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By Arne K. Lang
There was a lot going on this past Saturday in the world of boxing with the result that a significant development in the lightweight division was largely overlooked. In Argentina, Gustavo Lemos stamped himself a serious contender with a dominant performance over Lee Selby at the fabled stadium at Luna Park in Buenos Aires.
Lemos was expected to win. Selby had done his work two weight classes down and at age 35 his best days were seemingly behind him. But the crafty Selby, a former world featherweight title-holder who was 28-3 heading in, was expected to expose any flaws that Lemos may have. Fully 19 of Selby’s previous fights were scheduled for 12 rounds and he was 17-2 in these encounters with both losses by split decision – to Josh Warrington on hostile turf in Leeds and to George Kambosos in his most recent prior test.
Lemos was expected to win, but he wasn’t expected to win as handily. After a fairly even first round, he dominated the Welshman. He hurt Selby in the third, forced him to take a knee in the fourth, scored another knockdown in the fifth stanza and was pummeling Selby with unanswered punches when the referee stepped in and waived it off. “It was an epic performance,” said prominent Argentine scribe Diego Morilla who was ringside.
It was the ninth straight win inside the distance for Lemos (28-0, 19 KOs) raised in humble circumstances in Tres Arroyos, Argentina, the son of farm workers. His next bout may come against the winner of the forthcoming match between Kambosos and Devin Haney.
Thai Spice
Remember Wanheng Menayothin? No? How about Chayaphon Moonsri?
They are one and the same and you might remember him as the Thai boxer that opened his career 54-0, breaking the mark set by Floyd Mayweather.
Menayothin/Moonsri made 11 successful defenses of his WBC minimum weight (105-pound) title before he finally came a cropper. On Nov. 27, 2020, was out-pointed by countryman Panya Pradabsri. The bout was close but the verdict was unanimous: 115-113 across the board.
They met again earlier this week (Tuesday, March 28) and Pradabsri, five years younger at age 31, turned the trick again. He won the rematch by a wider margin: 117-111 x3. Menayothin’s record dipped to 55-2 (19 KOs).
About those comparisons with Mayweather: they were spurious. Menayothin doesn’t belong in the same conversation. He has never fought outside Thailand and prior to opposing Pradabsri his opponents were no great shakes. In the aggregate, their winning percentage was a shade over 60 percent.
Pradabsri’s record now stands at 38-1 (23). That record should also be taken with a grain of salt. Only 13 of his opponents had winning records at the time that he fought them.
This isn’t to suggest that both guys are bogus. To the contrary, they are both very good. But Hall of Fame quality? Hardly. As a sharp sports handicapper of my acquaintance once said, the win-loss record of a player or a team is merely another statistic. In no sport is this more true than in boxing.
Arne K. Lang’s latest book, titled “George Dixon, Terry McGovern and the Culture of Boxing in America, 1890-1910,” will shortly roll off the press. The book, published by McFarland, can be pre-ordered directly from the publisher (https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/c...-little-giants) or via Amazon.
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