Ridhwan captures IBO intercontinental featherweight title

Singapore professional boxer Muhamad Ridhwan claimed the biggest win of his career, when he beat Philippine fighter Jeson Umbal for the International Boxing Organization (IBO) intercontinental featherweight title at the Roar of Singapore IV event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday night (April 20).

The 30-year-old took his opponent, who bagged 11 of his 16 wins by knockouts, the distance, and scored a majority win (117-111, 116-112, 114-114) to claim the belt in front of about 4,000 spectators.

The win has also earned him a shot at the IBO world featherweight title, likely scheduled for September.

Ridhwan had to nullify the threat of his southpaw opponent, nicknamed “Dynamite Fist” for his punching power, and eventually found his range to control the 12-round fight, after struggling with his opponent in the first two rounds.

He said: “I feel good, we did enough to win. We took the fight to him, took his best shots, and kept marching forward.

“Today was about tactics, a strong battle plan from my coaches Rey (Caitom Jr) and Arab (Muhammad B A Alkhatib)... It was a great team effort.

“I haven’t thought about the world title shot (in September) but I know I need to be at my best, I need to get better, and I hope I get a few more fights to do that before I fight for the belt.” 

Elsewhere on the card, Filipino fighter Michael Dasmarinas stunned French fighter Karim Guerfi – ranked sixth by the World Boxing Council – with a vicious knockout in the fourth round to claim the IBO world bantamweight title.

A title was also won by Malaysian Meeraj Khan, when he captured the WBC Asia continental light heavyweight belt after a unanimous decision win over New Zealander Chase Haley.

Meanwhile, Singapore super flyweight fighter Efasha Kamarudin marked her pro debut with a technical knockout win over Thai Sumalee Tongpootorn.

Another Singaporean, Alexandrew David, drew his six-round catchweight (69kg) bout with Malaysian Keng Fai.