Kaosai Galaxy interview

[montrealsuper]

Kaosai Galaxy the Thai Tyson was a great fighter who never got in TV and most of the world never got to see him during his heyday. But on youtube you can see he is just about as exciting as Manny Pacquiao. He just was a little too small and had no really good American rivals to bring him over to the USA and maybe he was making enough money to stay in Asia. 19 defenses is Monzon and Pedroza and Hopkins quality domination. This interview is quite insightful on the mysterious brawler from Bangkok Kaosai Galaxy...

http://thebiofile.com/2011/08/biofile-w ... ai-galaxy/

[King Carlos]

Yeah, but he fought dreadful opposition for the most part, which is made all the worse by the fact that he fought in the deepest era in the division's history and still the best fighter he faced was an aging Rafael Orono. I rate his brother Khaokor higher.

[montrealsuper]

Disagree. General and even hardcore boxing fans aren't familiar with most of the top 10 in the lightest weight classes like junior bantam as most of those fighters are from foreign, Asian, S. American countries. Just because Galaxy's resume doesn't have names like Pedroza, Sanchez, Ricardo Lopez, etc. on it doesn't mean he wasn't beating some tough opposition. There's a lot of unknown terrors in the boxing world (Mayorga when he first came up, Guillermo Jones, Pacqquiao when he first came up, etc). Galaxy dominated and beat the best of his era. That's all you can ask. He seperated himself from the pack. Junior bantam is a hard division to become a global star in if you're not promoted by Don King, Arum or Golden Boy.

[Counter-puncher]

^^^^ montreal: I'm no expert but I am pretty sure someone better-informed could name 2 or 3 fighters Kaosai coulda fought, but didn't. I think Khaokor had better level of comp to give one point of comparison, probably so did Gilberto Roman, so did Moon (just thinking of similar-era flyweights off the top of my head).....

[King Carlos]

Disagree. General and even hardcore boxing fans aren't familiar with most of the top 10 in the lightest weight classes like junior bantam as most of those fighters are from foreign, Asian, S. American countries. Just because Galaxy's resume doesn't have names like Pedroza, Sanchez, Ricardo Lopez, etc. on it doesn't mean he wasn't beating some tough opposition. There's a lot of unknown terrors in the boxing world (Mayorga when he first came up, Guillermo Jones, Pacqquiao when he first came up, etc). Galaxy dominated and beat the best of his era. That's all you can ask. He seperated himself from the pack. Junior bantam is a hard division to become a global star in if you're not promoted by Don King, Arum or Golden Boy.

Well, you'd have a point, if any of that were true.

Orono and Pical were the only fighters rated among the best in the business at 115 during that era, with the latter being a second-tier splinter champ and the former being past his prime. He didn't fight Watanabe, he didn't fight Roman, he didn't fight Laciar, he didn't fight Moon, he didn't fight Konadu (although the timing for this one was probably never quite right), he didn't fight Rojas. Hell, a washed up Ballas would've been arguably the best scalp he could've managed in his career, but he missed out on that one as well.

Now, hear me, I'm not saying every single one of these bouts not coming off were his fault, I'll not get into that right now. But the fact is he missed out on pretty much every other top fighter in the deepest era in the division's history. He missed out on all of them while they were busy fighting each other and really proving themselves. Not saying he couldn't have beaten some of them, but he didn't prove it like they did, and the fact is I'd probably favour the majority of those men over him.

[montrealsuper]

But how do you know some of the opponents Galaxy did fight were not unknown beasts like Mayorga (pre-Forrest) or Vitali (pre-Lewis). Just because the names on his record don't shine, doesn't mean they were all bums or set ups. Galaxy took care of business. If you have suspicion that Galaxy was a protected champion, explain why please. But I saw several of his fghts on youtube and Galaxy looks like an absolute monster, quick hands, deadly power, and a relentless aggression.

[King Carlos]

But how do you know some of the opponents Galaxy did fight were not unknown beasts like Mayorga (pre-Forrest) or Vitali (pre-Lewis).

Because I've seen most of them fight. They were unknown commodities for a reason.

Just because the names on his record don't shine, doesn't mean they were all bums or set ups.

Not necessarily, but they were also far from being the best opposition available for him to face.

If you have suspicion that Galaxy was a protected champion, explain why please.

Not saying he was outright protected, I'm simply saying he wasn't proven like the other top dogs in the division were, and therefore it doesn't make much sense to rank him ahead unless you believe him to have been a level ahead skill-wise (which I can assure you he wasn't). He fought almost exclusively in his hometown, the major outing he took being against Pical in Indonesia, where he prevailed. But Pical was no Roman, Watanabe, or Moon.

But I saw several of his fghts on youtube and Galaxy looks like an absolute monster, quick hands, deadly power, and a relentless aggression.

He was a physical beast, that's true (although I certainly wouldn't call him quick). A real monster of a man at the weight, but he was also quite limited as I saw it. He was almost entirely reliant on his physical tools, really. That, combined with an indomitable mindset usually meant that the caliber of opponent he faced would crumble at one point or another. I don't see the same thing happening against the likes of Roman, though.

