Patomchoke Patompothong has defeated Edgar Gabejan by split decision in a match in Bangkok on September 19.

The match, held at Siam Commercial School, was originally planned to be an IBF Pan-Pacific junior featherweight match with Thai champion Patomchoke defending his tile from Gabejan, but the promoters agreed to arrange a non-title ten-round match after the Filipino boxer was found to be over the class weight by three and a half pounds.

The bout turned out to be action-packed with Patomchoke getting a right cross of Gabejan in the sixth round. The Thai fighter retreated to the corner and allowed the referee to count to eight before returning to fight. After ten rounds, Pathomchoke became the winner with a split decision of 95-94, 96-95, and 95-95 scores.

Thai promoter Ekkarat “Jimmy” Chaichotchuang claimed Gabejan intentionally made himself over weighted. He pointed out that the Filipino failed to make weight several times in his recent fights in Thailand, including the match with Fahsai Sakkreerin, in which Gabejan failed to make weight by two pounds.

The promoter said he has talked to Ray Wheatley, an executive of the International Boxing Federation (IBF), who said the international match with an over weighted fighter would be cancelled with the title challenger paying the compensation. However, Wheatley said he sympathized with the promoters of the Bangkok event and would suggest the match to be held as non-title with ten rounds.