Fajardo suffers tough UD loss against Simsri, loses OPBF belt
Justine Juyad
After going through an unfamiliar 12 rounds of boxing, rising Filipino knockout artist, Miel Fajardo lost his OPBF Light Flyweight title to fellow knockout artist Thanongsak Simsri via unanimous decision in his first title defense at the EDION Arena Osaka in Japan, April 13.Photo Courtesy of Viva Promotions
After going toe-to-toe with his Thai foe, the judges scored the bout, 110-117, 111-116, 112-115, all favoring the challenger despite getting knocked down in the 10th round by the Filipino boxer, resulting in Fajardo's second loss in his professional career.
With the loss, Fajardo’s professional record now stands with 11 wins, 2 losses, 2 draws with 10 knockouts while Simsri’s record improved to 33 wins with 30 KOs and only one loss.
Both fighters started the match aggressively, throwing power punches early on with an intention of getting a knockout win, however, both of them managed to dodge those killer shots.
Despite struggling to land clearer shots against the sharp defense of his Thai opponent, Miel stuck to his game plan which was to go for a knockout while Thanongsak went for low-risk shots aiming to outscore the Filipino.
As the match reached the last three rounds, Fajardo finally caught his opponent open and landed a massive left hook that resulted in a knockdown in the 1:06 mark of the 10th round but the challenger managed to shake it off and the brawl continued.
The boxer from San Francisco, Agusan del Sur wasn’t able to finish it off as he usually does as the veteran opponent became more tactical in the latter rounds.
The 23-year-old Thai boxer was able to pull off much needed adjustments as he successfully landed clearer jabs and counterpunches after Fajardo’s missed power punches during the second half of the match.
Simsri’s defensive tactics prevailed against the aggressive Filipino slugger and convinced all three judges to be hailed as the new OPBF Light Flyweight champion.
The 24-year-old Filipino prospect vies to bounce back stronger from his second career loss as he will be heading back to the Philippines and wait for his next opportunity to get back in the ring.
“Move forward, ginawa ko lahat pero ganoon talaga ang boxing. Salamat sa Diyos, salamat pa rin sa mga sumuporta,” Miel Fajardo stated in his social media post after losing his OPBF title.