After several delays, Wanheng Menayothin is now days away from his next WBC minimumweight title defense and an opportunity to extend boxing's longest active win streak.
Barring any additional mysterious delays, Menayothin is set to defend his world title against Tatsuya Fukuhara on May 31 in Chonburi, Thailand. The fight would bring an end to a tumultuous cycle of inexplicable delays that started in late February.
The title bout originally was supposed to take place on March 1. but it was then pushed back to late March and then April 24. Days before the April 24 fight date, the title bout was delayed once again all the way to May 31. Now that both fighters are ready to face off and the WBC has kept tabs on their weight for numerous weeks. Below are the official weights 30 days, 14 days and seven days before the fight as part of the WBC's effort to combat health problems stemming from weight cutting.
30-day weight check:
- Wanheng Menayothin: 112.4 lbs
- Tatsuya Fukuhara: 110.2 lbs
15-day weight check:
- Wanheng Menayothin: 109.1 lbs
- Tatsuya Fukuhara: 108 lbs
7-day weight check:
- Wanheng Menayothin: 107.8 lbs
- Tatsuya Fukuhara: 105.1 lbs
Menayothin is the sport’s only active boxer to have won more than 50 consecutive fights. Menayothin is also one of boxing’s longest reigning champions, having held the WBC world title since 2014. Menayothin surpassed Floyd Mayweather's 50-0 record last year when he defeated Pedro Taduran, also in Thailand. The rematch against Fukuhara will be Menayothin's 11th world title defense.
Fukuhara, a former world champion at 105 points, previously held the WBO title but lost the belt to Ryuya Yamanaka in the summer of 2017, ending Fukuhara’s reign without a single successful title defense. The loss to Menayothin was Fukuhara’s second consecutive loss, but has since then bounced back with two straight victories in 2018.
The two boxers previously fought in 2017 with Menayothin coming out on top with a unanimous decision victory.
