A new is upon us and title fights are back on January 10th when we get the first world title bout of the year. The bout in question sees Korean world champion Eun Hye Lee (8-0, 3) defending her WBO Female Light Flyweight title for the first time and battling against Touted Australian destroyer Louisa Hawton (6-0, 3). For Lee the bout will be her first since last September's title win over Ploynapa Sakrungrueng whilst Hawton, who had previously chased Momo Koseki, will be in her first world title bout and see her return to the ring for the first time since last August.

The 33 year old Korean has come through the local scene claiming a national title in her third professional bout, back in 2012, and a regional title two years later before finally taking a world title last year. Whilst she has progressed the typical way she does lack wins of real quality with Ploynapa being her best win so far, not an outstanding win. In total she has beaten just two fighters with winning records and has failed to show her ability is genuinely top tier. Despite that she has rarely lost more than a couple of rounds in a fight and appears to fight to her strengths.

Australian fighter Hawton debuted less than 2 years ago and has raced up her record. Through 2015 she faced 3 fighters with winning records, including former world title challenger Angor Onesongchaigym and Jujeath Nagaowa, with Nagaowa being the only fighter to last more than 4 rounds with Hawton. In the ring Hawton is a confident, fast and powerful fighter. There are some technical chinks in her defense but watching her attack is worrying given her ability and explosiveness. Getting into a fight with her isn't a smart idea, but from watching her she does seem able to force her style on to fights. Of course there is a question regarding her stamina though it's fair to say that she's never had to prove it given her style and dominance so far.

Coming into this one it's fair to say both fighters are facing their stiffest opponent so far. Neither fighter is amazingly proven and although both are unbeaten neither has faced anyone of real quality. Saying that however we have been more impressed by what we've seen of Hawton and suspect her explosive aggression will be the difference between the two here.

It's not often that a world title bout goes completely under-the-radar but it appears that one really has done. That's the upcoming WBO female Light Flyweight title fight between unbeaten Korean Eun Hye Lee (7-0, 2) and Thai youngster Ploynapa Sakrungrueng (12-5-1, 1). The bout, which is set to take place in Lee's homeland of Korea on June 27th, has hardly had a mention by those in the boxing press, and that's despite the bout now taking place on a rescheduled date after originally being announced for May 23rd. It had to be put back a month following an injury suffered by Lee though the bout was so under-the-radar that no one seemed to even know about the injury.

Thankfully here we are and the bout now looks to be a go-er with Lee getting her first world title fight and Ploynapa returning to South Korea, where she has been unsuccessful on 3 previous visits.

The title's vacant coming in to this bout, following Argentinian legend Yesica Yolanda Bopp vacating the belt, though that won't take anything away from the desire of the two fighters involved in the bout, who will both be looking to claim their first world title.

Although Lee is fighting in her first world title bout she has got title experience. The 32 year old has held, and defended, the WBO Asia Pacific female Flyweight title. Of course this bout is at 108lbs and not 112lbs however the loss of those 4lbs shouldn't be much of a problem for the Korean who has also held the South Korean Light Flyweight title.

Sadly, though not unexpectedly, footage of Lee is hard to come by. What we do have is her bout with Rathsada Sor Worasin. In that bout she looked rather well schooled with nice hand speed, sharp combinations and, more notably, she looked huge at the weight. At times Rathsada forced her back but more often than not the Korean looked in control, even on the back foot. Although she did seem a good boxer-mover she also showed an ability to trade when she had to and was able to better Rathsada in every facet of the bout. Interestingly boxrec list her at 5' 4½” which is rather tall for a fighter at 112lbs. Interestingly we've since seen Rathsada in action and she actually managed to give Japan's Tomomi Takano, a very tall Super Flyweight, a tougher bout than she gave Lee.

Coming in to the bout the Thai is more experienced fighter with 18 boxing contests under her belt. She's also the much younger fighter, having turned 21 late last year. Sadly however she's also the fighter who appears to have been more “exposed” than the Korean. So far in her career she has been stopped 3 times, from her 5 losses, and has shown a lack of power with just a single stoppage win, albeit a stoppage she scored last time out.

Again footage of Ploynapa wasn't that widely available, though we did manage to come across one of her very early bouts. The bout in question was her 2011 bout with Yeon-Hee Kim, which was Ploynapa's first bout in Korea. In that bout the then 17 year old Thai looked like a promising novice but Kim seemed so much sharper and more technically capable than the Thai. To her credit the youngster acquitted herself well against her more capable foe and showed a genuine toughness, especially late on when Kim really went hunting a stoppage. Since that bout Ployanapa has, understandably, developed as a fighter and as a woman. Sadly however she has yet to score a win over a fighter with a winning record, at least according to boxrec.com who are admittedly not 100% accurate with their Thai records.

Whilst the footage of each fighter is scarce it does give us a decent read on how we suspect the fight will go. We suspect that Ploynapa will try and get close to Lee who will use her size and reach to land sharp shots at range. Up close, where Ploynapa should have the advantage, we'll see things being more competitive however we can't see Ploynapa having the strength or power to really trouble the Korean, even when the action is being fought on inside.

Our prediction is a clear win for Lee, probably by a wide decision, though a possible late stoppage shouldn't be ruled out.