[Autobarn]

obviously moon, khaokor, roman, konadu - all fought higher level of competition. however, none of them were particularly dominant were they, n ot in the bigger fights. moon, for instance, really benefited from the technical decision rule for head clashes in some of his biggest fights. in other of his toughest bouts, he sometimes was just scraping by on points (salazar) and he appeared much cruder than khaosai.

khaosai was dominant vs what he fought. and he did take on some tough guys, albeit no big names. he did show savvy in long fights and late power. he was a master in clinches and was pretty clever off the ropes. always knew how to line up his power shots, though he did sometimes look lazy and uncomfortable at a fast pace. regardless of whom the other guys faced, khaosai was the fighter with star quality and he was the most successful.

i don't know how anyone can rate his brother higher after the sudden KO defeat he suffered...

[King Carlos]

obviously moon, khaokor, roman, konadu - all fought higher level of competition. however, none of them were particularly dominant were they, n ot in the bigger fights. moon, for instance, really benefited from the technical decision rule for head clashes in some of his biggest fights. in other of his toughest bouts, he sometimes was just scraping by on points (salazar) and he appeared much cruder than khaosai.

khaosai was dominant vs what he fought. and he did take on some tough guys, albeit no big names. he did show savvy in long fights and late power. he was a master in clinches and was pretty clever off the ropes. always knew how to line up his power shots, though he did sometimes look lazy and uncomfortable at a fast pace. regardless of whom the other guys faced, khaosai was the fighter with star quality and he was the most successful.

i don't know how anyone can rate his brother higher after the sudden KO defeat he suffered...

I guarantee you any of them would've been just as consistent if they'd faced the sub-par level of opposition he did. I can't guarantee you he'd have been as successful were he facing the kind of top of the line opposition they were.

His brother's KO loss to Espinosa is one of the strangest, most suspicious knock-outs I've ever seen in the sport. I have a hard time really holding it against him. I watch he and his brother fight and there's little doubt as to who's the higher level operator, not to mention the more proven.

As for Moon, of course he was crude. I don't think you'll find anyone who'll try to tell you that he was some kind of technical punch-picker. He was simply a physical monster, but more unpredictable and arguably even harder-hitting than Galaxy. As for the technical decision matches, I'd say the only one he may've caught a break with was against Khaokor in the first fight, given what happened in the rematch. He proved himself the superior of the other men.

[meade95]

The reality is Galaxy fought all types and beat them. Bangers, boxers, runners and simply walked them all down. Galaxy was a tremendous body puncher and systematically broke his opponents down.....he had untiring stamina to boot.

The notion that Khaosai Galaxy's competition was sub par is simply wrong - He fought quality competition throughout his entire title reign...and the reality is the other champions avoided him....hell the WBA king back then simply vacated his belt instead of fighting him ...when Galaxy was ranked #1 -

Furthermore Galaxy did fight and beat the other long reigning IBF JBW champion during his regin....that was E. Pical - And he beat him on the road in Pical's HOME COUNTRY and HOMETOWN to boot (KO 14th).

K. Galaxy Resume is solidly impressive by all measures....

The notion that Galaxy only fought in Thailand is incorrect. He defended his world title in a number of places outside of Thailand...

He traveld and beat a highly thought of IBF JBW Champion Ellyas Pical, in Jakarta, Indonesia.....so this was in all effect a "unification" title fight...yet the IBF wouldn't put Pical's title on the line....Yet Galaxy still took the fight and was the only one risking his title belt......yet he took it...travled and KHTFO!

He traveld and beat the undefeated / big punching Israel Contreras (24-0-1) in Willemstad, Curacao -

He traveld and beat Chang Ho Choi in Seoul, Korea -

He traveld and beat Kenji Matsumura, in Japan (Twice) -

Outside of the quality competition listed above....Galaxy also fought and beat...the following...

Rafael Orono 32-2-1 (WBC JBW World Champion....had an accomplished reign as champion)

Edgar Omar Monserrat 13-1-0 (Highly rated challenger....fought for sevearl world titles)

Israel Contreras 24-0-1 (Went on to win WBO & WBA BW World Titles)

Ellyas Pical 16-1-0 (Long reigning IBF JBW Champion...8 defenses...when he lost to K. Galaxy his IBF belt wasn't on the line....Galaxy's WBA belt was)

Tae-Il Chang 26-2-1 (Won IBF World Title)

Alberto Castro 21-2-1 (solid challenger)

Cobra Ari Blanca 30-5-3 (challenged for several world titles)

Shunichi Nakajima 23-4-0 (Japanese super fyweight Champion)

Yong Kang Kim 21-2-0 (Went on to win 2 world titles)

Ernesto Ford 21-1-0 (ranked in the top 10 of all three world titles at the time)

Jae-Sok Park 14-1-0 (ranked #3 at the time)

David Griman 13-0-0 (Went on to win WBA Fly Title)

Chang Ho Choi 18-2-0 (IBF Fly World Champion)

Dong Chun Lee 20-5-1 (former OPBF Super Flyweight Title)

So the reality is not only did K. Galaxy travel and beat opponents....but he faced a very healthy resume during his long and impressive reign while being actively avoided by several of the other champions.

