After a breakout 2018, WBA flyweight champion Artem Dalakian is set to have his first title defense of the year next month.
According to BoxingScene.com, Dalakian will fight once-beaten contender Sarawut Thawornkham on June 15 on a boxing card in Kiev, Ukraine. This will be Dalakian's third world title defense since winning the belt back in February 2018.
Dalakian, who is ranked No. 2 on Fightful's Boxing Rankings at flyweight, has won all 18 of his pro bouts with 13 of those wins coming from inside the distance. Dalakian's first title win came on the undercard of HBO's "SuperFly 2" show in early 2018 when he dominated former champion Brian Viloria and since then, has made two defenses in his home country of Ukraine.
The first title defense came in June 2018 against Sirichai Thaiyen. Dalakian dominated the fight, dropping Thaiyen multiple times en route to an eighth-round stoppage. Afterwards, Dalakian scored a fifth-round TKO victory over former interim title challenger Gregorio Lebron this past December.
Thawornkham, a 27-year-old fighter from Thailand, has been on a major win streak since losing his pro debut back in 2014. Thawornkham has won his last 20 fights, 15 of which came by knockout, and also won the WBA Asia and interim PABA flyweight titles throughout his career. Thanks to his lengthy win streak, Thawornkham, who last fought in August 2018, is also currently ranked No. 1 in the WBA rankings at 112 pounds. This will be Thawornkham's first world title challenge.