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- May 17, 2010
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I really quite like Samingdam - Sonrak. Lets be clear, in terms of quality, a year or more ago this wouldn't have been a featured fight and maybe not a co-main event, and certainly not a main event, notwithstanding that they have both improved their profiles (and in Sonrak's case at least significantly improved his game) through the OFF series, its relatively underwhelming in terms of main event status.
Its still a good fight though. To look at Samingdam with his build, you'd think he would be a Suriyanlek-style Muay mat. He's certainly got the explosive leg kicks and to an extent at least the punching power, but compared to say Suriyanlek what he certainly doesn't have is the crushing pressure and volume. From the outside he will slam in the leg kicks consistently given the chance, but with his hands he is very much a counterpuncher even if he is a kind of walk-em-down counterpuncher tactically speaking. Like Yodphupa his go-to with the hands is to posture in and draw the lead and come back with the pull-back left hook counter, maybe not quite to the point of spamming it but not far off, he really loves that shot. But in terms of his volume, whether by inclination (natural counterpuncher) or quite possibly gas tank (those big muscles eating oxygen), he is definitely a dude who can be outworked and outscored.
With Sonrak being a southpaw, straight away I wonder if that money-shot pull-back left hook counter will be quite as effective for Sam. Sonrak is also a natural counter-striker, albeit he has shown quite a lot more variety than Samingdam. His straight left hand is very accurate and he lands it very frequently, his hands are definitely a bit quicker than Samingdam's and he can put combinations together nicely. He's shown more effective work than Sam with knees and elbows, although generally the elbows as counters from mid-close range in exchanges and the knees chained off punching combinations from the outside, rather than from the clinch (neither fighter is all that much for clinchwork). Sonrak also has the better kicking game/rear leg in general above the waist and he's more sophisticated tactically in terms of chaining kicks >> punches or punches>> kicks/knees. Which pretty much sums up the contrast between them, Sonrak is the more tactically diverse fighter with more variety, its just that Samingdam has the heavier hands and the heavier leg kicks and I am pretty sure he is naturally bigger and stronger with it.
I'd like to see Sonrak establish the jab and land the left hand off a jab more, he likes to try and peel the opponent's lead hand away with his own lead hand to open him up for the straight left but I feel if he does that too often he could end up eating Samingdam's left hook over his lead hand as he paws with it. Tactically, Samingdam is talking in terms of walking him down and Sonrak is saying he isn't looking to throw hands in exchange with Samingdam because of his acknowledged power, I guess mostly wise but with his quick hands if he can lead with them successfully he can definitely work Samingdam over a little bit with combinations, just isn't well-advised to hold his feet for too long. I'm leaning towards Samingdam's power and size being the decisive factor, Puenluang frustrated him with a moving-striking game from the outside but Sonrak isn't that kind of fighter, his movement is pretty minimalist with half-steps back to counter, I do think he will ultimately give Samingdam enough opportunities to assert his power, but if Samingdam can't land anything to significantly hurt Sonrak I think Sonrak's faster hands and variety will win out. As they are both natural counter-punchers it may take a while to warm up or may not even warm up that much at all but it should be technical and interesting at worst. Oh and I definitely think 140lbs suits Samingdam more than Sonrak
Khunsuek is in a showcase type fight where the guy is good enough to test him a bit but not more i reckon
Pataknin - Petlampun is a good match, they are technically well-matched but given that I feel like Petlampun has a pretty significant edge in power which should be the difference. Petlampun absolutely loves the straight left hand (especially to the body) >> right hook and can throw decent combinations off it with quite heavy hands, he is a bit predictable in his entries though and he can be timed and countered off them, I just don't think Pataknin's power is enough to really capitalise.
Its still a good fight though. To look at Samingdam with his build, you'd think he would be a Suriyanlek-style Muay mat. He's certainly got the explosive leg kicks and to an extent at least the punching power, but compared to say Suriyanlek what he certainly doesn't have is the crushing pressure and volume. From the outside he will slam in the leg kicks consistently given the chance, but with his hands he is very much a counterpuncher even if he is a kind of walk-em-down counterpuncher tactically speaking. Like Yodphupa his go-to with the hands is to posture in and draw the lead and come back with the pull-back left hook counter, maybe not quite to the point of spamming it but not far off, he really loves that shot. But in terms of his volume, whether by inclination (natural counterpuncher) or quite possibly gas tank (those big muscles eating oxygen), he is definitely a dude who can be outworked and outscored.
With Sonrak being a southpaw, straight away I wonder if that money-shot pull-back left hook counter will be quite as effective for Sam. Sonrak is also a natural counter-striker, albeit he has shown quite a lot more variety than Samingdam. His straight left hand is very accurate and he lands it very frequently, his hands are definitely a bit quicker than Samingdam's and he can put combinations together nicely. He's shown more effective work than Sam with knees and elbows, although generally the elbows as counters from mid-close range in exchanges and the knees chained off punching combinations from the outside, rather than from the clinch (neither fighter is all that much for clinchwork). Sonrak also has the better kicking game/rear leg in general above the waist and he's more sophisticated tactically in terms of chaining kicks >> punches or punches>> kicks/knees. Which pretty much sums up the contrast between them, Sonrak is the more tactically diverse fighter with more variety, its just that Samingdam has the heavier hands and the heavier leg kicks and I am pretty sure he is naturally bigger and stronger with it.
I'd like to see Sonrak establish the jab and land the left hand off a jab more, he likes to try and peel the opponent's lead hand away with his own lead hand to open him up for the straight left but I feel if he does that too often he could end up eating Samingdam's left hook over his lead hand as he paws with it. Tactically, Samingdam is talking in terms of walking him down and Sonrak is saying he isn't looking to throw hands in exchange with Samingdam because of his acknowledged power, I guess mostly wise but with his quick hands if he can lead with them successfully he can definitely work Samingdam over a little bit with combinations, just isn't well-advised to hold his feet for too long. I'm leaning towards Samingdam's power and size being the decisive factor, Puenluang frustrated him with a moving-striking game from the outside but Sonrak isn't that kind of fighter, his movement is pretty minimalist with half-steps back to counter, I do think he will ultimately give Samingdam enough opportunities to assert his power, but if Samingdam can't land anything to significantly hurt Sonrak I think Sonrak's faster hands and variety will win out. As they are both natural counter-punchers it may take a while to warm up or may not even warm up that much at all but it should be technical and interesting at worst. Oh and I definitely think 140lbs suits Samingdam more than Sonrak
Khunsuek is in a showcase type fight where the guy is good enough to test him a bit but not more i reckon
Pataknin - Petlampun is a good match, they are technically well-matched but given that I feel like Petlampun has a pretty significant edge in power which should be the difference. Petlampun absolutely loves the straight left hand (especially to the body) >> right hook and can throw decent combinations off it with quite heavy hands, he is a bit predictable in his entries though and he can be timed and countered off them, I just don't think Pataknin's power is enough to really capitalise.
