Sittichai Sitsongpeenong defended his lightweight title for the sixth time at Glory 61 in New York. The Thai fighter scored a unanimous decision win over Josh Jauncey at the Hammerstein Ballroom on Friday night (local time).
The Thai southpaw seized the center of the ring in the opening round and traded kicks with Jauncey as the former fired to the body and the latter targeted the legs. Towards the end of the round the champion started to vary his attack with a combination of knees and punches.
In the second Sittichai snapped the challenger’s head back with some straight punches while continuing to score with a left body kick. A knee to the body knocked Jauncey down and the referee decided it was sufficient to warrant a 10 count.
The action slowed slightly in the third but Sittichai was still able to pick his shots and land the most significant strikes. Jauncey chose not to sit down between rounds, but while his conditioning was not in question the Canadian lacked the speed and sophistication required to trouble the champion.
He ate more knees and body kicks at the start of the fourth as Sittichai looked to walk him down and trap him against the ropes. Jauncey was rapidly running out of ideas and failed to connect with an ambitious superman punch attempt before being clipped by a left hook.
The result was a foregone conclusion going into the fifth round with neither man going in search of a stoppage. Sittichai was able to underline his dominance by catching a kick and sweeping Jauncey’s leg, before raising his hands in a celebration that would prove to be slightly premature.
The Canadian started to showboat with some spinning strikes, none of which came close to connecting. Sittichai answered in his own inimitable style, with a jumping body kick that found its target followed by a jumping switch knee which hit the same spot.
It was a question of how wide the margins would be when the scorecards were announced, and two of the three judges gave Jauncey a round with Sittichai winning by margins of 49-45 (x2) and 50-44, successfully defending his Glory 154lbs title for the sixth time.
Glory 61, New York, November 3rd
Sittichai Sitsongpeenong def. Josh Jauncey by Decision (Unanimous) at 3:00 of R5 (For Sittichai’s Lightweight Title)
Anissa Meksen def. Jady Menezes by TKO (punches) at 0:39 of R2 (For Inaugural Women’s Super Bantamweight Title)
Chris Camozzi def. Myron Dennis by Decision (Unanimous) at 3:00 of R3
Omari Boyd def. Alan Scheinson by Decision (Unanimous) at 3:00 of R3
Kevin VanNostrand def. Massaro Glunder by Decision (Unanimous) at 3:00 of R3
Asa Ten Pow def. Niko Tsigaras by Decision (Unanimous) at 3:00 of R3
Charles Rodriguez def. Malik Watson-Smith by Decision (Unanimous) at 3:00 of R3
Justin Houghton def. Vince McGuinness by Decision (Unanimous) at 3:00 of R3
Chommanee Sor Taehiran def. Ashley Nichols by Decision (Split) at 3:00 of R3
Nate Richardson def. Justin Greskiewicz by TKO (Three Knockdowns) at 3:00 of R3
Abraham Vidales def. Houssam El Kasri by KO (Punch) at 1:48 of R1
Jonathan Di Bella def. Mohamed Lemjerdine by Decision (Unanimous) at 3:00 of R3
Harry Germain def. Iskander Usmonov by TKO (punches) at 0:40 of R1