[King Carlos]

Why not just name everyone he fought? If you think those were quality wins I don't know what to tell you. We're on different wave-lengths. Even Pical (his best win outside of maybe the fading Orono) was a limited splinter-champ, poor by comparison to the other top guys in the era. Galaxy had a few decent wins. The others (Roman, Watanabe, Moon, Konadu, Laciar, etc.) all had more (or in the case of Moon, better) top wins, and were truly proven against top flight opposition. That's the bottom line. They were all more proven. And for my money there's little to suggest that he was the better head-to-head fighter than any of them. You can speculate, and you could be right, but I didn't see it. I'd give all them very good to decent chances at beating him, outright favouring a few. If you disagree fair enough, but that doesn't take away from the facts.

[meade95]

Why not just name everyone he fought? If you think those were quality wins I don't know what to tell you. We're on different wave-lengths. Even Pical (his best win outside of maybe the fading Orono) was a limited splinter-champ, poor by comparison to the other top guys in the era. Galaxy had a few decent wins. The others (Roman, Watanabe, Moon, Konadu, Laciar, etc.) all had more (or in the case of Moon, better) top wins, and were truly proven against top flight opposition. That's the bottom line. They were all more proven. And for my money there's little to suggest that he was the better head-to-head fighter than any of them. You can speculate, and you could be right, but I didn't see it. I'd give all them very good to decent chances at beating him, outright favouring a few. If you disagree fair enough, but that doesn't take away from the facts.

I watched all of these guys as well. Had business which took me to Japan / Thailand quite regularly. I also have most of Galaxy's, Moon's and Picals fights on tape. To suggest those guys would be favored over Galaxy I just find odd.

Galaxy had more power, great body puncher, non-stop stamina and was physically stronger than all of them (including Moon). What he lacked in defense, his chin made up for, each and everytime. And his lack of defense was somewhat by design, to try and make it a brawl. And again, Galaxy's body punching is incredibly underrated. He drained opponents going after their body.

But lets look at tthe facts. Wantabe avoided Galaxy (not the other way around). In fact Wantabe gave up his belt in order to NOT fight him. How is that Wantabe proving himself. He made #1 Galaxy wait over a year...then tried to act as if he wanted a unification fight all of a sudden with the much easier, inexperienced WBC champion (10-1) Poontrat. So he fought for the WBC belt and gave up his (so he didn't have to face Galaxy).

Again from all the fights i've seen of his. Galaxy faced all types. He faced bangers, boxers, runners, counter punchers and he beat them all.

I'm a huge Sung Kil Moon fan, but the notion that he beat better people than Galaxy is just odd. Outside of Kondu, who did he beat that was better? If you are calling Orono fadded when Galaxy beat him, well, Roman was certainly the same for Moon. Moon struggled to beat a faded Greg Richardson (Galaxy would have stopped that toothpick within 6, see a younger undefeated David Griman as an example). Moon has trouble (SD) vs Carlos Salazer and then gets beat by Bueno. Both guys Galaxy stops 99 out of a 100 times.

But come on, trying to compare Konadu to Galaxy. That is just silly. His biggest wins are Vs Veeraphol (when he only had 4 fights!) and his 1-1 record Vs Daorung Chuvatana (who was decent but not even in the same realm of the same league as Galaxy). He has 1 other win of note beating an aged G. Roman (prior to Moon beating him as well) for the title. Great performance by Kondu have watched the fight several times. He jumped on him early, hurt him often...down 4 times I believe and won a UD.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.....because without question Galaxy is the best JBW I've ever watched in the ring. He was simply methodical in walking down his opponents, never tiring, keeping his power late into fights and as smartly as anyone going to the body from the 1st round through the 12th round. (and no, Konadu nor Moon did not face better competition, I don't see that at all).

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Roman wasn't in his prime, but you're acting like he was Ali against Holmes.

[King Carlos]

Top wins:

Galaxy: aged Orono, Pical, Contreras

Konadu: aged Roman, Chuvatana, young Sahaprom

Moon: Konadu, aged Roman, Galaxy

I think it's quite clear, personally, although none of them had much depth.

As for Watanabe and Galaxy, weren't there extenuating circumstances on that one? I Explain it to me. I know Watanabe could be a lazy, undedicated bastard, but it's not like he just pussed out in order to make an easy defense. Poontarat was an excellent fighter himself, borderline top 10 among the best Thai boxers I've seen.

[King Carlos]

Anyone else feel deja vu with this thread?

[Ezzard]

Funny because I remember Galaxy’s record being better than it looks now.

I was living in Kakagawa when Kenji Matsumuru was fighting. A popular figure in those parts.

My feeling is that Galaxy was great fighter. He missed out on some of those big names but from my time in that part of the world… there were some very solid fighters mostly unknown in the west.

Galaxy was definitely exciting.