced back quickly with a first round knockout of Ernie Cab just over a month later at the Coliseum in Houston. Liston didn't fight again until August that year when he knocked the former Cuban heavyweight champion, Nino Valdes in round 3. BoxRec has Valdes as Cuba's eighth best pound-for-pound boxer of all time. Curley Lee fell to Williams in round 10 of their October clash also at the Coliseum in Texas. Liston rounded off his year in December when German heavyweight and concentration camp survivor William Besmanoff retired on his stool in round 6. Liston took one more fight before his rematch with Williams in February 1960 where Howard "Honeyboy" King last one more round than Besmanoff before his corner made the same decision. King was another longtime contender for the heavyweight crown and was noted for his win over George Chuvalo and for drawing with Archie Moore. Chuvalo avenged his loss and Moore had previously beaten King twice. Few thought the fight was likely to go the distance. Williams had a 77.1% knockout percentage to Liston's also impressive 64.3%. Williams was an out-and-out slugger whereas Liston was a very conservative boxer-puncher. As their previous encounter, Cleveland Williams's tale of the tape looked much better than Liston's. Williams was taller by 3cm and heavier at 216 lbs to Liston's 213 lbs (although any weight over 200 lbs has not proven to be advantage in the heavyweight division). On the day of the fight the commentator had Liston at 210 and Williams at 213. Despite being a year younger than Liston, Williams had far more experience. His record going into the fight was 49-3-1 to Liston's 27-1. Two of Williams' losses had come via knockout and one of those knockouts had been care of Liston. There was also Liston's infamous power jab, which he threw from a 28cm reach compared to Williams' 15cm. This put Liston ahead in most people's minds and he had climbed to the number 3 contender spot. BoxRec has Williams ranked as tenth at the time but the commentator on the video put him down as fifth. The Ring rankings don't have him anywhere at that time.

