Thailand's Wanheng Menayothin is ready to secure a place in the history books when he defends his WBC minimumweight title against Panama's Leroy Estrada Wednesday.
Unbeaten Wanheng (49-0, 17KOs) is one win from equalling Floyd Mayweather's 50-0 record.
The 32-year-old Thai is a 2-1 odds-on favourite in the eyes of the Thai bookies in the mandatory bout to be fought at a makeshift ring outside Nakhon Ratchasima's provincial hall. TC Channel 7 was set to cover the event live at 3pm.
Estrada, 23, has a record of 16-2-0 (6KOs) and is the top-ranked challenger in the WBC's 105-pound division.
Both fighters hit the scale at the limit yesterday during the weigh-in witnessed by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman.
Sulaiman will watch the contest at the venue and hand Wanheng a special belt worth 500,000 baht if he matches Mayweather's flawless record.
The Thai champion, known in his country as Wanheng Kaiyanghadaogym (Five-Star Grilled Chicken Gym) by virtue of a sponsorship deal with a food company, said he was confident that he would retain the crown.
"I will do my best to keep the belt," said Wanheng, whose real name is Chayaphon Moonsri.
It will be Wanheng's ninth defence of the title.
Wanheng, which means "Lucky Day", successfully defended the title for the eighth time last November with a unanimous decision over Japan's Tatsuya Fukuhara.
On the other hand, Estrada beat Mexico's Saul "Baby" Juarez last May.
Carlos Costa, a boxing reporter covering the fight, said Estrada posed a unique challenge to the Thai champion.
"He's younger and fresher," Costa said of Estrada. "He's hungry for glory, and that makes a boxer always dangerous."
The Panamanian is in no mood to help Wanheng into the record books, telling AFP "this is my opportunity to be a champion".
Wanheng's handlers are worried about Estrada's threat.
"He [Estrada] is fast and has good basic skills. He looks dangerous and it is not a surprise because this is a mandatory fight," said promoter Piyarat Vachirarattanawong.
"However, if Wanheng is not careless, I am confident that he will retain the title and match the 50-win record."
Meanwhile, at 1.57m Wanheng Menayothin is shorter, leaner and significantly less wealthy than Mayweather, who briefly emerged from retirement last year to fight MMA star Conor McGregor for a US$100 million purse.
While the prelude to Mayweather fights was defined by hype and trash-talking, Wanheng has adopted a more karmic approach.
"I'm not feeling pressured, you win and you lose, and that's the nature of sports," he said at his gym in Bangkok a few days ago.
But he said he had trained hard with the aim of "equalling Floyd".
"With respect to Wanheng he's never beaten anyone of note. In the west this fight will be nothing more than a trivial pursuit question," Anson Wainwright, a boxing correspondent for The Ring magazine, told AFP, adding that matching the record would nevertheless be a "good achievement." bangkok post/afp
