Chartchai Chionoi vs. Efren Torres (1st meeting)
Efren Torres 112 lbs lost to Chartchai Chionoi 110 lbs by TKO at 1:15 in round 13 of 15
- Date: 1968-01-28
- Location: El Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
- Referee: Arthur Mercante 116-107
- Judge: 111-115
World Flyweight Title
(recognized by European Boxing Union, British Boxing Board of Control, Mexico commission, Thailand commission & The Ring Magazine)
- Torres down in the 2nd round.
- Ranked #20 Great Title Fight of All-Time by Ring Magazine in 1996. (See also, The Ring April 1968 article: [1].)
"Thailand's Chartchai Chionoi retained his world flyweight boxing championship in a blood-drenched duel Sunday. Chionoi stopped Torres in the 13th round. Both fighters were splashed with blood from the waist up, from a cut over Torres' left eye that took 15 stitches to close. Footing in the ring was sticky with blood. Chionoi opened the cut in the 2nd round and scientifically slashed away at it, sending blood down Torres' face. Torres, considered just about the hardest hitter in the flyweight ranks, closed Chionoi's left eye in the 10th round. Both fighters whaled away at each other half blind for the rest of the fight. In the 13th, referee Arthur Mercante of New York called in the ring doctor and stopped the fight." -United Press International
- This bout had been proposed a year earlier, to take place in Mexico City on February 12, 1967. However, it was turned down on January 7th of that year by Chionoi's then-manager, Umberto Branchini because the purse offered was only $20,000.
Post fight comments:
- "He's the toughest man I've ever fought. He is definitely the 2nd best flyweight in the world." -Chartchai Chionoi
- "A fantastic fight. I had Torres winning by seven rounds to four, with two tied, when I had to call it." -Referee Arthur Mercante