Sonny Liston versus Cleveland Williams 21.03.1960

Williams came out in the first round with a low guard and regular level shifts. Liston held his hands high and worked that heavy jab. Liston's head movement was more lateral and he constantly surveyed his target and moved in. Williams caught him on the ropes and moved him away. Liston continued to feint and reach whereas Williams aimed to clip with left. A left hook stumbled him a little on the ropes and he later made Liston shell with his own hook to the body and head. They continued to trade jabs almost toe-to-toe. Liston's head movement was stricter and more minimalistic compared to Williams who did well to parry with his right hand. As in their previous encounter, Liston threw his powerful left hook. Williams rolled and came out the way and fired in a left hook but it landed on his opponent's arms. Round 2 began well for Williams as he seemed to get through Liston's defence with a solid left hook. Moving him to the ropes he unleashed a barrage of punches but the Big Bear absorbed them all on his shell. The moment Williams paused Liston took the initiative and replied with his own head-on assault. Williams then came back with three rapid left hooks. Liston still felt confident and threw in a series of different punches, his overhand rights now also showing up in addition to his one-two combinations and that devastating left hook. Finally, the overhand landed on Williams forehead and was just enough to stun him. With the path clear, Liston sent in a straight right to its target that was immediately followed with a left hook to the jaw. Williams shook his head and was up at the count of eight. Liston closed in quickly and Williams slipped his head. Sonny was on him and let loose a left and right volley of punches that battered Cleveland to the ground. As he slid down the ropes and landed on the seat of his shorts, the look of frustration on Williams face was very clear. He pulled himself up, first turning his back and then turning to face referee, Ernie Taylor. Taylor examined Williams closely and made the decision to stop the fight. Liston  would now face Roy Harris who last saw attempt to take world title from Floyd Patterson. Williams would show that there was still plenty of fight left in him and as he fought three more times that year, claiming knockouts over his next three opponents in rounds 2, 4 and 2 respectively.   We then moved to Thailand, where we returned to the career of Pascual Perez. Perez had made boxing history by becoming the first Argentinian to win a world title. It was also recorded that he was the smallest boxer at that division to gain the title. Indeed, a common a problem Perez encountered when he tried to defend his belt was getting opponents to make the 112 lbs weight limit. Due to this technicality, several of his bouts were catchweight and therefore could not be considered official title defences. After winning one of these non-title fights, he fought the former champion for the third and final time. It resulted in another knockout victory of the Japanese boxer but came much earlier, in round five rather than 15 signalling the end of Yoshio Shirai's fight career in 1955. Perez remained a very active fighter and it wasn't until his fifty-third match that he lost for the first time in his career. It was in a non-title bout in Japan again. This time it was to Sadao Yaoita in Tokyo by unanimous decision. After winning his next two matches to Kenji Yonekura, including one where the flyweight title was on the line, Perez avenged his loss to Yaoita with a thirteenth round knockout. Pone Kingpetch was born Mana Seedokbuab on 12th February 1935 in Hua Hin, Thailand. He turned professional in 1954 knocking out his first opponent in his hometown in round 2. This followed by another victory, this time on points, also in Hua Hin. He then lost his third fight to Suwan Napapon on points in an unspecified venue in Bangkok. He won his next four Bangkok fights before fighting at the famous Rajadamenern Stadium for their boxing flyweight title (roughly equivalent to Thai flyweight championship) where he took his second career loss to the noted flyweight, Kunoi Vithichai in April 1956. Vithichai, a second generation Chinese immigrant of Thailand, was a former nak muay with a very aggressive style.  He won by technical knockout in the seventh round. It appears that Kingpetch was injured in the fifth round and by the seventh was unable to continue. Two months later he won his next two fights in June by points and third round KO respectively. Kingpetch then beat Vithichai in a non-title rematch by sixth round knockout. After knocking out Mintan Kampuch in the fourth round, he fought Vithichai for the third time and took his Rajadamenern flyweight title in a 10-round points victory. Still fighting in Thailand, he began taking on visiting international competition. His first was the Filipino lightweight Danny Kid who he outpointed over 12 rounds and won the vacant Oriental and Pacific flyweight championship on 6th January 1957. He fought another Filipino, Leo Espinosa for his Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation bantamweight title, but lost his third match on a 12 round points decision. In another 12-rounder he outpointed Japan's Hitoshi Misako and retained his Oriental and Pacific flyweight title. Misako  would go on to found the Misako Gym and become a huge promoter in his country's TV boxing scene with Fuji. Misako, it should be noted, only had a short professional career of eight years but managed to fight 50 times and in the previous year, 1956, Ring had him ranked at number 4. He would retire the following year, 1958, and start his gym in 1960 that would produce three world champions. Dommy Ursua, the number 5 ranked flyweight who had unsuccessfully contended for the world bantamweight title, was stopped by Kingpetch in round 5 where it was noted: "Referee Wong Hilanleka stopped the fight and the referee and two judges gave the decision to Pone after an angry Thai crowd broke up the fight." He then fought Masaji Iwamoto who had only just lost his Japanese Commission flyweight title in his previous match and won a 10 round points victory. He next knocked out fellow Thais, Somyod Singmorakot, in round 5 and outpointed Dangtoy Singmorakot over 8 rounds. His next opponent was the Mexican trailblazer and featherweight fighter, Manuel Armenteros. In 1955 Armenteros had made San Antonio history by competing in and winning their first recorded mixed race bout. Later that year he won the Texas featherweight title. In '58 he had failed to snatch the Filipino Games featherweight title. Despite fighting two divisions up from his natural weight Kingpetch outpointed him in 10 rounds. He then knocked out the Filipino bantamweight, Baby Ross in round 4 before challenging Perez. Pascual Perez weighed in at 111 lbs. Pone Kingpetch tipped the scales at 112 lbs. He had an outstanding record of 54-1-1, including 38 stoppages and nine title defences. By the end of his career he will be in the exclusive club of boxers who won more than 50 of their matches by knockout. Since winning the title he had still mainly fought in Argentina but did not do well at the gate, forcing him to become known for his travelling with the title. He took matches in Venezuela, Brazil, The Philippines, Japan, The Dominican Republic and Netherlands Antilles. Kingpetch was tall for a flyweight at 5'6 1/2" to Perez's 4'11" and was known for his slick jab, having a reach that was almost the same as his height. He had gone from being ranked as the seventh to the third when he challenged Perez.

