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Panya Pradabsri Given Questionable Majority Decision Over Carlos Canizales, Claims WBC 108 Pound Title
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Jake Donovan
Jake Donovan
RingMagazine.com
Panya Pradabsri Given Questionable Majority Decision Over Carlos Canizales, Claims WBC 108-Pound Title
The end result was a Boxing Day to forget for Carlos Canizales.

Bangkok's Panya Pradabsri was granted a twelve-round, majority decision win over the visiting Venezuelan to claim the vacant WBC junior flyweight title.

Judge Malcolm Bulner (114-114) had the fight even through four, eight and twelve rounds. His card was overruled by judges Antonio Carrillo (115-113) and Zanashir Taznaa (116-112), who awarded the fight to the locally-based Pradabsri on Thursday evening local time at Rajadamnern Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Prababsri claimed the WBC junior flyweight title left behind earlier this summer by former Ring/WBC/WBA Kenshiro Teraji.

Canizales and Pradabsri were the number-one and number-two WBC contenders entering the contest. Pradabsri—a former WBC strawweight titlist—is still ranked No. 6 at strawweight by The Ring, who recognized Canizales as the No. 5 junior flyweight entering Thursday's contest.

Canizales came firing out the gate, having grown all too accustomed to life on the road and having to work that much harder to impress the judges. It was a lesson learned in his hard-fought, majority decision defeat to Teraji in their Jan. 23 Fight of the Year contender in Osaka, Japan.

Pradabsri offered a traditional approach. He fought behind the jab and off the back foot, as he looked for counter right hand opportunities against his onrushing opponent. Canizales charged forward throughout the contest, often on the strength of lead right hands to set up his effective left hook.

The approach seemed to work in every way except with the judges.

Open scoring had Pradabsri ahead on two of the three cards after both the fourth (40-36, 39-37, 38-38) and eighth rounds (78-74, 78-74, 76-76).

Canizales dialed up the pressure as Pradabsri seemed to figure out his opponent's timing in the second half. The scoring seemed to come down to Canizales' constant pressure versus Pradabsri's defense and effective body work.

Pradabsri's greatest success came with his sweeping left hooks to the body, often behind counter right hands.

Canizales took note and increased his volume in the tenth round. Pradabsri did his best to slow down the pace, undoubtedly to preserve his energy down the stretch. Canizales had none of it. He forced Pradabsri to fight off the ropes and slammed home right hands around his opponent's guard, followed by left hooks.

Pradabsri survived a near-disastrous eleventh round. Canizales was in full control and surged ahead late to snap back the head of the former titlist. Pradabsri escaped the round on his feet and was clear-headed enough to regroup for the final three minutes.

Canizales let his hands go in the twelfth. Pradabsri employed a high guard to pick off most of the shots and responded with straight right hands. The two exchanged body shots as Canizales was determined to close the show with something dramatic. It didn't come, though it objectively should not have been required.

Life as a B-side on the road, however, taught the former secondary titlist that it takes that much more for justice to prevail.

Both fighters awaited the final verdict, confident of victory. Pradabsri broke into celebration when he heard the 115-113 score read aloud, and again when declared "... and the new" after the 116-112 tally was also confirmed in his favor.

Canizales was disgusted by the final call, as reflected in immediate post-fight reaction from media and fans who watched online.

Pradabsri is now 44-2 (27 KOs) and a two-division titlist, both times with the WBC in tow. His second run comes 14 months after he was trumped by then-unbeaten Yudai Shigeoka last Oct. 7 in Tokyo to end his WBC strawweight title reign.

Canizales fell to 27-3-1 (19 KOs) as his 2024 campaign was bookended with majority decision defeats in 108-pound title fights. A case was made that he could have claimed the nod over Teraji, as the decision easily could have gone either way.

There should not have been any doubt this time around.

Instead, Canizales headed home with his second loss in three fights after he previously won four in a row to punch his way back into contention.

Thursday's title fight aired live on True 4U TV in Thailand and its accompanying website.

Jake Donovan is part of the U.S. team for The Ring. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.

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