By David Finger
Rocky Marciano’s mythical 49-0 record may have been broken earlier this year when Floyd Mayweather notched his 50th win against a debuting Conor McGregor…but despite that (or maybe because of it) there is still a lot of magic surrounding the number 49.
And on November 25th reigning WBC minimumweight champion Wanheng Menayothin, aka Chayaphon Moonsri, will attempt to tie one of the most storied records in professional sports and he defends his WBC belt against former WBO mini-flyweight champion Tatsuya Fukuhara (19-5-6, 7 KOs) in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand (located 162 miles northeast of Bangkok).
Menayothin is already the most talked about minimumweight since Ricardo Lopez, and his fight with Fukuhara already looks to be one of the more intriguing WBC minimumweight title fights since Ricardo Lopez defended his WBA and WBA titles against Rosendo Alvarez back in 1998.
The gritty former WBO champion will see if he can derail the highly favored undefeated champion, who will be coming into the ring with a jaw dropping record of 48-0, 17 KOs. Still, Fukuhara is seen as arguably the most dangerous opponent Menayothin has faced to date. The WBC #10 ranked mimimumweight is wasting no time getting back in the saddle after dropping his WBO mini-flyweight title to Ryu Yamanaka back in August and after his crowd pleasing brawl with Mexico’s Moises Calleros (which was for the vacant WBO interim belt) Fukuhara emerged as a star in his native Japan. Although Fukuhara struggled with the slick boxing Yamanaka, he still as seen as a fighter who could give the undefeated champion problems when they fight on November 25th.
In his last fight Menayothin won a six round decision over journeyman Jack Amisa back on August 25th. Prior to that fight he excited local fans when he rallied from a shaky opening round to dominate highly touted Australian contender Omari Kimweri over 12-round on June 3rd.
The fight was originally slated to take place on November 24th but was moved to the 25th according to the WBC’s website.