Pone Kingpetch

Thai boxer

Pone Kingpetch (โผน กิ่งเพชร, , ), born Mana Seedokbuab (มานะ สีดอกบวบ, , ; February 12, 1935 – March 31, 1982), was a Thai professional boxer and three time world flyweight champion.

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.

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. On 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.

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 second 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.

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.

No. (Number)ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes35Win28–7 Kumanthong YontarakitKO4 (10)Apr 13, 196634Loss27–7 Baby LoronaSD10Feb 17, 196633Loss27–6 Salvatore BurruniUD15Apr 23, 196532Win27–5 Hiroyuki EbiharaSD15Jan 23, 196431Loss26–5 Hiroyuki EbiharaKO1 (15)Sep 18, 196330Win26–4 Fighting HaradaMD15Jan 12, 196329Loss25–4 Fighting HaradaKO11 (15)Oct 10, 196228Win25–3 Kyō NoguchiUD15May 30, 196227Win24–3 Baby DemilonnezTKO8 (10)Feb 19, 196226Win23–3 Mitsunori SekiSD15Jun 27, 196125Win22–3 Jose Luis MartinezPTS10Mar 2, 196124Win21–3 Pascual PérezTKO8 (15)Sep 22, 196023Win20–3 Pascual PérezSD15Apr 16, 196022Win19–3 Baby RossKO4 (10)Jan 31, 196021Win18–3 Manuel ArmenterosPTS10Feb 17, 195920Win17–3 Dangtoy SingmorakotPTS8Nov 4, 195819Win16–3 Somyod SingmorakotKO5 (10)Jun 28, 195818Win15–3 Masaji IwamotoPTS10Mar 14, 195817Win14–3 Dommy UrsuaTD5 (10)Jan 11, 195816Win13–3 Hitoshi MisakoPTS12Sep 14, 195715Loss12–3 Leo EspinosaPTS12Jul 7, 195714Win12–2 Danny KidPTS12Jan 6, 195713Win11–2 Kunoi VithichaiPTS10Oct 14, 195612Win10–2 Mintan KampuchKO4 (6)Jul 22, 195611Win9–2 Kunoi VithichaiKO6 (6)Jul 14, 195610Win8–2 Porn PantukiatKO3 (6)Jun 28, 19569Win7–2 Prayuth YontarakitPTS6Jun 3, 19568Loss6–2 Kunoi VithichaiTKO7 (10)Apr 15, 19567Win6–1 Boontam ViteechaiPTS6Feb 5, 19566Win5–1 Opas RorsorporPTS6Sep 29, 19555Win4–1 Dejnoi SorsorPTS6Aug 11, 19554Win3–1 Yutapon RaksuPTS6Mar 27, 19553Loss2–1 Suwan NapaponPTS6Feb 1, 19552Win2–0 Saotong TorsorPTS6Jul 1, 19541Win1–0 Noknid SorsorKO2 (6)May 1, 1954