Pone Kingpetch

Pone Kingpetch
Statue of Pone Kingpetch at Pone Kingpetch park in Hua Hin
Born	Mana Sridokbuab (1935-02-12)February 12, 1935 Hua Hin, Thailand
Died	March 31, 1982(1982-03-31) (aged 47) Bangkok, Thailand
Statistics
Weight(s)	Flyweight
Height	5 ft 6+1⁄2 in (169 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	35
Wins	28
Wins by KO	9
Losses	7

Pone Kingpetch (Thai: โผน กิ่งเพชร, RTGS: Phon Kingphet, pronounced [pʰǒːn kìŋ.pʰét]), born Mana Seedokbuab (Thai: มานะ สีดอกบวบ, RTGS: Mana Sidokbuap, pronounced [māː.náʔ sǐː.dɔ̀ːk.bùa̯p]; February 12, 1935 – March 31, 1982), was a Thai professional boxer and three time world flyweight champion.

Early life

Pone Kingpetch (born Mana Sidokbuap) was the seventh of nine children born to Hoi and Riew Sidokbuap in the Hua Hin district. He attended Sathukarn Secondary School until the fourth grade before transferring to the Hua Hin District School, where he completed his ninth-grade studies. Kingpetch completed his secondary school education at Hua Hin Wittayalai School.

Kingpetch was extensively involved in many sports. But his favorite sport was always boxing, going on to tell his friends he would become the first boxing world champion from Thailand. At the time, Chamroen Songkitrat had unsuccessfully challenged for the world bantamweight championship three times from 1954 to 1955.

Boxing career

Early career

Pone Kingpetch turned to professional boxing and won the Thai flyweight title with a TKO victory over Kunoi Vithichai in April 1956. He defended the Thai title against Vithichai on October of that same year.

In January 1957, Pone Kingpetch defeated Danny Kid in Bangkok to win the OPBF flyweight title. He made one title defense of the OPBF belt against Hitoshi Misako in September 1957.

World flyweight champion

He became Thailand's first world boxing champion on April 16, 1960, when he defeated Pascual Pérez of Argentina at Lumphini Boxing Stadium in Bangkok for the world flyweight championship.

In his fourth title defense, he lost the title to Fighting Harada of Japan via 11th-round knockout on October 10, 1962. Pone Kingpetch regained the world championship after outpointing Harada in a rematch on January 12, 1963. However, his second reign proved to be short, as Hiroyuki Ebihara knocked Pone out in the first round to become the new world flyweight champion.

In On February 14, 1963, with the creation of the World Boxing Council, Kingpetch was named the inaugural WBC flyweight champion. Several other champions had been named in some divisions while in others, the reigning champions fought for the inaugural title. In his final title win he defeated Ebihara in a rematch on January 23, 1964, to become a three-time world flyweight champion. After the win in Japan, he travelled to Italy to defend his title against Salvatore Burruni and lost a 15-round decision to the Italian in his final world title fight. He retired from the sport altogether in 1966 at the age of 31.

Later life and death

After retiring, the money he earned from his boxing career was invested into other businesses. However, the Manawitthaya School, which was built in his hometown during his career, had to be sold. His attempts at running other businesses resulted in financial losses, as Kingpetch proved inadept in the many aspects of business and trade.

Kingpetch was also afflicted with a chronic illness: diabetes. While having a family meal at home, he choked on his food, which got stuck in his windpipe. This resulted in rotting and blood poisoning, leading to Kingpetch's health deteriorating significantly as he was already suffering from both a cold and pneumonia. He was admitted to Ramathibodi Hospital, although his condition did not improve. Kingpetch died on March 31, 1982, from pneumonia and heart failure, He was 47.

Pone Kingpetch was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) in 2023.

