Late last year, Panya Pradabsri met Carlos Canizales for the vacant WBC junior flyweight title in Bangkok, Thailand, where the native won a 12-round majority decision.

The result left the Canizales and many others surprised, feeling the visitor had done enough to pick up the championship. Fortunately for them, the WBC ordered an immediate rematch and this time Canizales will have home advantage when the fight takes place in Caracas, Venezuela, on Aug. 1.

“Both sides were negotiating and exchanging offers,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told The Ring. “Suddenly, neither side found support from their sponsors to promote. The time kept running and finally Venezuela made an offer, and [the] champion Panya agreed.”

Sulaiman is pleased to see the two sides meet in a rematch.

“Canizales lost by majority decision in a sensational fight,” he said. “The first match was in Thailand and now the second will be in Venezuela. That in itself makes a great story.”

Interestingly, the WBC’s No. 2 contender, Erick Badillo (17-0, 8 KOs), and seventh-ranked Gerardo Zapata (15-2-1, 5 KOs) will face each other July 11 in a WBC 108-pound eliminator.

The winner will become the Pradabsri-Canizales winner’s mandatory. The date for that bout will be decided at the WBC convention, which is scheduled to take place late this year in Bangkok.

Pradabsri (44-2, 27 KOs), rated at No. 9 by The Ring at junior flyweight, won several regional belts before claiming the WBC title by unseating long-reigning countryman Wanheng Menayothin in November 2020. The 34-year-old Thai successfully defended his title four times, notably besting Menayothin unanimously in their 12-round rematch and Norihito Tanaka by unanimous decision and eighth-round TKO.

He lost his crown to Yudai Shigeoka by unanimous decision. He bounced back with two low-level wins before becoming a two-weight champion by beating Canizales.

Canizales (27-3-1, 19 KO), rated at No. 4 by The Ring at junior flyweight, first caught the eye when he left his homeland and fought WBA titleholder Ryoichi Taguchi to a 12-round draw. He returned home and claimed three victories before traveling overseas again and making a name for himself in Asia by defeating Reiya Konishi by unanimous decision, Bin Lu by 12th-round TKO and Sho Kimura by unanimous decision.

Canizales, 32, was surprisingly stopped in the sixth round by unheralded Esteban Bermudez, but returned with four wins, notably knocking out faded former WBC titlist Ganigan Lopez in the fourth round and winning a WBA eliminator against Daniel Matellon by technical decision.

Canizales gave Kenshiro Teraji all he could handle, but ultimately lost a Ring/WBA/WBC title challenge by 12-round majority decision. He returned with a win in a rare home appearance before losing to Pradabsri.