Huỳnh Hà Hữu Hiếu (third left) celebrates beating Pornthip Khamthongphanow of Thailand to win the WBC Muay Thai International Title in the women's minimumweight class. — Photo courtesy of Shadow Entertainment

Muay Thai

HCM CITY — SEA Games 32 champion Huỳnh Hà Hữu Hiếu has won the international title in her first professional fight. 

Hiếu defeated Pornthip Khamthongphanow of Thailand by technical knock-out to win the World Boxing Council  (WBC) Muay Thai International Title in the women's minimumweight class.

Hiếu, one of Việt Nam's top female athletes in Muay Thai, is the world No 5, while Khamthongphanow of Thailand is the world No 7.

The matches for the WBC Muay Thai International Title were within the framework of the largest national Muay Thai series called Muay Thai Rampage: The Rising Stars at Saigon Sport Club which concluded in HCM City on Sunday.

"I'm very happy and excited to win my first professional belt,” Hiếu said.

“Before the game, I watched many videos of my opponent. I saw that she had strong attacks, so I chose to get close and then attack,” Hiếu added.

Another representative, Trương Cao Minh Phát also won the WBC Muay Thai International Title in the men's super featherweight category.

Phát, world No 15, beat Hicham Boulahri of Morocco, world No 17.

In addition to the two key fights above, the event also had fights for WBC Muay National Title. Huỳnh Hoàng Phi won the title in the super bantamweight category after beating Lý Đươi (under 55kg). Trần Quốc Tuấn crushed Võ Quang Vũ in the welterweight category (71-77kg), while Đặng Quỳnh Bích won the lightweight category (57-60kg) after defeating Nguyễn Thị Lâm Như.

Huỳnh Hoàng Phi (left) celebrates beating Lý Đươi in the men’s super bantamweight category. — Photo courtesy of Shadow Entertainment

WBC Muay Thai was established in 2004 under the World Boxing Council (WBC) as a non-profit organisation, with a mission to develop professional Muay Thai worldwide. It was created to facilitate and sanction professional Muay Thai competitions to develop and expand the sport worldwide.

Fighters that earn the WBC Muay Thai International belt can take part in the world title bout of their weight classes. VNS