It’s a name that belongs on a list. But you won’t find it on any pound-for-pound list. And it’s not on any of the name-game lists compiled by various websites. Somewhere between basketball’s World B. Free, auto racing’s Dick Trickle and soccer’s Dean Windass, however, there should be a place for Knockout CP Freshmart.
But he’s not there.
Freshmart will just have to settle for his spot near the top of boxing’s smallest weight class.
The unbeaten Thai strawweight maintained his position as one of the best at 105 pounds with an eighth successive title defense, a one-sided decision of Norihito Tanaka of Japan on Tuesday in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand.
Freshmart (21-0, 7 KOs) is 13 title defenses short of the record 21 straight set by Ricardo Lopez, the best strawweight ever and among the best in the history of boxing’s little big men.
Lopez didn’t need an unusual name. El Finito said it simply, said it all, in Spanish and English. He’s easy to remember, unlike Thammanoon Niyomtrong, which is hard to recall and harder to spell. That’s also the name on Freshmart’s birth certificate.
He adopted CP Freshmart as a way to advertise his sponsor, a Thai chain of frozen-food grocery stores. Knockout is a way to advertise his power, which he used to score a knockdown of Tanaka (19-8, 10 KOs) in the third round of a fight that ended with him a runaway winner on the scorecards – 120-107, 119-108, 120-107.
The adopted name is also a way for him to get some attention in Spanish and English media. Maybe, it’ll get him on a list one day. If not pound-for-pound, how about a place in the name-game category? With apologies to God Shammgod and HaHa Clinton-Dix, no list is complete without Knockout CP Freshmart.