Srisaket Sor Rungvisai

Early life

Sor Rungvisai came from a very poor family in Sisaket Province in Thailand, and he had to move into Bangkok to escape from poverty when he was only 13 years old. When he arrived in Bangkok, he had to walk more than 60 miles by foot to apply for a job as a trash collector at a department store in order to feed himself. Life was so difficult for him that he sometimes had to eat leftovers he collected from the garbage just to survive.

Professional career

He signed with Nakornloung Promotion, Thailand as a professional boxer in 2009. 2 years later, Sor Rungvisai won the WBC Asian Boxing Council super flyweight title and went on to defend it 4 times between June 2011 and December 2012. His current promoter is Thainchai Pisitwuttinan of Nakornloung Promotion.

WBC super flyweight champion

In an intense fight, Sor Rungvisai became the new WBC Super Flyweight world champion by knocking out Yota Sato on May 2013 in his native Sisaket. From the beginning of the fight, Sor Rungvisai harassed Sato, who tried to use his jab to keep Sor Rungvisai at bay, but the latter never relented on his pressure. The end came in round 8. Sor Rungvisai viciously hammered the defending champion with power shots until Italian referee Guido Cavalleri halted the fight after 1:23, giving Sor Rungvisai a TKO victory. "What a fight! It was a war between two honorable fighters. Sato did not want to lose. Each round was toe-to-toe action until Sor Rungvisai overpowered Sato in the eighth" commented promoter Pisitwuttinan Thainchai.

Sor Rungvisai's first defense came against Hirofumi Mukai. Mukai was overpowered from the early stages and his corner threw in the towel in the ninth round of the bout. The fight in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. Mukai was previously knocked down once in round 2. “It was a total defeat,” said the 27-year-old Mukai, who dropped to a record of 9-3-1. “I can’t remember how I fought at all."

Sor Rungvisai's first reign came to an end against Carlos Cuadras in May 2014. Referee Jay Nady stopped the fight after Cuadras was cut over his left eye due to a headbutt in round 8. According to WBC rules, Sor Rungvisai was deducted a point in all scorecards. Cuadras won a unanimous technical decision (78-73, 77-74, 77-75) to dethrone Sor Rungvisai. As many other Thai world champions, Sor Rungvisai often fought against journeymen and prospects in between his official defenses.

Sor Rungvisai vs. Salgado

Following his defeat against Cuadras, Sor Rungvisai reclaimed the WBC Asian Boxing Council title and made one successful defense of it before earning a shot at the WBC Silver title.

Sor Rungvisai scored a savage 4th round knockout of prospect José Salgado Fernández on May 2015. A series of left hands left Salgado defenseless, with a final right hook from Sor Rungvisai producing the knockdown and prompting the referee to immediately halt the contest in round 4. The fight between Sor Rungvisai and Salgado aired live on Channel 7 in Thailand, and also streamed live on the network's website. With the victory, Sor Rungvisai claimed the WBC Silver title and became the mandatory challenger to the WBC's super flyweight titlist, Carlos Cuadras. Sor Rungvisai's handlers sought to host the rematch against Cuadras in Thailand. Negotiations between Cuadras and Sor Rungvisai stalled, with Cuadras going on to lose his title against Román González on September 2016. Sor Rungvisai kept busy fighting in Thailand, scoring 8 knockouts in 18 months following his win over Salgado.

Sor Rungvisai vs. González

The WBC ordered González to make his first defense against Sor Rungvisai. The fight was scheduled for the undercard of Golovkin-Jacobs on March 2017. On fight night, Sor Rungvisai put Gonzalez down with a body shot in the first round. González came back and won several rounds, despite two cuts over his eyes. Sor Runvisai lost a point due to repeated head butting. According to CompuBox, Gonzalez outlanded Sor Rungvisai 441 (of 1,014) to 284 (of 940) overall. Gonzalez also had an edge in power punches, 372 to 277. Sor Rungvisai ended up winning a controversial majority decision (113-113, 114-112, 114-112). After the fight, González stated "I thought I won the fight. I want an immediate rematch. I want to get my title back." González earned a career high purse $500,000 whilst Rungvisai earned $75,000.

Following his upset win over González, Sor Rungvisai was appointed a police officer in Sisaket Province, and enrolled in the Faculty of Political Science, Chalermkarnchana University.

Sor Rungvisai vs. Gonzalez II

On April 4, 2017 the WBC ordered a direct rematch to take place between González and Sor Rungvisai. Sor Rungvisai was due to fight mandatory challenger Carlos Cuadras. However, due to the direct rematch clause on the contract for the original fight, the WBC ordered Cuadras to fight the next available contender, former unified flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada for the WBC interim title. The winners of both fights would then fight each other. On June 6, promoter Tom Loeffler said the rematch would take place on September 9 on HBO at a location in California. Japanese super flyweight Naoya Inoue was in line to make his American TV debut on the same card. Mexican promoter Osvaldo Küchle revealed that Cuadras and Estrada would fight on the undercard for the WBC interim title. On July 6, Loeffler announced the event would take place at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. The event also featured WBO champion Naoya Inoue and is considered historic as one of the biggest cards of all time in the smaller weight classes. IThe fight was also to be shown live on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.

At the 7-day weigh in on September 3, González weighed 119.8 lbs and Rungvisai weighed in at 119 lbs. Per WBC rules, both boxers were required to weigh no more than 121 lbs. At the official weigh-in one day before the fight, González tipped the scales at 114.8 lbs, while Sor Rungvisai weighed 115 lbs. González would be paid a career high $600,000 purse, while Sor Rungvisai made $170,000.

On fight night, in front of a pro-González sell-out crowd of 7,418, González suffered his second consecutive career defeat and failed to regain the WBC title, after being knocked out by Sor Rungvisai in the fourth round of their rematch. The opening round started with both fighters throwing heavy shots. Sor Rungvisai began to work the body straight away. In round 4, González was knocked down hard from a left to the head. González beat the count getting up at 7, but on unsteady legs. Rungvisai then finished the badly hurt González with a right to the head that put him down flat on his back. Referee Tom Taylor didn't bother with a count, waiving the fight off at 1:18 of the round. González was taken to the hospital after the fight for precaution. Like the first fight, an accidental headbutt occurred in round 1. When González complained and the crowd booed, the referee warned Rungvisai.

After the fight, Sor Rungvisai stated that he had prepared for four months in order to knock González out, "I trained very hard for four months. I fought for Thailand, and this is what I dedicate this fight to, Thailand. For the first fight I only trained for two months. I knew I was going to knock him out." González was humble in defeat, "We were both trading punches, but his were harder, and they landed harder. I was very hurt the second time when I was knocked down, but I think I'll be OK." Loeffler also spoke to HBO about González's future, "I don't think he's done. When you fight a guy like Srisaket, he took the opportunity of winning the lottery. He beat the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter and beat him in New York, and then he beat him more convincingly the second time. Now he has to be considered one of the best in the world. You saw Roman really packed the house, and Srisaket came into a hostile environment and proved he is a true champion. He has tremendous punching power." Compubox stats showed that Rungvisai landed 80 of his 291 punches thrown (27%) and González landed 58 of 212 (27%). All 80 of Rungvisai's landed punches were power shots. After the fight, Sor Rungvisai stated that he was willing to fight anyone at super flyweight, whether it was his new mandatory challenger Juan Francisco Estrada, who defeated Carlos Cuadras earlier that evening, or WBO champion Naoya Inoue.