By Ian S Palmer
Former WBC Junior Bantamweight Champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai will be meeting Amnat Ruenroeng in a 10-round bout in their home nation of Thailand this Saturday, August 1st. The fight can be seen live around the world on Matchroom’s You Tube channel. Rungvisai last fought in April of 2019 when he lost his title to Juan Francisco Estrada by unanimous decision. It was a rematch of their 2018 bout which Rungvisai won by majority decision. Ruenroeng last boxed in March of last year when he beat Brian Lobetania by a six-round unanimous decision.
Rungvisai, also known as Wisasksil Wangek, pulled off an upset in March, 2017 when he beat Roman Gonzalez by a controversial majority decision. He then defended the crown against Chocolatito in their rematch in September, 2018 by fourth-round stoppage. The 33-year-old enters the contest with a fine mark of 47-5-1 with 41 Kos. His other losses have come against Carlos Cuadras by eighth-round technical decision in May, 2014, a 10-round unanimous decision to Kenji Oba in February, 2010, a third-round Ko to Yushin Yafuso in June, 2009 and a third-round TKO to Akira Yaegashi in March, 2009.
Those two stoppages came in his first two pro fights and he drew his third outing when he went six rounds with Sean Patavikorngym in August of 2009. Rungvisai has lost just twice since 2009 and had a 20-fight winning streak going with 15 knockouts until losing to Estrada. However, until meeting Gonzalez, Rungvisai had been taking on questionable opposition as three opponents of them were making their pro debuts and a couple of others had limited and losing records.
Rungvisai turned pro in 2009 and he has 222 rounds under his belt since then. Other than beating Gonzalez and Estrada, his biggest wins have been against Yota Sato, and Jose Salgado. He’s a southpaw who stands 5-feet-3-inches tall with a reach of 63.5 inches. Rungvisai definitely has good power regardless of the opposition as his current knockout ratio stands at an impressive 77.4 per cent.
Since turning pro, Rungvisai has a mark of 6-2 with 3 Kos in world title fights and has gone 4-3 with 2 Kos against former, current or future world champions. He’s captured the WBC Asian Boxing Council Super Flyweight Title and WBC Silver Super Flyweight Title along the way as well as the WBC World Super Flyweight Title twice and the Ring Magazine Super Flyweight Championship. His win and loss against Estrada were also for the lineal Super Flyweight Championship.
Ruenroeng may be 40 years old now but he’s no slouch. He’s a former IBF World Flyweight Champion who defended the belt five times. His record now stands at 20-3 with 6 Kos with all three of his defeats coming since 2016 in his last three bouts. He turned pro in 2012 and has fought 180 rounds since. Ruenroeng possesses great boxing skills but not much in the way of power as his current knockout ratio stands at 26.1 per cent.
He stands just over 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 69.5-inch reach. This gives him a 1.5-inch edge in height on Rungvisai as well as a big six-inch reach advantage. His career losses have been to John Riel Casimero by fourth round stoppage in 2016, a 12-round unanimous decision to Wengfeng Ge in 2017 and a fifth-round TKO to Nawaphon Kaikanha in 2018. His biggest wins have been against Rocky Fuentes, Kazuto Ioka, McWilliams Arroyo, Zou Shiming and Casimero.
Ruenroeng had plenty of amateur experience as he represented Thailand at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China and as a pro at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the lightweight division. He won a bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships, made the quarterfinals at the 2009 World Championships and won bronze at the 2010 Asian Games. Since turning pro he’s won several regional titles and has gone 6-1 in world title fights and is 3-1 against former or current world champions.
Prediction…
Both of these guys have tons of experience with Rungvisai having more power and the better chin. He knows he can’t take Ruenroeng lightly especially with the fight being scheduled for 10 rounds. Both are world class boxers but at the age of 40 Ruenroeng hasn’t been quite as effective lately. I like Rungvisai’s natural aggressiveness and expect him to have his hand raised in victory.
