Pone Kingpetch

Pone Kingpetch (, , ), born Mana Seedokbuab (, , ; February 12, 1935 – May 31, 1982), was a Thai professional boxer and three time Undisputed World Flyweight Champion.

Early life 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.

Boxing career Early career 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.

In 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.

His ring name, 'Phon,' was given to him by his manager Thongthot Intharathat, the owner of the Kingpetch boxing gym. It was taken from the name of Major Phon Intharathat, Thongthot's younger brother, who had been a Free Thai member and was killed in the Palace Rebellion.

In his fourth 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.

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.

Later life and death 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 May 31, 1982, from pneumonia and heart failure, He was 47.

Pone Kingpetch was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) in 2023.

Professional boxing record

Titles in boxing Major world titles NBA (WBA) flyweight champion (112 lbs) (3×) WBC flyweight champion (112 lbs) (2×)

The Ring magazine titles The Ring flyweight champion (112 lbs) (3×)

Undisputed titles Undisputed flyweight champion (3×)