Wanchana stops El Ouers to claim WBC regional title

Earlier today in Thailand Wanchana Menayothin (17-1, 10) successfully claimed the WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental Super Featherweight title, as he defeated Thai based Moroccan novice Omar El Ouers (1-1-1) in Rangsit.

The 21 year old Wanchana pressed from the off, applying constant, but pretty educated pressure from the off and picked his shots well. To El Ouers credit however he kept up a tight guard, picked his spots well and landed plenty of jabs himself in an attempt to feel his way into the contest. It was enough from the Moroccan to keep the Thai local honest, even if it wasn't enough to take the opening round.

As the bout went on Wanchana pressed more, letting his hands go more freely. This saw him taking some solid shots in return as the bout heated up very nicely in round 3, a round that had some really fan friendly exchanges that saw both men needing to take some clean leather. It was during this round that we saw Wanchana being forced to back off, as El Ouers landed some very clean counters.

In round 4 we again saw Wanchana pressing forward, letting solid body shots go, and it seemed like they were taking their toll on the Moroccan, who seemed to begin wilting. He tried to hide it but it was clear he didn't like the body work of the Thai and that he lacked the fire power needed to seriously hurt Wanchana, who took shots very well.

After 4 rounds we saw open scoring kick in, and two of the judges had the bout even at 38-38, liking El Ouer's solid counter punching. The third had Wanchana up by a round, at 39-37.

In round 5 however the scores became immaterial as Wanchana dropped his man with a thunderbolt of a right hand. The shot came out of the blue and dropped his man hard. The fighting spirit of El Ouers saw him try to beat the count, but his senses were gone and the bout was waved off with him still down.

Despite needing to work hard for this, it was a really good win for Wanchana, who showed a lot to like, but is still very much a work in progress. He looks like a fun fighter to follow, but it's clear he lacks the potential to reach the top tier of the sport. Regardless, he's going to be in some really fun fights over the coming years.