No, not this type of trash!
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (85-4-2, 45) is one of the greatest Flyweights of all time though his doubters like to point out that he's fought some rubbish to pad his record. Amazingly however if you ever do go through Wonjongkam's record you will not see any rubbish, you will however see trash, Trash Nakanuma (27-6, 12) that is.

Although a relatively fighter (certainly in the West) Nakanuma was a Japanese Flyweight who fought between 1993 and 2006 who twice fought for the world title in a career that was actually a lot more respectable than his unfortunate name.

Born Masaki Nakanuma in 1975 I'll admit I'm not sure where the disparaging "Trash" moniker came from though "Trash" did become the name by which he is known in boxing circles. Nakanuma debuted in 1993 and defeated Ayumi Oki by TKO 2 and over the following few years Nakanuma recorded a 13-2 (3) record.

After starting his career well Nakanuma took almost 2 years out of the ring before returning to face Kenichiro Hamaguchi in a memorable bout that saw Nakanuma attempt to fight with a rabbit tail before referee Masakazu Uchida ripped it off (causing the crowd in attendance to roar with laughter). The victory over Hamagushi kick-started Nakanuma's career and over the following years he followed up with notable wins over Panieng Poontarat and future world champion Takefumi Sakata. The win over Sakata saw "Trash" claiming the Japanese Flyweight title, a title he would defend twice before losing it back to Sakata in 2003.

Following the loss to Takefumi Sakata, Trash attempted to claim the OPBF Flyweight title from Noriyuki Komatsu. Komatsu managed to narrowly outpoint Trash in an incredibly close bout and Trash's record fell to a less than flattering 23-4 (10) however he had proven himself to be a credible contender.

Following losses to both Sakata and Komatsu, Trash then got his chance at the big time as he faced the then WBC Pongsaklek Wongjongkam. Despite being an under-dog against Wonjongkam (who was then 49-2) Trash put up an excellent battle and took the legendary Thai incredibly close. Whilst Wonjongkam never looked in real danger he was pushed close especially in the 12th round as Trash went all out looking for the upset.

After recording 2 wins, including claiming the OPBF title from Noriyuki Komatsu (and gaining revenge for that loss) Trash again got a chance at the big time as he faced the then unbeaten WBA Flyweight champion Lorenzo Parra. Like he did against Wonjongkam, Trash put up an excellent bout and forced Parra to really do all he could to survive in the final 2 rounds and actually dropped Parra just after the bell. Sadly however Parra had bagged enough rounds to successfully defend his title.

Following the loss to Parra, Trash spent a year out of the ring before returning to defeat Pingping Tepura and Jojo Bardon before retiring aged 31 in 2006.

Leave a Reply.