March 24th

On this day...
 
1989-Samuth Sithnaruepol (34-11-1, 18) Vs Nico Thomas (7-6-1, 3) I
Thailand's Samuth Sithnaruepol's second defense of the IBF Minimumweight title saw him take on Indonesian foe Nico Thomas in Jakarta. The bout saw some really crazy scoring, though resulted in a majority draw for the Thai, thanks to a bizarre 117-117 card from John Reilly. A rematch in June would however see Thomas take the win, to become the second ever Indonesian world champion.
 
1989-Kazuto Ioka's Birthday
Also on this day in 1989 was the birthday of Japan's Kazuto Ioka, who has won 3 world titles during his career far, and is looking to become a 4 weight world champion later this year. The Japanese fighter won his first world title back in 2011, unified titles in 2012 and went on to have success at higher weights as well.
 
1988-Samuth Sithnaruepol (32-11-1, 17) vs Pretty Boy Lucas (17-0-1, 5)
In 1987 Kyung Yung Lee became the first ever IBF Minimumweight champion. Sadly he vacated before making a single defense, and that resulted in Thailand's Samuth Sithnaruepol taking on unbeaten Pretty Boy Lucas in the second ever IBF title fight at 105lbs. The bout saw the Thai scoring an 11th round stoppage over the Filipino, who would end up going 0-3-1 in world title bouts. 
 
1980-Shigeo Nakajima (13-2-1, 7) Vs Hilario Zapata (10-1, 5) I
In January 1980 Japan's Shigeo Nakajima claimed the WBC Light Flyweight title. In his first defense, he took on the great Hilario Zapata, who was getting his first world title fight. Nakajima would be narrowly beaten by the rising star of Panama before being stopped in a rematch 6 months later. By the middle of 1981 Nakajima was done, whilst Zapata was doing a world tour against stop contender
 
1960-Elly Pical's birthday
It's not just a time for Kazuto Ioka to blow out candles but this day is also when 3-time Indonesian world champion Elly Pical does it too! Pical was the first Indonesian to win a world title, and would hold the IBF Super Flyweight title 3 times. Sadly however all 3 reigns were relatively short lived, and only 1 lasted for more than a year.