Earlier today the ever reliable
@ajoaquinarieta reported that WBA Minimumweight "super" champion Knockout CP Freshmart (24-0, 9) [AKA Thammanoon Niyomtrong]
had been given approval to defend his title on September 7th against against unbeaten Australian
Alex Winwood (4-0, 2), in what would be Knockout's first bout in over a year. With the bout set to take place on September 7th in Perth.
The unbeaten Knockout has held some form of WBA Minimumweight title since October 2014, when he controversially beat Carlos Buitrago for the “interim” title. Since then he made numerous defenses and been upgraded from “Interim” to “Regular” to “Super” champion whilst putting together a solid reign. During his 24 bout career he has scored notable wins over Buitrago, twice, Muhammad Rachman, Byron Rojas, twice, Chaozhong Xiong, Rey Loreto, Toto Landero and Wanheng Menayothin. Sadly though he has been out of the ring for over 2 years, as the WBA, Knockout and Erick Rosa were stuck at an impasse, with various deals and orders falling through. At one point he seemed like the best in the division, but in recent years we’ve seen a wave of brilliant youngsters emerge, including
Ginjiro Shigeoka and Oscar Collazo, whilst he has sat on the sideline.
Talking about brilliant youngsters, the 27 year old Winwood has been a rapid riser in the sport, and only made his debut in November 2022, months after Knockout’s last bout. In just 4 fights he has risen through the rankings in a fashion similar to the Japanese wunderkids of recent years. In those 4 bouts he has beaten opponents with a combined 53-8-2 record. That has seen him stop Tibo Monabesa, and take decisions over Reyneris Gutierrez and Cris Ganoza. Not world beaters, sure, but very, very impressive opponents for a man with just 4 professional bouts to his name.
The bout really is a chance for Winwood to grab the torch, so to speak, and end the previous era of the division, which Knockout still represents, whilst joining the likes of the Shigeoka brothers, Collazo, and and DianXing Zhu who are now becoming the stars at 105lbs.
