Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao Retains Featherweight Title in Glory 63 Main Event
Petchpanomrung Kiatmookao on Friday proved again that he’s superior
to Serhii Adamchuk and he did so in a landslide during the main
event of Glory 63.
Kiatmookao previously bested the Ukrainian at Glory 39 nearly two years ago, but “The Professor” did so via split decision. This time around, the Thai superstar outclassed Adamchuk from start to finish and he made it look easy in front of a capacity crowd inside the Arena Theater in Houston.
“The Professor” picked the former Glory featherweight champion
apart with scattered kicks to the legs and body early. Adamchuk
(38-10, 14 KOs) couldn’t get his offense going and became
frustrated at first and then unraveled down the stretch. The
Ukrainian began hitting on the break and tried roughing Kiatmookao
up in the clinch, but the four-time Muay Thai National Champion
never lost his cool.
Kiatmookao (162-36-2, 27 KOs) turned up the heat in the championship rounds and peppered the challenger with kicks to the body and head, with left hooks upstairs mixed in. Adamchuk tried a few desperate attacks in the closing moments, but nothing materialized. In the end, all three ringside judges favored Kiatmookao 50-45, allowing him to retain his Glory featherweight world championship in his first defense.
Troy Jones was hoping to score another knockout, but he had to settle for a wide unanimous decision instead. “Trouble” controlled the pace of the action against fellow welterweight Omari Boyd (13-2-1, 1 KO) from the start and had him reeling from punches in the third. Jones (12-1, 10 KOs) couldn’t finish his staggering foe off, though, and was awarded the judges’ verdict via tabs of 30-27 across the board.
Welterweight contender Richard Abraham was a step ahead of opponent Charles Rodriguez (9-1, 4 KOs) throughout their three-round affair and nabbed a unanimous decision win. “Maximus” landed the sharper kicks and punches for the majority of the contest, but Rodriguez kept things interesting by making Abraham work hard on the inside. The fight was close, but Abraham (14-7, 4 KOs) won the verdict via tallies of 29-28 (twice) and 30-27.
China’s Wensheng Zhang did just enough down the stretch to outlast Lorawnt-T Nelson and eked past him with a split decision win. Both lightweights landed dozens of hard, telling punches to the head and thudding kicks to the legs and body, but Zhang (45-6, 10 KOs) was more effective overall. Two judges saw it 29-27 for Zhang while the third had it 28-27 for South Africa’s Nelson, who fell to 7-1.
In the opening bout of the main card, Asa Ten Pow dominated fellow American featherweight Nate Richardson and won a lopsided unanimous decision. Ten Pow (8-1, 5 KOs) did virtually whatever he wanted inside the Glory ring and wound up winning 30-26 across the board. “The Natural” dipped to 12-4 with six KOs with the loss.
Kiatmookao previously bested the Ukrainian at Glory 39 nearly two years ago, but “The Professor” did so via split decision. This time around, the Thai superstar outclassed Adamchuk from start to finish and he made it look easy in front of a capacity crowd inside the Arena Theater in Houston.
Advertisement
Kiatmookao (162-36-2, 27 KOs) turned up the heat in the championship rounds and peppered the challenger with kicks to the body and head, with left hooks upstairs mixed in. Adamchuk tried a few desperate attacks in the closing moments, but nothing materialized. In the end, all three ringside judges favored Kiatmookao 50-45, allowing him to retain his Glory featherweight world championship in his first defense.
Troy Jones was hoping to score another knockout, but he had to settle for a wide unanimous decision instead. “Trouble” controlled the pace of the action against fellow welterweight Omari Boyd (13-2-1, 1 KO) from the start and had him reeling from punches in the third. Jones (12-1, 10 KOs) couldn’t finish his staggering foe off, though, and was awarded the judges’ verdict via tabs of 30-27 across the board.
Welterweight contender Richard Abraham was a step ahead of opponent Charles Rodriguez (9-1, 4 KOs) throughout their three-round affair and nabbed a unanimous decision win. “Maximus” landed the sharper kicks and punches for the majority of the contest, but Rodriguez kept things interesting by making Abraham work hard on the inside. The fight was close, but Abraham (14-7, 4 KOs) won the verdict via tallies of 29-28 (twice) and 30-27.
China’s Wensheng Zhang did just enough down the stretch to outlast Lorawnt-T Nelson and eked past him with a split decision win. Both lightweights landed dozens of hard, telling punches to the head and thudding kicks to the legs and body, but Zhang (45-6, 10 KOs) was more effective overall. Two judges saw it 29-27 for Zhang while the third had it 28-27 for South Africa’s Nelson, who fell to 7-1.
In the opening bout of the main card, Asa Ten Pow dominated fellow American featherweight Nate Richardson and won a lopsided unanimous decision. Ten Pow (8-1, 5 KOs) did virtually whatever he wanted inside the Glory ring and wound up winning 30-26 across the board. “The Natural” dipped to 12-4 with six KOs with the loss.
