CRISTIAN Araneta fell short in his bid for a world championship as he lost to Thailand’s Thanongsak Simsri in their International Boxing Federation (IBF) light-flyweight title fight Thursday, June 19, 2025, at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
Araneta had a strong start and knocked down Simsri with a vicious left in the third round.
However, the Thai contender mounted a rally in the middle rounds, landing crisp combinations as Araneta struggled to deal with Simsri’s movement and angles.
In the sixth round, Araneta once again connected with his vaunted left hand, but it only rocked the 25-year-old Thai and wasn’t enough to drop him to the canvas again.
The action slowed down in the later rounds and Araneta wasn’t able to do enough to convince two of the three judges that he deserved to win the fight.
Japanese judges Koji Tanaka and Masakazu Murase scored the bout 116-111 and 115-112, respectively, for Simsri, while Polish judge Leszek Jankowiak saw it differently and scored it 114-113 for Araneta.
The loss marked Araneta’s third career defeat, dropping his record to 25-3 with 20 knockouts. Simsri improved to 39-1 with 34 knockouts.
With Araneta’s setback, the Philippines remains with two reigning world champions - World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight king Melvin Jerusalem and IBF minimumweight titlist Pedro Taduran - as well as interim World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight titleholder Nonito Donaire Jr. / EKA