Wanheng Menayothin lost his WBC strawweight title to fellow Thai fighter Panya Pradabsri on Friday, suffering his first professional defeat in a staggering 55 outings.
News of the result is likely to bring a smirk to the face of retired great Floyd Mayweather Jr., who finished his career at 50-0 months before Menayothin matched and then surpassed the feat.
Pradabsri was up on all three ringside judges' cards by the same score of 115-113 to claim the title that Menayothin had held since Nov. 6, 2014, despite a late rally from the incumbent titleholder.
Menayothin had recently signed with Golden Boy Promotions and a United States debut was in the works for next year. The 35-year-old's record was compared with Mayweather's by some, though it is impossible to compare the two as far as the quality of opponents are concerned.
Mayweather is a five-weight champion with lineal title wins in four of those five, while Menayothin has yet to compete outside of Thailand and has spent his pro career exclusively at the minimum weight class.
It seemed that many who drew comparisons between the two did so to irk "Money," and judging by a recent interview with Club Shay Shay, it worked.
“I’m 50-0 for a reason,” he said. “Right now they got a fighter that’s over in Asia that’s 54-0 and they say, ‘This is the new TBE,’ because he’s about to retire.
“I said, ‘Y’all telling me about this fighter that fought one world champion?’ He’s 54-0 and only beat one world champion? This is who y’all are trying to call TBE? Okay, y’all are some comedians.”
Mayweather has been linked with a return from retirement, though for the time being it appears that he will be content competing in lucrative and likely one-sided exhibitions.
He will return to Japan in 2021 to feature on the card of the MEGA 2021 MMA event at the Tokyo Dome on February 28 next year, according to reports. He beat Tenshin Nasukawa in December 2018 on his last trip out there in just 139 seconds, earning $9 million in the process.