Professional boxing record

35 fights	28 wins	7 losses
By knockout	9	3
By decision	19	4

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
35	Win	28–7	Kumanthong Yontarakit	KO	4 (10)	Apr 13, 1966	Phuket Province, Thailand
34	Loss	27–7	Baby Lorona	SD	10	Feb 17, 1966	Bangkok, Thailand
33	Loss	27–6	Salvatore Burruni	UD	15	Apr 23, 1965	Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome, Lazio, Italy	Lost WBA, WBC, and The Ring flyweight titles
32	Win	27–5	Hiroyuki Ebihara	SD	15	Jan 23, 1964	Rajadamnern Boxing Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Won WBA, WBC, and The Ring flyweight titles
31	Loss	26–5	Hiroyuki Ebihara	KO	1 (15)	Sep 18, 1963	Metropolitan Gym, Tokyo, Japan	Lost WBA, WBC, and The Ring flyweight titles
30	Win	26–4	Fighting Harada	MD	15	Jan 12, 1963	National Stadium Gymnasium, Bangkok, Thailand	Won WBA and The Ring flyweight titles
29	Loss	25–4	Fighting Harada	KO	11 (15)	Oct 10, 1962	Kokugikan, Japan	Lost WBA and The Ring flyweight titles
28	Win	25–3	Kyō Noguchi	UD	15	May 30, 1962	Kokugikan, Japan	Retained NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
27	Win	24–3	Baby Demilonnez	TKO	8 (10)	Feb 19, 1962	Rajadamnern Boxing Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand
26	Win	23–3	Mitsunori Seki	SD	15	Jun 27, 1961	Kokugikan, Japan	Retained NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
25	Win	22–3	Jose Luis Martinez	PTS	10	Mar 2, 1961	Bangkok, Thailand
24	Win	21–3	Pascual Pérez	TKO	8 (15)	Sep 22, 1960	Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.	Retained NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
23	Win	20–3	Pascual Pérez	SD	15	Apr 16, 1960	Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Won NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
22	Win	19–3	Baby Ross	KO	4 (10)	Jan 31, 1960	Bangkok, Thailand
21	Win	18–3	Manuel Armenteros	PTS	10	Feb 17, 1959	Bangkok, Thailand
20	Win	17–3	Dangtoy Singmorakot	PTS	8	Nov 4, 1958	Bangkok, Thailand
19	Win	16–3	Somyod Singmorakot	KO	5 (10)	Jun 28, 1958	Bangkok, Thailand
18	Win	15–3	Masaji Iwamoto	PTS	10	Mar 14, 1958	Bangkok, Thailand
17	Win	14–3	Dommy Ursua	TD	5 (10)	Jan 11, 1958	Bangkok, Thailand
16	Win	13–3	Hitoshi Misako	PTS	12	Sep 14, 1957	Bangkok, Thailand
15	Loss	12–3	Leo Espinosa	PTS	12	Jul 7, 1957	Bangkok, Thailand
14	Win	12–2	Danny Kid	PTS	12	Jan 6, 1957	Bangkok, Thailand
13	Win	11–2	Kunoi Vithichai	PTS	10	Oct 14, 1956	Rajadamnern Boxing Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand
12	Win	10–2	Mintan Kampuch	KO	4 (6)	Jul 22, 1956	Bangkok, Thailand
11	Win	9–2	Kunoi Vithichai	KO	6 (6)	Jul 14, 1956	Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand
10	Win	8–2	Porn Pantukiat	KO	3 (6)	Jun 28, 1956	Bangkok, Thailand
9	Win	7–2	Prayuth Yontarakit	PTS	6	Jun 3, 1956	Bangkok, Thailand
8	Loss	6–2	Kunoi Vithichai	TKO	7 (10)	Apr 15, 1956	Rajadamnern Boxing Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand
7	Win	6–1	Boontam Viteechai	PTS	6	Feb 5, 1956	Bangkok, Thailand
6	Win	5–1	Opas Rorsorpor	PTS	6	Sep 29, 1955	Bangkok, Thailand
5	Win	4–1	Dejnoi Sorsor	PTS	6	Aug 11, 1955	Bangkok, Thailand
4	Win	3–1	Yutapon Raksu	PTS	6	Mar 27, 1955	Bangkok, Thailand
3	Loss	2–1	Suwan Napapon	PTS	6	Feb 1, 1955	Bangkok, Thailand
2	Win	2–0	Saotong Torsor	PTS	6	Jul 1, 1954	Hua Hin, Thailand
1	Win	1–0	Noknid Sorsor	KO	2 (6)	May 1, 1954	Hua Hin, Thailand

See also

• List of flyweight boxing champions

External links

• Boxing record for Pone Kingpetch from BoxRec (registration required)
• Pone Kingpetch - CBZ Profile
• National Boxing Association's Quarterly Ratings: 1960 - BoxRec
• National Boxing Association's Quarterly Ratings: 1961 - BoxRec
• National Boxing Association's Quarterly Ratings: 1962 - BoxRec