Japanese pug next for 'Thai Killer'

MANILA, Philippines - It will be No. 1 contender Toshiyuki Igarashi of Japan to challenge newly crowned WBC flyweight champion Sonny Boy Jaro in the Silay City slugger’s first defense of the title he wrested from Thai legend Pongsaklek Wongjongkam via a sixth round stoppage in Chonburi last Friday.

Jaro’s manager Aljoe Jaro told The STAR yesterday the WBC had earlier decreed for Igarashi to face the winner of the Jaro-Pongsaklek bout as the mandatory challenger within 120 days. The fight will likely be in Japan where Jaro lost a decision to Hirofumi Mukai last year.

Pongsaklek was supposed to stake the WBC belt against Igarashi but got a reprieve on an exemption to make an optional defense instead. He was cited as the WBC’s Boxer of the Decade last year for engaging in 24 title bouts over two reigns as flyweight champion. In 2001, Pongsaklek knocked out Filipino Malcolm Tunacao in a single round to capture the WBC 112-pound diadem then repulsed 17 straight challengers before losing the throne to Daisuke Naito in 2007. The Thai regained the crown two years ago and yielded it to Jaro in his fifth defense. WBC official Edward Thangarajah of Sri Lanka called Pongsaklek the greatest fighter Thailand has ever produced.

But against Jaro, Pongsaklek was reduced to a mere mortal.

“We drove to Chonburi which is about an hour away from Bangkok,” related Aljoe Jaro. “While we were in the dressing room before the fight, it rained hard. There were four inches of water in our dressing room and Sonny Boy had to warm up shadow boxing on a stool because we didn’t want his shoes to get wet. We carried Sonny Boy into the ring because we were afraid his shoes would get slippery. We wrapped his shoes with plastic tape so he wouldn’t slip since the canvas was moist due to the rain even if there was a canopy over the ring. The fight started about 3:30 in the afternoon.”

Jaro didn’t waste any time introducing himself to Pongsaklek as he pounced on the Thai from the opening bell. He stunned Pongsaklek with a right hook to the jaw then followed it up with a left hook, causing the champion to stumble. Japanese referee Yuji Toguchi gave Pongsaklek a mandatory eight-count although it seemed like the Thai had slipped because of the wet canvas. Pongsaklek, a southpaw, began to dictate the pace in the second round, raking Jaro with sharp jab-straight combinations capped by a left hook. In the third, Jaro regained his composure and floored Pongsaklek once more, this time with a left to the body and a right to the jaw. Jaro tried to take out the Thai in the fourth and nearly did it as Pongsaklek barely survived a furious assault to be saved by the bell. In the fifth, Jaro looked tired and coasted, allowing Pongsaklek to take the round with combinations that didn’t seem to hurt the Filipino. Jaro went all out for the kill in the sixth. Pongsaklek went down from a flurry and got up at the count of five. Then, Jaro fired 24 unanswered blows and as the Thai slumped down to the canvas, the referee stepped in to end it.

“The secret is motivation,” said Aljoe. “Sonny Boy knew this was his last chance. He surprised Pongsaklek with his power from the start and I think he was intimidated. Pongsaklek never recovered from that knockdown in the first round. Sonny Boy kept beating him to the punch. I told Sonny Boy don’t let Pongsaklek get off the first punch, he had to be first.”

Aljoe said he introduced new things in Jaro’s training. “I wanted to build up Sonny Boy’s power, to add muscle,” he said. “That’s why Sonny Boy did a lot of barbells, not just the regular lifting but doing unconventional things. Then, I took my high school and college football coach to our workouts because I wanted Sonny Boy to improve his footwork. Everything we did in the gym, we did for a reason and it worked.”

Aljoe said matchmaker Panya Prachakorn dubbed Jaro the “Thai Killer” after the shocking upset. “Nobody expected Sonny Boy to win,” said Aljoe. “We knew his only chance was to win by knockout. There was no rematch clause in our contract but after defending against Igarashi, we’re willing to give Pongsaklek a rematch if he wants.”

Pongsaklek’s manager Virat Wachirarattanawongse said it was the worst showing in the fighter’s checkered career. He had previously been stopped only once by Filipino Jerry Pahayahay 16 years ago. The loss dropped Pongsaklek’s record to 83-4-2, with 44 KOs.

Igarashi, a southpaw like Pongsaklek, has a 15-1-1 record, with 10 KOs. He has won eight in a row since losing to Tomonobu Shimizu on points in 2008. The 28-year-old Japanese turned pro in 2006, five years after Jaro, and holds a first round knockout win over Filipino Rexon Flores.

For Jaro, it was destiny calling. In 2008, he lost a decision to Edgar Sosa in a bid for the WBC lightflyweight title in Mexico City. A year later, Jaro was knocked out in the first round with a body shot by Giovani Segura in a WBA lightflyweight championship fight in Merida. His career appeared to be going nowhere after he lost to Angky Angkota in Jakarta and knocked out by Monelisi Myekeni in South Africa in 2005, was halted by Pornsawan Porpramook in Thailand a year later and went down twice in bowing to countryman Danilo Peña on a fourth round knockout in 2007. Only last year, Jaro was knocked out by Oscar Ibarra in Mexico and outpointed by Mukai in Japan.

But in the fight of his life, Jaro mocked the odds by dethroning a Thai legend in his own backyard.