By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Former boxer and now manager/promoter Aljoe Jaro knew that the only way his boxer Sonny Boy Jaro could win the World Boxing Council flyweight title against local hero and veteran WBC champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam was by a knockout.

That's exactly what the hard-hitting Jaro did before a stunned crowd of predominantly Thai boxing fans in Chonburi in the blazing afternoon heat.

An elated Aljoe Jaro told the BoxingScene.com/Manila Standard/PhilBoxing.com that he had personally taken charge of the preparation for the fight because he had confidence in Sonny Boy and knew that if he caught Pongsaklek with a good shot, he would knock him out.

Sonny Boy apparently dominated the aging Pongsaklek with his devastating power, dropping the world champion in the opening round, then again in round three and finally in round six with the Thai failing to beat the count.

The win is considered one of the biggest upsets of the year since Pongsaklek was only recently named WBC “Fighter of the Decade.”

Aljoe Jaro stated hours before their departure that “Our only chance is to win by a knockout.”

He said the No. 8 ranked Sonny Boy Jaro had “trained for almost two months and looked good in sparring over some 130 rounds.”

Aljoe Jaro said Sonny Boy was confident of his chances of giving the Philippines another world title.

WBC president Don Jose Sulaiman earlier statedthat he had approved the title fight on the condition that both Pongsaklek and Jaro “commit themselves to make their next fight a mandatory against Japan’s Toshiyuki Igarashi, winner of a final elimination bout” which was mandated by the WBC at its convention in Las Vegas last December.

A solid puncher the 29 year old Jaro is the reigning IBF Pan Pacific flyweight interim champion after having won the title with a 4th round TKO over Ric Megrino on June 18, 2011. He has a record of 32-10-5 with 22 knockouts while the 34 year old Pongsaklek has a record of 83-3-2 with 44 knockouts.

Pongsaklek won the title with a 12 round majority decision over Japan’s Koki Kameda on March 27, 2010 in Tokyo and retained the crown with a comfortable win over former champion Edgar Sosa of Mexico on October 21, 2011. In his last fight the Thai southpaw retained his title with 1st round technical draw when unheralded Japanese youngster Hirofumi Mukai suffered a nasty cut following an accidental clash of heads forcing referee Guido Cavalleri to stop the fight after only 47 seconds.

Jaro’s manager/promoter and trainer Aljoe Jaro committed himself to personally handling his fighter’s preparation for the March 2 title fight and is likely to work on Jaro’s defense.

Jaro is definitely the harder puncher compared to Pongsaklek but the ageing Thai champion has been through several ring wars and is known for his patience and technical skill in out-boxing his opponents to win.