Srisaket Sor Rungvisai will be fighting soon, but it won't be on the planned "Superfly 3" card HBO is working on. In fact, he won't even be defending his WBC super flyweight title.
Sor Rungvisai will fight on July 21 in his native country of Thailand against South Korean boxer Young Gil Bae in a non-title bout. The WBC champion will be fighting in Thailand for the first time since 2016 after fighting in three straight world title fights in the United States. The fight between Sor Rungvisai and Bae will not only be a non-title bout, but also be contested at bantamweight instead of super flyweight, the division of which the Thai star currently holds one of the major world titles at.
The current WBC champion, who first won the title in 2017 with an upset win over Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez, has defended his title twice, both of which took place on the first two "Superfly" cards in California. After retaining his title for the first time in a rematch against Gonzalez in the main event of the first "Superfly" show last September, Sor Rungvisai retained his title against Juan Francisco Estrada this past February.
The plan for HBO was to have Sor Rungvisai face Estrada in a rematch on the third event showcasing some of the best super flyweight boxers in the world. Sor Rungvisai withdrew from the fight after a period of personal issues which included him breaking up with his longtime girlfriend and then split with his manager.
Bae, who sports a 28-6-2 record, has not fought in more than a year and previously challenged for the WBC minimumweight title back in 2015. In his lone world title challenge, Bae was knocked out by Wanheng Menayothin.
