After more than 2 years of inactivity we saw WBA Minimumweight "super" champion Knockout CP Freshmart (25-0, 9) [AKA Thammanoon Niyomtrong] return to action earlier today and retain his title with a majority decision win against Australian challenger Alex Winwood (4-1, 2).
In the early going the speed and youth of Winwood was on show as he used his feet well, created space and dictated the tempo of the action against the much older, slower Knockout, who looked somewhat rusty early on and struggled with his timing and range. Knockout began to find some success in round 2 as he started to apply some pressure, but still couldn’t match the speed, either foot or hand, of Winwood who picked his offensive moments well, including a good right hand in the final minute of the round, but was using significantly more energy to fight his fight. Late in the round it started to seem like Knockout was changing his tactics, and was looking to time counter shots, rather taking the fight to Winwood, who was so much quicker than himself. This seemed to be the tactic Knockout tried to apply in round 3, pressuring and then trying to counter, between the shots of the challenger. It had mixed success, but did do enough to keep Windwood honest as Knockout had some moments of success, though was still not doing enough to pick up any of the rounds.
Knockout punching when Winwood punched continued to show in round 4, particularly with his heavier jab, as he started to get a read on the speed of Windwood and landed a good left hook on the challenger. Windwood was still the busier, the more active and the one landing the higher volume of shots, but the fight was starting to get somewhat competitive after a very good start for the challenger. It was clear Knockout was starting to shake some ring rust and build into the fight. Something that seemed notable when Winwood hit the canvas in round 4, which was ruled a slip though seemed to come from a punch.
Following a couple of better rounds for Knockout it was clear that Winwood was starting to get drawn into the wrong fight whilst Knockout was starting to build momentum. That momentum continued to build in round 5, despite some good jabs from Windwood, with the Australian looking to hold a lot more than he had and being forced to fight up close, taking away the distance he wanted to use. Winwood still certainly had moments, but Knockout was starting to land more and more frequently, with both hands. The challenger continued to come under growing pressure in round 6, and there was little he could do to force Knockout backwards. The pressure was starting to tell on Windwood who’s legs had started to look less stable by the rounds and he continued to get caught by the heavier shots of Knockout, whilst continuing to land the higher volume in rounds that were getting tougher and tougher to score.
The pressure of Knockout was continuing to have success in round 7 as he continually marched forward, forcing Winwood to back off, exchange or hold. More and more of the exchanges were seeing Knockout land the heavier shots and halfway through the round the heavier shots took a toll sending Windwood down, with this one being called a knockdown. Front here the Thai went for the kill, unloading as Windwood did all he could to survive, whilst still benign clearly buzzed. He was down again twice more, in the following 50 seconds, both ruled slips, but Knockout wasn’t set to be denied that easily as he kept a relentless assault up landing huge right hands as Windwood did little more than stay up right and last to the bell, which seemed to come early. There would have been little, to no, complaint had the bout been stopped there and then.
After taking a pounding in round 7 the question was whether Windwood had enough to go on, and whether Knockout had shot his load looking for the finish. The answers to both were given early in round 8 as Knockout kept stalking his man, who seemed to have recovered enough of his senses to fight back, but Knockout continued to look the stronger fighter as he continued to press, hunting an early finish. As the round went on Winwood seemed to get more life in his legs, but continued to look apprehensive of moving a lot and throwing single jabs. The pressure from the Thai continued in round 9, with Winwood using his feet better to create space, but Knockout managed to find a home for his hard right hand. Winwood was dropped a second time as the round went on, he wasn’t as hurt as he had been after the first knockdown, but again went gunshy after hitting the canvas and against seemed glad to hear the bell.
In round 10 Winwood again relied on “stay away jabs” rather than too much meaningful offensive work, as Knockout continued to come forward, though he looked much quieter himself, really being selective with his own output as Winwood took a good bounce back round, in part due to the inactivity of the champion. The lack of activity from Knockout in round 10 wasn’t repeated the following round as he started to stalk with intent, whilst Winwood did all he could to get away in the early stages of the round. The 2-handed assaults of Knockout had returned, the intent to hurt Winwood was back, and Winwood was using a lot of energy as he used the whole ring to avoid exchanging with the champion, though late in the round Winwood did actually land a good counter as Knockout looked to let leather fly.
Given how Winwood had recovered from both knockdowns, it made the final round feel like it could be the deciding round and it seemed like both knew it. Winwood started with more ambition than he’d shown for much of the fight, whilst Knockout continued to press, looking to secure another knockdown. The Thai’s work was messy at times, as he looked to land home run shots, but with Winwood fighting like he needed to, we got one of the best rounds of the fight, despite some holding frustrating the action. Amazingly as got late into the round Knockout seemed stunned for the first time, before he was bundled to the canvas in the final seconds.
Given the bout took place in australia, and a number of questionable calls by the referee, it seemed like this was a lot closer than it perhaps should have been Knockout probably should have had a knockdown scored in round 4, and perhaps a second in round 7, if not a TKO that round. The referee really did do all he could to favour Winwood. In the end however it wasn’t enough for the Australia, who came up short with scores of 114-112, twice, in favour of Knockout and a card of 113-113, giving Knockout the majority decision win.
