Repeat: Panya Pradabsri defeats Norihito Tanaka for a second time
Pradabsri victorious in fourth world title defence securing his 40th win
WBC strawweight titlist Panya Pradabsri (40-1, 24KO) stopped Japanese challenger Norihito Tanaka (20-10, 10KO) in eight rounds in Rayong, Thailand on June 28, 2023.
32-year-old defending champion Panya floored Tanaka in the opening round, then steadily picked him apart before the challenger's corner rightfully threw in the towel.
Known as Petchmanee CP, Pradabsri didn't waste any time during his first fight in 10 months, the hiatus due to pulling out of his last fight with strep throat.
In their first fight, Tanaka was on the front foot constantly and gave the champion plenty to think about, but the Bangkok boxer was always in control off the backfoot and won convincingly vis unanimous decision.
This time, the 38-year-old veteran from Japan did the same, as was widely expected, but with less caution and found himself on the canvas within 30 seconds of their rematch. It was a counter left hook that sent the careless Tanaka crashing down, but the tenacious challenger beat the count and came back strongly to initiate several exchanges during an exciting opener.
The ex-Japanese champion was very wary pre-fight of his age and that this was his last roll of the dice and he clearly aimed to get stuck into the champ early to upset his rhythm and prevent him from getting into his stride. He displayed this further in the second stanza when he went all-out attack in a frenzied shootout. Tanaka came forward and was successful at times on the inside, which is exactly where he needed the fight to be to impose his style, but the champ was highly successful with his right uppercut which was accurate throughout the contest.
Pradabsri had Tanaka hurt on several occasions during the third. The pinpoint right uppercut was constantly causing the the challenger problems and soon found himself driven back into the ropes where a barrage of punches landed as the referee looked closely but allowed the action to continue.
Tanaka survived the onslaught in the third to come back stronger in the fourth segment that saw Pradabsri slow down his pace slightly.
In the fifth, blood trickled from a cut on the challenger's right eye as many spectators saw the writing appear on the wall.
Pradabsri managed to dictate the distance and pace to land some big straight right hands to the body, which visibly forced Tanaka backwards. The Tokyo veteran didn't give up and showed his heart to close the gap in the seventh, but Pradabsri stood his ground and landed some more of those uppercuts to the chin.
The heart and desire of Tanaka were once again on display in the eighth. The three-time title challenger was head hunting too much and was forced to take shots to get close enough to fire off his own attacks, but it was all taking its toll on the older man.
He was too brave for his own good through the entire rematch, as the younger man picked him apart from the outside until the challenger's corner literally ran into the ring with the towel to waive off the contest.
That's a third defeat in Tanaka's last four fights, and you can imagine this will signal retirement for the Japanese champion who previously said this was his last chance to win a world title.
He has to travel to Thailand for all three challenges, firstly he dropped a 12-round decision to WBA champ Thammanoon Niyomtrong (in March 2020, prior to his two shots at Panya's WBC strap.
The win for Pradabsri marked his fourth successful title defense and 40th professional victory. His reign of five title fights spanning almost three years has come against only three separate opponents.
As well as the two defenses versus Tanaka, Pradabsri twice faced and defeated Chayaphon Moonsri (55-3, 19KOs), firstly to win the green and gold belt in November 2020 and then in a rematch in March 2022. Wedged in between those two fights was a November 2021 decision win over Thai southpaw Danai Ngiabphukhiaw.
This latest win was his first inside the distance in a world title fight. There are three other champions in his category – Thammanoon Niyomtrong (WBA); Danie Valladares (IBF); and Oscar Collazo (WBO).
The bout aired live on true4U and its accompanying YouTube channel.
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