At A Glance
- Filipino boxer Christian Araneta fell short at claiming the International Boxing Federation light flyweight strap after absorbing a heartbreaking split decision loss to Thanongsak Simsri of Thailand at the Ota City General Gymnasium in Japan on Thursday, June 19.
Filipino boxer Christian Araneta fell short at claiming the International Boxing Federation light flyweight strap after absorbing a heartbreaking split decision loss to Thanongsak Simsri of Thailand at the Ota City General Gymnasium in Japan on Thursday, June 19.
The 30-year-old Cebuano failed to capitalize on the third round knockdown he scored against his Thai counterpart as he seemingly lost steam in the latter rounds, allowing Simsri to assert control and eventually deny him of becoming another Filipino world champion.
The judges' scorecards had Simsri winning 116-111 and 115-112 while the other scored in favor of Araneta 114-113.
Araneta saw his six-fight win streak snap as he dropped to a 25-3 record with 20 knockouts while Simsri improved to a 39-1 record with 34 KOs.
The Filipino bet seemed to be getting the upper hand despite a slow start through the first two rounds after connecting on a looping left hook counter that dropped Simsri. Araneta tried to end it right there and threw a flurry of haymakers but Simsri managed to somehow survive the round.
Waiting for another opening to deliver a lethal blow, the Filipino appeared to be a bit tentative in the next round as Simsri managed to sneak in combinations while keeping distance.
With Araneta too focused on landing another power punch, Simsri, on the other hand, was using his speed and lateral movement to deliver a couple more punches before moving out of Araneta's range and avoiding his counter
Apart from another left that connected for Araneta on the fifth, Simsri was completely outboxing his Filipino counterpart, wearing him down with shots to the body and to the head. Araneta struggled to keep up and looked to be already gassed out in the final rounds.