Strawweight Hekkie Budler got something of a challenge from Pigmy Kokietgym, Saturday, but suppressed Kokietgym’s charge every time it threatened to amount to something, then took him out in the 8th.
Budler controlled the rounds he won with superior volume and accuracy, while Kokietgym got within range of winning a couple with some accurate, hard right hands. But aside from those stretches and a moment in the 2nd when Kokietgym incapacitated Budler with a low blow, Budler had things in hand. In the 4th, as Kokietgym was on the verge of taking one on the scorecards, Budler dropped him with a right-left combo. Then, in the 7th, as Kokietgym mounted another rally, Budler caught him with a left hand straight to the midsection that was the beginning of the end. He dropped him twice more with body shots in the 8th to finish the job.
Kokietgym has a typically inflated number of fights for a Thai fighter, and last fought a live body in 2010, when he lost a split decision against Kwanthai Sithmorseng, briefly a beltholder. He didn’t bring enough to knock off one of the two best men in the division, though. Budler started slow and got some heat but rose to the occasion. Budler-Katsunari Takayama would crown a new division king in the Transnational Rankings, and would be a good fight in other ways. It was the talk of the British broadcasting team as a possibility, and it would be terrific if it came to fruition.
