Muhamad Ridhwan is Singapore’s First Pro Boxing World Champion

 

Muhamad Ridhwan became Singapore’s first professional world champion on May 27, 2017, thanks to a one-two combination. He emerged the winner of the then-vacant Universal Boxing Organization (UBO) World Super Featherweight (58.97kg) title with a knockout on Fadhili Majiha from Tanzania. The fight took place at Resorts World Sentosa.

Although UBO is not among the significant boxing promotions in the world, it has won admiration and respect as a prestigious body. It boasts of Roy Jones Jr., one of the United States’s greatest boxers, as its former champion.

Muhamad, then aged 29, was the co-owner of Legends Fight Sport Gym on Carpenter Road when he floored his opponent thrice in the fourth round of their contest. The Tanzanian boxer was unable to rise following the third knockout.

Majiha did not retaliate

Ridhwan’s victory came amidst immense support from an enthusiastic crowd, and the winning move came after punching Majiha’s body and temple. Majiha, the titleholder for the World Boxing Association (WBA), Pan Africa, did not strike back the blows.

Eight wins out of eight fights

Muhamad’s win against Majiha brought his professional winning record to eight wins out of eight fights, which were all—except one—through knockouts.

Dedicated victory to supporters

Muhamad dedicated his win to all his supporters. Formerly a national amateur boxer, he had won his first pro boxing championship the previous month. The win was a WBA Asia Super Featherweight title at the Singapore Fighting Championship 5 event.

When asked for commentary on how the victory made him feel, Ridhwan said he was happy since everybody around him was happy. To him, the happiness of his supporters was most important, and the belt was just a bonus. He added that the fact that he won for the people, and that they would go home that night and tell others that they won something, meant a lot to him. Furthermore, he said that he felt it was not about him winning the belt, but was instead about everyone getting the victory. And that was the reason he got into the ring in the first place.

Patriotism like Ridhwan’s is not common in many countries, demonstrating that Singapore is a country that inspires an intense sense of belonging in its citizens and others living there. You can consider relocating to Singapore to experience the national pride and high living standards as you work or do business there. While working on your visa, you should engage the services of Visa Express, one of the most reliable visa agents.

Results of other fights

In addition to the Ridhwan vs. Majiha fight, the results of other fights in the amateur bout included Daniel Jalil (Singapore), who beat Jason Chua (Singapore) after a unanimous decision. For the professional fights, Ben Keheller (New Zealand) floored Stephen Anak (Malaysia) with a technical knockout (TKO) to keep the UBO Asia-Pacific Cruiserweight title. In another fight, Indonesian Steve Fernadus beat New Zealand boxer Cairo George by unanimous decision to take the IBO Asia Pacific Welterweight title. Thai boxer Sirimongkhon Iamthuam managed to maintain his UBO Inter-Continental Super Welterweight title after defeating Indonesian Larry Siwu by split decision.