At one point, the 30-year-old Thai was set to have fought on last night's Ricky Hatton bill in Manchester before negotiations fell through.

Sirimongkol used to be trained by England's Charles Atkinson, who claims he is easily the best Thai fighter on the current boxing scene.

Atkinson, who was monitoring Sirimongkol's fight from England, told the Post in a long-distance call last night that the Thai should have opened the eyes of many with his performance.

He said that David Trehanne, a hotelier in Thailand who has been training and looking after Sirimongkol during the past few months, has done a great job and that he is ready to win a fifth world title if given the opportunity.

Sirimongkol has won four world titles and is currently ranked number nine by the WBC and No.10 by the WBA.

Pitched against hard financial circumstances Sirimongkol has faced a number of difficult situations in the recent past.

He is a colourful fighter who could bring tremendous credit to Thailand, if he is given the opportunity to do so, said Atkinson.

Sirmongkol improved to 59-2 (34KOs) while Bennett dropped to 21-3-3.

TrueVisions will show a repeat of Ricky Hatton v Juan Lazcano on Channel 67 at 10am and 6pm today.