Mahyar Monshipour v Somsak Sithchatchawal

PictureCourtesy of boxrec.com
Not every fight is fun to watch. In fact there are a lot of really dire match ups every week though we still watch in the hope of seeing something special. In March 2006 we got something very special and something that makes it easy to remember why we love boxing so much.

In France and televised on Canal+ the Iranian born Frenchman Mahyar Monshipour (28-2-2, 29) dubbed "Little Tyson" attempted to defend his WBA Bantamweight title against Thai Somsak Sithchatchawal (45-1-1, 35). Neither man was particularly well known going in to the bout, at least by boxing fans outside of their respective homeland's but both men managed to become stars to the boxing fans and media almost immediately after the bout.

Going in to the bout Monshipour was on a 7 year unbeaten run (20-0-1) he had been the European champion and had held the WBA belt for more than 2 and a half years. As the champion he had made 5 title defenses including one over former champion Yoddamrong Sithyodthong (who like Sithchatchawal was a Thai).

Likewise Sithchatchawal was on a long unbeaten run that dated back more than 8 years. In fact his sole defeat up this point was against the legendary Ratanachai Sor Vorapin was 36 fights ago (since then he had gone 35-0-1). He had claimed the PABA belt and defended it repeatedly, though was seen as the one taking a big step up in class to face a world champion. It was also going to be his first fight outside of his native Thailand since 1998 and just his 3rd outside of his homeland.
The bout got off to an amazing start, there was no feeling out round and instead the men just went straight to work with the smaller Monshipour applying pressure from the off. With in 20 seconds of the contest beginning Monshipour was on the canvas, albeit following a slip. The Frenchman was down again, this time from a punch, soon afterwards as the bout started with real fireworks. The first round didn't appear to see a serious jab thrown from either man with Monshipour looking looking for his hooks and Sithchatchawal having a field day with uppercuts, which were often thrown in flurries.

Amazingly after one of the greatest opening rounds a fight has seen things merely got better. The second round saw both men continuing to do just as they had in the opening round with Monshipour applying constant pressure behind a high guard trying to get close whilst Sithchatchawal tried countering. This time however it was the Frenchman who appeared to get the better of the action despite both men bludgeoning the other with repeated shots to the head.

Despite being incredibly active in the opening 2 rounds Monshipour's output seemed to increase in round 3 as he threw almost none stop. With the pressure and activity of the champion being extreme the challenger tried slipping shots on the ropes and attacking the a bit more frequently than he had in the early rounds in an attempt to slow Monshipour. At one point the Thai was forced to take a flurry of clean shots that seemed to interest the referee John Coyle who momentarily looked ready to stop it until the challenger fired back.

The fourth round saw Monshipour pushed to canvas early on before Sithchatchawal started using his legs a bit more and actually utilising his reach as he started to jab the champion. Despite Sithchatchawal throwing his jab it couldn't discourage Monshipour who continued to come forward and press the action as we get yet another amazing round of unbridled violence from both men. The crowd tried to get behind their man during the round and give him an extra and whilst he probably won the round he was using up a lot of energy with his all action style.

Round 5 saw both men trading relentlessly through the round. The pressure from Monshipour saw Sithchatchawal mix up what he did a bit more and stand his ground more often than he had in the earlier rounds and in fact he forced the champion on to the back foot for the first time. Had it not been for what was to come later in the fight, this could well have been the round of the round of the year.

The sixth round saw yet more pressure from the champion even though the challenger was mixing up his boxing with his brawling he was still being bossed around the ring an awful lot. It often appeared as if Sitchatchawal could have made the fight easier for himself by jabbing and moving though he only did that for short bursts and instead sat on the ropes and invited Monshipour to throw whilst looking looking to slip and counter.

With Monshipour continuing to pressure Sithchatchawal the Thai intelligently attacked body intently in round 7 with probably the most intelligent work of the fight. He had tried it in an earlier round but this was the first round where really worked the body with some intensity and it appeared to be slowly slowing Monshipour down by the end of the round.