Pone Kingpetch vs. Pascual Perez NBA/Ring World Flyweight Championship 16.04.1960

"Fight promoters announced the following day that 11,000 counterfeit tickets were sold for this fight and that the police had two men in custody. Lumpini Stadium was packed with 34,000 people, but only 23,000 legitimate tickets were sold. One of the promoters, Thong Thos (who was also Kingpetch's manager) stated that he had the tickets printed in Hong Kong but the forged ones were run off and sold in Bangkok. The proceeds of the card were destined for charity and the Thai armed forces." - BoxRec

We watched the most complete version of the fight available online.

One of the judges was none other than Ring Magazine editor, Nat Fleischer.

Pone Kingpetch entered the ring in a style that would later be popularised by likes of Chris Eubank and Prince Naseem Hamed when he leapt over the ropes. After both men had ceremonial attire put over their necks prior to the fight and were presented with a large trophy cup they moved into the centre of the ring to receive instruction. As with nearly all the fights we have seen, both men kept their robes on - even in the Thai heat - which is rarely done these days. At this point the size difference between the fighters was evident.

The fight began and it didn't take a boxing expert to work out the obvious strategies. Perez was a swarmer/slugger hybrid, leaning closer to slugger with the swarming side only present on account of his size, who had fought most his career against larger opponents, either in his own division or very often jumping up categories (perhaps jumping being the operative word). I was reminded that Perez was another lefthander who fought orthodox. He used fast inside, almost hopping footwork to move inside and deliver a high volume of damage before quickly retreating. Kingpatch was all about using that jab and exploiting his range.

Kingpetch seemed keen to be on the offensive and this seemed to throw Perez off his flow early on. He pushed him back to the ropes several times. For his part, Perez went to the body, a more available target once he was on the inside. At close range, Perez worked hard to stick to his opponent whereas Kingpetch focused on moving the champion out. Round 1 saw Kingpetch using more linear footwork. Besides his characteristic hopping in and out, Perez was more lateral in his movements. Towards the end of the first round, Perez began driving Kingpetch back but then the challenger pushed back.

Round 2 saw Kingpetch show more versatility with his footwork and Perez begin to get back into his aggressive stride. Early on he appeared to be forcing the fight, throwing some fairly wide over hands and hooks. Kingpetch was clearly in the out-boxer role, picking shots with his jab. The referee, Lorenzo Torreoalba, seemed to be against clinching, briefly stopped the fight twice after a clash of heads and checked Perez for damage before waving on the fight. Peculiarly the second time occurred a split second after he had waved on the fight from the head clash and Kingpetch had caught Perez with a sharp upward angled hook. Kingpetch showed good head movement as he ducked under one of Perez's looping punches. Barrelling forward, Perez appeared to almost slip and the fight was again stopped and waved on by the referee. The round ended with Perez forcing the fight much more than he had done in the previous round but Kingpetch landing many well-placed shots.

Round 3 saw the referee seemingly being overly sensitive to clinching and quick to split up the fighters, even when they went to the ropes. Perez continued to be the aggressor with Kingpetch putting together a few two-punch combinations, usually bringing his over hand. The challenger seemed to be mainly trying to swat away his opponent who regularly fought him into the ropes. Perez clearly won this round.

The fourth round saw Kingpetch manoeuvre around the challenger with a lot more poise. Perez again came in aggressive and pushed his opponent against the ropes but could not keep him there. The challenger moved the fight to the centre of the ring and began to get behind his jab again. Close ups on the fierce exchanges revealed Kingpetch doing an excellent job at avoiding, blocking and countering Perez's big punches. He also landed a couple of very stiff looking close-range uppercuts in succession. As the round neared its conclusion, Perez continued to load up on big punches often travelling the ring to an attempts to land them. Kingpetch showed more composure in avoiding them, moving around his opponent and landing his own punches. I gave this round to the challenger.

