Wanheng planning spring return, midyear rematch with Petchmanee

Petchmanee upset Wanheng by unanimous decision last November

You can’t keep The Best Ever down. Asian Boxing, citing Thai media, reports that former minimumweight king Wanheng Menayothin is looking to rematch recent conqueror Petchmanee CP Freshmart “in the middle of the year” after stay-busy bouts for both men.

Wanheng (54-1, 18 KO) had a truly unfortunate 2020. After signing with Matchroom, he was slated to make his United States debut in April, only for the pandemic to intervene. That, combined with some medical issues, prompted him to announce and promptly recant his retirement. He finally returned to action in November against countryman Petchmanee (35-1, 22 KO), who despite boasting an extremely Thai record managed to end “Five-Star Grilled Chicken’s” six-year reign as WBC champion.

Putting memes aside, I’m genuinely rooting for Wanheng to get his revenge and put his plans back on track. Unification with Knockout CP Freshmart would be nice, of course, but one step at a time.