Thammanoon Niyomtrong vs Shokichi Iwata Preview March 15th, 2026
WBA Junior Flyweight Champion Thammanoon Niyomtrong (also known as Knockout CP Freshmart) of Thailand defends his title against former WBO Light Flyweight Champion Shokichi Iwata of Japan this Sunday, March 15th. Niyomtrong last fought in December when he beat Junior Leandro Zarate to win the vacant belt. Iwata last fought in October when he halted Edwin Cano Hernandez in the seventh round. In his previous outing last March, he attempted to defend his belt for the first time but lost it via a unanimous decision to Rene Santiago. Iwata had won the vacant title by halting Jairo Noriega in the third round in October, 2024. Sunday’s fight can be seen live in Japan on U-Next
Niyomtrong vs Iwata Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Thammanoon Niyomtrong +199
- Shokichi Iwata -265
My Pick
Niyomtrong is 35 years old with a fine mark of 29-1 with 11 Ko’s and has boxed 254 rounds since making his pro debut in 2012. He measures 5-feet-tall with a 61-inch reach. As far as power is concerned, Niyomtrong doesn’t possess too much of a bang in his punches as just 37.9 per cent of his victories have been by stoppage including only four of his past 15 contests. His lone defeat came at the hands of Oscar Collazo by a seventh-round TKO in November, 2024 in a shot at the WBO World Minimumweight Belt.
He won the vacant Youth World Minimumweight Title in his pro debut with a sixth-round technical decision over Marzon Cabilla and defended it seven times. The biggest wins of Niyomtrong’s career have come against the likes of Carlos Buitrago (twice), Muhammad Rachman, Alexis Diaz, Byron Rojas (twice), ArAr Andales Norihito Tanaka and Chayaphon Moonsri.
Niyomtrong is a former Muay Thai boxer who won the WBA Interim Mini Flyweight Belt in 2014 against Buitrago and beat Rojas for the full belt in 2016 and defended it 11 times, making him the longest reigning mini-flyweight champion in history, reigning for over eight years and three months as the WBA Mini-Flyweight Champion.
Iwata is 30-years-old and has boxed 112 rounds since making his pro debut in 2018 and carries around a record of 15-2 with 11 Ko’s. Before that he enjoyed a fine amateur career with wins over Kosei Tanaka and Takuma Inoue and won the national boxing tournament while still in high school. He won his pro debut over Joel Bermudez in Carson, California and has fought exclusively in Japan since then.
When it comes to power, Iwata has plenty of it in his fists to cause some damage as 80 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage and he’s halted his last six. He stands 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 64-inch so has a four-inch height advantage on the champion as well as three inches in reach. Iwata possesses fine boxing skills to accompany his power.
As a pro he’s also won the vacant Japanese Light Flyweight Title as well as the Oriental and Pacific, and WBO Asia Pacific Light Flyweight Belts. Iwata’s first pro defeat came at the hands of Jonathan Gonzalez via a unanimous decision in 2022 in a shot at the WBO Light Flyweight Title when he first stepped up in class.
Prediction…
Iwata’s only world class opponents have been Jonathan Gonzalez and Rene Santiago and he fell just short in those fights. On the bright side, he did manage to win a world title and he’s a bit of a knockout artist. Niyomtrong has basically spent his career in the 105 lb minimumweight division and this will be just his third fight at 108 lbs. Since he was in the lowest division in pro male boxing, Niyomtrong didn’t really face top-class opposition as often as he would have liked to. However, this should be a very close contest but I’m leaning towards Iwata pulling it out in his homeland due to his natural weight and the fact that he can punch with power while Niyomtrong was stopped by Oscar Collazo.
Fighting at home and his power should give Iwata the edge.
Play: Iwata -265 @ BetOnline.ag
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Shokichi Iwata betting • Thammanoon Niyomtrong betting