Wanheng Menayothin To Defend WBC Minimumweight Title In March
Boxing’s longest win streak could get even longer in the coming months.
WBC minimumweight champion Wanheng Menayothin will make his next title defense on March 1 against former world champion Tatsuya Fukuhara in Chonburi, Thailand. The two boxers fought in late 2017 in Thailand with Menayothin winning by unanimous decision (116-112, 118-110, 117-113).
Menayothin is the sport’s only active boxer to have won more than 50 consecutive fights. Menayothin has started his career with a 52-0 record, which is still far off from the 87-0 start Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. had from 1980-1993. Menayothin is also one of boxing’s longest reigning champions, having held the WBC world title since 2014. Menayothin surpassed Floyd Mayweather’s 50-0 record last year when he defeated Pedro Taduran. This will be Menayothin’s 11th world title defense.
Fukuhara, a former world champion at 105 points, previously held the WBO title but lost the belt to Ryuya Yamanaka in the summer of 2017, ending Fukuhara’s reign without a single successful title defense. The loss to Menayothin was Fukuhara’s second consecutive loss, but has since then bounced back with two straight victories in 2018.
Menayothin is not only the longest-reigning champion at 105 pounds, but also is the No. 1 fighter on Fightful’s boxing rankings at 105/108 pounds which can be seen at this link.
