# Khaosai Galaxy vs. Ellyas Pical

Khaosai Galaxy vs. Ellyas Pical was a professional boxing match held at the Senayan Stadium (now Gelora Bung Karno Stadium), Jakarta, Indonesia on February 28, 1987, for the WBA super flyweight (then junior bantamweight) championship.

## Background

At that time, Khaosai Galaxy successfully defended his title for the 4th time by knocking out via 5-rounds the local challenger Israel Contreras on the island of Curaçao in a spectacular manner at the end of 1986. This was Khaosai's first fight outside of his country. He has therefore become the favorite of Thais.
As for Ellyas Pical, he was also considered an Indonesian national hero. He was the first Indonesian boxer to hold a world champion, winning the IBF 115 lb, (super flyweight) title, the same division as Khaosai.
Pical (as a champion for the second period) recently defended his title by knocking out South Korean Dong Chun Lee in the 10th round, who was Khaosai first title defense challenger, just about 3 months before that.
Therefore, this battle was like a proof of who was the real best boxer in Southeast Asia.
Pical boasted that he would be the one to approach Khaosai. Niwat Laosuwannawat and Phong Thawornwiwattanabut, Khaosai's manager and trainer, believe Khaosai will be able to easily defeat Pical.
It was originally agreed that this fight would be an unification bout for the WBA and IBF titles. But after the fight was over, the IBF did not approve it, so Pical was effectively stripped of the title, and the fight became a match for the WBA's championship only.

## The fight

When the two actually fought, Pigal, as the IBF champion, wore white trunks with vertical blue stripes and yellow boots. He did not take the initiative to approach as previously discussed, but instead retreated. Khaosai took the initiative to move forward instead. Khaosai uses his signature fighting style, which was drive the opponent into the ropes and alternately punch him both above and below the body.
While Pical rarely throws a punch, when he hits the target, the cheers of the hundreds of thousands of locals in the arena were deafening.
As the fight progressed, Pical, who was on the defensive, began to have a swollen face from the power of Khaosai's punches. In addition, his eyebrow was cut open and bleeding. He began to have difficulty escaping and often leaned against the ropes or cornered to receive Khaosai's punches.
Shortly after the bell rang for the start of round 14, Japanese referee Ken Morita temporarily halted the fight and called for a doctor to come and examine Pical's wounds. When the doctor allowed the fight to continue, Khaosai did not let this golden opportunity slip away. He continued to batter and blast Pical until he was barely able to fight. Suddenly, Morita separated the two and chased Khaosai into the neutral corner, counting the exhausted Pical in the corner to eight, and let them continue fighting.
Khaosai then unleashed another round of punches on Pical, this time causing him to collapse to the ring floor. Morita ended the contest, giving Khaosai the TKO win at 2:45 of round 14.

## Aftermath

After Khaosai decisively defeated their favorite, the Indonesian fans booed Khaosai and his staff fearfully, fearing that something dangerous was about to happen. Khaosai and his staff had to rush out of the circus and return to their hotel with relief.
It was later revealed that Pical's staff performed a black magic ritual before the two boxers entered the ring to intimidate Khaosai and encourage Pical.
In addition, Khaosai himself revealed many years later that someone had offered him $500,000 to fix the fight, but he refused and chased the person away.
Ellyas Pical, after this disastrous defeat, continued to box and was able to regain his IBF 115 lb title, becoming a 3-time world champion.
For Khaosai Galaxy, after this, he continued to win many more fights in a row until he was able to defend his title 19 times. After the 19th defense in late 1991, he announced his retirement and gave up his title. His record of title defenses is considered the highest among world champions in the 115 lb division and is number one among Asian boxers to this day.
Moreover, Kongtoranee Payakaroon, Khaosai's next challenger for the title defense, said that after he lost to Khaosai in the WBA title challenge, he had not returned to Muay Thai at that time. He was contacted from his promoter Songchai Rattanasuban to go to Indonesia to challenge Pical, who was then the IBF champion for the third time, but he refused because he believed that he would not receive the purse that had been discussed and agreed upon, ฿800,000.

## Broadcasting

| Country | Broadcaster |
| Indonesia | TVRI |
| Thailand | Channel 7 |