A strawweight title fight that was once agreed to was instead resolved through a purse bid hearing.

Petchyindee Boxing Promotions claimed promotional rights to the WBA strawweight title consolidation fight between ‘Super’ champ Thammanoon Niyomtrong and secondary titlist Erick ‘Mini Pacman’ Rosa. The Bangkok-headquartered outfit submitted $140,000, outpacing Shuan Boxing who offered $122,000 as the lone other bidder during a purse bid hearing held during the WBA Centennial Convention on Monday in Orlando, Florida.

Niyomtrong is entitled to 75 percent of the winning bid, for a payday of $105,000USD as the defending ‘Super’ titleholder. Rosa is left with 25 percent, which equates to a $35,000 payday strictly from the purse bid result.

The fight will most likely take place in Thailand, which for Niyomtrong at least resolves a previous issue in obtaining a a visa to travel to the U.S. One previously floated date was on the non-televised undercard of Saturday’s Showtime tripleheader, topped by the Frank Martin-Michel Rivera WBA lightweight title eliminator. Niyomtrong-Rosa likely would have landed on the YouTube portion of the undercard preceding the Showtime-televised tripleheader from The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, had the fight proceeded in the intended form.

There was loose talk of Rosa (5-0, 1KO) taking a stay-busy fight as Niyomtrong (24-0, 9KOs) sorts out his travel issues, though the fight was instead presented back to the WBA who determined that a purse bid was necessary.

Niyomtrong fights under the Petchinydee promotional umbrella, through Piyarat Vachirarattanawong’s Petpiya Fight Promotions out of Thailand. Rosa is proudly represented by Belgica Pena of Shuan Boxing, the leading promoter in the Dominican Republic. The two sides were ordered to begin negotiations in late September for the long overdue mandatory title fight.

Niyomtrong (24-0, 9KOs) is the sport’s longest reigning active male titleholder. The boxing artist better known as Knockout CP Freshmart has held the WBA ‘Super’ strawweight since June 2016, when he outpointed Nicaragua’s Bryon Rojas to upgrade his interim title.

The 32-year-old from Surin, Thailand has defended his title eleven times, most recently in a twelve-round win over countryman and former WBC titlist Wanheng ‘TBE’ Menayothin on July 20 in Chonburi, Thailand. The bout was a few years past its best-sell date, long called while both were unbeaten titlists though reluctant to meet due to their longtime friendship.

It also came with the understanding that Niyomtrong was very likely to next face Rosa.

A box-off was ordered by the WBA last year, with Niyomtrong scoring a fifth-round knockout of Robert Paradero last December 14 in Phuket, Thailand. Rosa (5-0, 1KOs) entered the picture one week later, winning his version of the title with a twelve-round, split decision win over Vic Saludar who outpointed Paradero to win the vacant belt earlier in the year.  

Rosa has fought in scheduled ten- and twelve-round fights since his October 2020 pro debut.

The 22-year-old southpaw from Santo Domingo has fought all five fights in his hometown, including his title winning effort over Saludar last December. He previously claimed the interim WBA strawweight title in a twelve-round, unanimous decision win over then-unbeaten Ricardo Astuvilca last July 21.

The interim title reign lasted just one month, before the WBA removed the belts from circulation due to its forced and ongoing title reduction campaign. The ordered box-off at least afforded Rosa with the chance to put another title around his waist.

It will now require the unbeaten Dominican to travel abroad, fighting outside the D.R. for the first time as he enters the biggest fight of his young career.

Niyomtrong has fought exclusively in Asia throughout his ten-year pro career. All but one fight has taken place in his native Thailand. The lone exception came in July 2018, when he traveled to Qingdao, China to face and defeat regional hero and former titlist Chaozhong Xiong via unanimous decision.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox