SINGAPORE - Three-time SEA Games bronze medalist Muhammad Ridhwan became Singapore's first-ever World Boxing Association (WBA) champion when he captured the Asia Super Featherweight title at the Singapore Fighting Championships (SFC) 5: Combat Redefined event at the Singapore Foochow Association on Saturday.

In the main event of the night, the 29-year-old defeated Indonesia's top-ranked featherweright Waldo Sabu via a technical knockout (TKO) two and a half minutes into the second round of the 10-round fight. The fight started brightly with both fighters exchanging a flurry of blows but in the end, it was Sabu succumbed to a non-stop barrage of hits from Ridhwan, with the Singaporean's final punch bringing him to his knees.

A proud Ridhwan, who is the head coach and co-founder of local boxing gym Legends Fight Sport, said after the fight: "I am honoured by this win and I'm happy I had the opportunity to go up against such an experienced fighter like Waldo.

"He did not back down during the two rounds, but I did not want to leave the ring without that belt. I will continue to bring pride to my gym and to Singapore." 

The WBA is one of four major sanctioning bodies in professional boxing and counts the likes of legends Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and George Foreman among its former champions.

SFC president Arvind Lalwani was beaming as he declared: "To say I am proud of Ridhwan is an understatement. I am a witness to how hard he has worked for his dream and the mindset he has to not stop until he has achieved it."

It was a good night too for all other Singaporeans competing in the event.

In the co-main event, Singapore's Garie Tang (above), a former wrestler with the Singapore National Wrestling Squad, defeated Malaysia's Eddy Kalai in a Pro-MMA fight, taking just 2min 33sec in the first round to force his opponent into submission with a shoulder lock.

Rafi Majid, Singapore's Universal Boxing Champioonship's (UBO) Super Middleweight champion, also won his bout via TKO. He laid low Indonesia's Marco Tuhumary early in the second round with a flurry of punches.

Nurshahidah Roslie defeated Thailand's Nonguom Por Niramon in the second round by a TKO while Alexandrew David was unanimously declared the winner after going the full four rounds with Indonesia's Wellem Reyk.

In other MMA fights, Rahul Raju defeated Malaysia's Adeq Ali by TKO in the first round while former SFC ring girl turned amateur MMA fighter Amanda Chan (above) shoulder-locked Malaysia's Amy Matt into submission.