The Thai's body work continued in round 8 as he landed some really nasty looking shots to the midsection of the champion who continued to come forward and unload shot after shot. Around the half way mark of the round Monshipour landed a series of shots but the Thai took them amazingly well suggesting that some of the snap was now being taken from the champions punches.

The action, which by any form of logic should have been slowing notably was still as high octane as ever.

In round 9 it appeared that Sithchatchawal was starting to really take over the bout and he landed a flurry of shots that had Monshipour's head bouncing up and down and looking on the verge of going down. Things then took a 180 flip as the Frenchman roared back with an attack of his own with Sitchatchawal on the ropes and looking in danger himself. By the end of the round both men were starting to look like they were feeling the simply ridiculous pace of the action.

After the none stop action of round 9 it seemed almost certain that the action would slow down in round 10. Instead we got what was quite possibly the round of the fight. Sitchatchawal started to use his feet more than he had in the previous round but it didn't stop Monshipour from bullying him on to the ropes where unload a long flurry. Although a number of Monshipour's shots got through Sithchatchawal did slip a large number before landing a massive counter with about 35 seconds of the round left that rocked Monshipour. With the champion in danger the challenger unloaded a volley of left hands before sending himself to the canvas. It appeared that the slip may have given the champion a few seconds to recover but Sitchatchawal regain his feet almost immediately and went back to work on a still unsteady Monshipour forcing the referee to step in and stop the bout.

Some moments after the bout and when Monshipour regained his senses the two embraced as they seemed to congratulate each other for putting on one of the most memorable bouts in the history of the sport. It was obvious that Monshipour was unhappy at losing but was graceful in defeat as he tried to encourage the crowd to to applaud the winner-who had become the first ever Thai to claim a world title in Europe.
Fact Box-
Venue- Palais des Sport Marcel Cerdan, Levallois-Perret, Hauts-de-Seine, France
Date- March 18th 2006

Mahyar Monshipour (28-2-2, 29)
6th Defence of WBA Super Bantamweight title
v
Somsak Sithchatchawal (45-1-1, 35)

Referee- John Coyle
Judges-
Paul Thomas (86-84 Monshipour)
Mikael Hook (85-85)
Luis Rivera (86-85 Monshipoud)

Outcome- Sithchatchawal TKO10

Awards-2006 Ring Magazine Fight of the Year
2006 ESPN Fight of the Year
2006 BWAA Fight of the Year
2006 Ring Magazine Round of the Year (round 10)
2006 ESPN Round of the Year (round 9)

The video below, thanks to edtam6 shows rounds 9 and 10, arguably 2 of the best rounds ever fought. The full fight can be found on youtube albeit in 5 parts and is worth checking out if you have around 40 minutes spare time.
Following the hellacious battle neither man was ever the same fighter.

Following his loss Monshipour would retire for almost 3 years before making a 4 fight come back. He would go 3-1 in that comeback before retiring again following a competitive decision loss to the highly talented Anselmo Moreno for the WBA Bantamweight title. His career coming to a close in 2009 with a career record of 31-4-2, 21.

Sithchatchawal would lose the title he fought so hard for in just his first defense as he ran in to Celestino Caballero who dropped him 3 times in the third round and forced the referee to stop the fight.

Following the loss to Caballero the Thai would run up 10 victories (7 by T/KO) before losing in 11 round to future world champion Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym.

Sithchatchawal would fight 7 more times, scoring 4 wins, 2 draws and a huge upset loss to Fernando Otic before calling a day on his own career with an impressive record of 60-4-3 (43). By the time he'd retired his punch resistance was completely gone.

Although both men are now retired this bout is a fitting legacy for both to be remembered by and is a bout that no self respecting boxing fan should go with out seeing, in fact no sports fan of any type should give this fight a miss.