Muhamad Ridhwan Bin Ahmad the Singaporean boxer defeated the Namibia's Nataneal Sebastian at the Roar of Singapore III event for International Boxing Organisation's (IBO) international super featherweight title on 20 October, Friday.
The event was held at Suntec Convention Centre, where Ridhwan won the battle by unanimous decision by three judges. The scores of the bout was 115-113, 115-113 and 115-114.
After Ridhwan claimed Universal Boxing Organisation (UBO) world super featherweight title in 2017 May, the IBO title was the biggest achievement of his career and also the first defeat for Sebastian.
According to the records of Ridhwan's professional career it was the first time when he had to fight till the 12th round.
The 29-year-old boxer is also a three-time SEA Games bronze medallist. He has a record of nine victories including seven knockout wins.
The Friday match was the third live show of the promoter Ringstar Management. Total 10 boxing matches were scheduled for that event but among them Ridhwan's match was the main attraction.
"It was a bit tricky to get shots in due to his style as he was lunging forward," Ridhwan said after the fight as quoted by the Channel News Asia.
"When I got the distance right, that was when I was able to hit him and clinch."
"I wanted the knock-out but I'm still happy with the result as I lasted twelve rounds and I was still fresh after the bout.
"After this I'm going to go back to take a rest before going back to training again and working hard so that I can bring even more exciting fights to the fans," the boxer concluded.
The Filipino coach of Ridhwan, Rey Caitom Jr also commented after his win over Sebastian, "The plan was whether or not we could get a knock-out, we'd be prepared for whatever comes our way. If there was a knock-out opportunity then we'd be ready."
"We boxed and stayed in the middle of the ring to counter him. With that style, the opponent could not fight his own game.
"One thing good about Ridhwan is that he's good at following instructions. He did not have a problem with stamina too, as we always train hard," the coach further added.
"This was the first big test for him professionally and possibly the toughest he's ever faced so far," he concluded.
