Junior bantamweight world champion and pound-for-pound top-10 fighter Srisaket Sor Rungvisai has signed a multifight promotional contract with Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn and will fight in the United States.
The deal, announced Wednesday, means that Sor Rungvisai will fight on sports streaming service DAZN, with which Hearn has a long-term deal to supply boxing events.
“It’s my great honor to be working with Matchroom Boxing USA and DAZN,” Sor Rungvisai said. “I thank my team and everyone who made this opportunity possible. I am extremely excited for my future fights in the USA with Matchroom Boxing and DAZN, and I promise to bring excitement to all my fans always.”
The deal had been expected since discussions with Top Rank for Sor Rungvisai to face fellow 115-pound world titlist Jerwin Ancajas this spring on an ESPN platform could not be finalized.
Sor Rungvisai’s first fight under the deal with Hearn is still to be announced, but his signing adds one of boxing’s best fighters to his stable.
“Srisaket is one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in boxing today and has been a revelation in recent years with great fights and wins over Roman Gonzalez and [Juan Francisco] Estrada and has some huge fights to be made in the division,” Hearn said. “His next fight will be announced soon, and fans can expect another firecracker.”
The obvious match for the 32-year-old Sor Rungvisai (47-4-1, 41 KOs) would be a unification bout with Khalid Yafai (25-0, 15 KOs), 29, of England, who is also promoted by Matchroom Boxing.
Sor Rungvisai, a two-time junior bantamweight titleholder, made his name on the world boxing scene with a tremendous three-fight stretch in the United States in 2017 and 2018 that catapulted him to stardom and national hero status in his home country of Thailand.
Sor Rungvisai came to New York in March 2017 and, in a bloody slugfest, won a controversial majority decision over Gonzalez, who was undefeated at the time and regarded as the pound-for-pound king by most, to win the belt in a candidate for fight of the year.
They met in an immediate rematch in September 2017 in Carson, California, and Sor Rungvisai destroyed Gonzalez by a massive, fourth-round knockout that was the ESPN knockout of the year. Sor Rungvisai retained the title last February in Inglewood, California, with a majority decision win over Estrada in another barn burner.
He fought twice more in 2018 but decided to remain in Thailand for the fights. He knocked out Young Gil Bae in the first round of a nontitle bout in July followed by his third title defense, a lopsided, unanimous decision against Iran Diaz in October.
Ancajas was ringside for that bout, and after the fight, he joined Sor Rungvisai in the ring to set the stage for a possible unification fight, but it could not be finalized.