Boxing has a rich history in Thailand, but it lives on the bones of it's arse. World champions can and do fight in tents in front of less than a thousand people, so it can be tough to make a killing. As living is cheap in the Land of Smiles, I suppose in some respects, a champ can still set himself up for life. Quite often though, they have to resort to changing their name to that of their sponsor's product, just to eke out that little bit extra. One such person is Thammanoon Niyomtrong, the reigning WBA Minimumweight Champion. He's better known today as Knockout CP Freshmart. The 26 year old has had just 15 starts and has yet to taste defeat. He started out in fight one with a shot at the WBC World Youth Minimumweight Title which he won by KO. He defended that belt 7 times before stepping away from it to pursue the WBA Interim Minimumweight Title, which he won. He made 4 defences of that strap before the WBA ordered the full Champion Byron Rojas to face him. After taking that win he fought Shin Ono, then Japan's Go Odaira last week. Odaira wasn't given much hope. Freshmart has the green stripe, Odaira the blue.
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