Round 5 saw Torreoalba stop the fight to reprimand Perez for dipping too low. Kingpetch's chopping right hand was on full display in this round as he worked to keep Perez at range. I also noticed another one of his regular weapons: a posting jab using the inside of his glove. Perez continued his forward pressure, no longer looking to hop back out of the pocket. He was all about causing maximum damage on the inside throwing hooks, shovel hooks and overhand rights with raw abandon. Again, I saw this to be Kingpetch's round.

The sixth round began at a slower pace with Perez taking the centre of the ring and Kingpetch circling. A few exchanges quickly deteriorated into clinches that were promptly separated. At one point the referee reprimanded the challenger for uppercutting whilst holding his opponent. It appeared to be a lull before the storm with the Argentinian as went on the offensive again. Perez put Kingpetch on the defence, forcing him into the ropes. Pone showed very swift lateral movements in the pocket as Pascual piled on the pressure, often hitting him with his forearm when his punches didn't always connect. Seeming to sense blood in the water, the champion kept up the onslaught. Kingpetch kept moving but barely blocked the punches let alone countered them. Perez took the round in my eyes.

Dipping low and throwing jabs to the body, Pascual Perez stretched his reach at the beginning of round seven. He soon resumed his forward pressure and began chasing Kingpetch around the ring. The challenger intercepted his opponent several times but Perez was mainly forcing the fight. An irate Torreoalba separated the two on the ropes for another head clash or possible intentional headbutt on Kingpetch's behalf. The challenger seemed to take the fight back to his opponent this time and, as the round neared it end, was doing well to avoid and counter. I saw this to be close round.

The footage skipped to round 10. A slightly slow start saw Kingpetch meet his opponent in the middle of the ring with more vigour. He slipped and weaved away from Perez's swinging attacks and struck back hard, milling with speed on the inside. The champion began skipping in and out of range, as we had seen him do in previous highlight footage. Some back and forth with Perez trying to force the fight saw an abrupt change of pace as the challenger landed a sharp left hook to the dipping face of the champion. Kingpetch seemed to clearly be outmaneuvering his opponent at this point with sharp footwork and happily meeting the Argentinian with rapid punches on the inside. Round 10 was the challenger's.

Torreoalba had his work cut out for him in round 11 and he clearly allowed more clinch-work this time. So much of the fight was performed at close range with rapid exchanges. After the previous round, Kingpetch seemed very confident to exchange here. Slow motion footage revealed Perez to also have excellent head movement skills too and one exchange saw him move out of the way of every single one of his opponent's blows.

Round 12 wasn't especially eventful. The challenger picked most of his shots off on the back-foot and the champion pressed him into the ropes. Kingpetch readily threw punches to the body whenever possible.

A more energetic thirteenth round saw Perez lunge more but Kingpetch landed most of the shots. His punches found his opponent's head and body most.

Both men fought a very hard fourteenth. It was the familiar pattern with Perez forcing the fight but Kingpetch accumulating points on the back-foot. The challenger's posting left was very much in play, as was his left hook. Meanwhile Perez was still content with crashing in and looping his punches over and under his opponent's guard.

The final round seemed to be a slower pace with no clear advantage either way.

BoxRec provided me with the below scores.

• Referee: Lorenzo Torreoalba 145-143

• Judge: Nat Fleischer 140-146

• Judge: Wong Hiranyalekha 137-148

Pone Kingpetch became the first Thai to win a boxing world championship. He agreed to fight Perez in a rematch for the title. This would be held at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, USA. Next time we will see second-time world champion Gene Fullmer defend his NBA version of the world middleweight title for the second time of this reign as he takes on the incredibly long rising force of Joey Giardello in his 107th fight and first time title shot! https://clubbchimera.com/services/