|
As is the case with many Asian
boxers, it is hard to confirm
the accuracy of some of his
earlier fights, but according to
boxrec.com former WBF World
Flyweight Champion
Fahlan Sakkreerin from
Thailand made his professional
debut on June 30 1988 and lost
on points after eight rounds.
The man who beat him was no
slouch, as Chana Porpaoin (1-0
at the time) went on to win the
WBA World Strawweight title in
1993 and 2001 and defend that
belt successfully eight times,
before retiring in 2006 with a
53-4-5 (19) record.
Born on April 10 1968, the
southpaw from Maha Sarakham
province had yet to turn twenty
years old when he came up short
against Porpaoin, and the early
loss didn’t hinder his ambitions
or the great things he went on
to achieve as his career
progressed.
Already in his second bout
Sakkreerin rebounded well, and
beat hot favorite Pornchai
Sithpraprom (7-1) by unanimous
decision after flooring his more
experienced foe in the first and
second round. While his record
was now only 1-1, he had already
proven himself to be a very
promising prospect.
After another nine victories,
Sakkreerin was awarded a shot at
the vacant Thai Strawweight
title, relinquished by the
aforementioned Chana Porpaoin,
in July 1989 in Bangkok. He
didn’t let the opportunity go to
waste, as he stopped Ded
Donjadee (13-12-1) in two brutal
rounds.
Les than three months later he
defended his title with a
ten-round decision over Kom
Sorthanikul (reportedly 2-0),
before staying busy with a
fourth round knockout of
Thaveelert Torboonlert (4-1) the
following December. And after
only fourteen professional
fights, his handlers now felt he
was ready to gatecrash the world
scene.
Undefeated reigning IBF World
Strawweight Champion Eric Chavez
(26-0-3) was lured out of his
native Philippines to defend his
crown against Sakkreerin in
February 1990 at the Rajadamnern
Stadium in Bangkok, and the
challenger rose to the occasion
as he won by seventh round
stoppage.
Sakkreerin retained his IBF
world title seven times, beating
top class challengers such as
Chavez in a rematch, Pretty Boy
Lucas (25-1-1), Andy Tabanas
(17-0) and Felix Naranjo
(13-0-2), before unexpectedly
losing it to another Filipino,
Manny Melchor (19-15-4), by
split decision in September
1992.
The loss to Melchor, considered
to be nothing more than a
high-end journeyman, was
something of a chock to
Sakkreerin and the people
backing him, but a plan to win a
second world championship was
quickly set in motion and it was
decided that Flyweight would be
the new weightclass to do it in.
With six straight victories
during the course of two years,
Sakkrering received the chance
he had been waiting for in the
form of a shot at the vacant WBF
World Flyweight title. After
some difficulties with opponents
pulling out, he ended up
fighting Bulgarian champion
Krasimir Cholakov on October 22,
1994 in Bangkok, and won a wide
decision.
The new WBF world champion went
on to show undeniable class,
defending the title in
convincing fashion eight times
before voluntarily relinquishing
it in 1999 to move down to Light
Flyweight and pursue world
honors in a third weightclass.
Before that he had fended off
good challengers, including
Zolile Mbityi (16-2-1), who
later won two world titles, and
top-contenders Roger Espanola
(16-8-1), Gerardo Garcia (19-4)
and Vuyu Toyise (12-3-2).
Unfortunately the venture to
Light Flyweight didn’t turn out
quite as successful.
Another two years and seven
victories was necessary before
it was arranged that Sakkreerin
would travel to the USA and face
his old foe Andy Tabanas (now
40-4-1) for the vacant WBO World
Light Flyweight title on a Don
King-promoted show at the
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in
Las Vegas on February 3, 2001.
It had been ten years since
Sakkreerin beat Tabanas in a
defense of the IBF title, and
while it was a relatively close
fight the first time it was an
even closer encounter in the
second go-around. After twelve
rounds, one judge scored it for
the Thai, one scored it for
Tabanas and the third judge had
it even, making the rematch a
split draw.
Seven months later Sakkreerin
got another chance when he
challenged Nelson Dieppa
(18-1-1) for the same title at
the legendary Madison Square
Garden in New York, as part of
the HBO Pay-Per-View broadcast
headlined by Bernard Hopkins vs.
Felix Trinidad.
But the man from Puerto Rico had
too much for Sakkreerin, who at
33 years of age was on the
down-slide of an otherwise
magnificent career. Dieppa
controlled the fight from early
on, and deservedly won a
unanimous decision with scores
of 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109.
But even though he had seen
better days, Sakkreerin was
still world class and decided to
make another run at a world
title. He won and defended the
IBF Pan Pacific title, which
eventually got him in line for a
crack at the IBF world Light
Flyweight championship, held by
Jose Victor Burgos (36-13-3) in
May 2004.
Back at the Mandalay Bay Resort
& Casino in Las Vegas, and again
on a major HBO card promoted by
Don King, a 36-year-old
Sakkreerin almost turned back
the clock as he floored Burgos
in the fourth round. But the
tough Mexican came back strong,
and ended the fight only two
rounds later after scoring two
knock-downs.
In May 2005 Sakkreerin traveled
to Indonesia for what would be
not only his last world
championship fight, but his last
fight, period. Amazingly he had
moved back down to Strawweight
to challenge IBF world titlist
Muhammad Rachman (59-5-4), but
the fight was declared a
technical draw when a head-clash
left the champion unable to
continue in round three.
Fahlan Sakkreerin retired with
an impressive 54-4-3 (23)
record, and with 23 world
championship fights on his
ledger. He won nine WBF world
title fights, and went 17-3-3
over-all in fights with a world
title on the line. When his
regional title fights are
included, more than half of his
61 pro fights were for a title!
The smallest weight-classes are
often overlooked, but a lot of
magnificent achievements do
happen in that end of the
weight-scale. Fahlan Sakkreerin
achieved magnificent results,
was one of the best of his time,
and deserves to be recognized as
such.
In April 2015, Fahlan Sakkreerin
Jr. (currently 29-4-1)
challenged for his fathers old
IBF Strawweight title, but came
up short as he lost a ninth
round technical decision to
defending champion Katsunari
Takayama in Japan. Promoted by
the same man as Senior was,
Jimmy Chaichotchuang, Junior
(22) will likely get a new
chance in the future.
|
