SINGAPORE - A lot of noise was generated from a humble courtyard along Joo Chiat Road on Saturday (March 12), heralding the return of professional boxing in the Republic for the first time since the pandemic began.
A total of 12 bouts - four of which were pro fights - featured at the 'A New Beginning' event at the Fight Pro-Motion gym, where the local combat sport fraternity came out in force.
Event co-promoter Arvind Lalwani said: "It was brilliant. The fights were great and it's been a while since we had a live show and an atmosphere like this."
While he said he and his co-promoter Willip Ho had to put in a lot of work and endure a lot of stress in making sure safe management measures were put in place, Lalwani said he was pleased the event proceeded without a hitch.
Such measures meant that the card was split over four waves, the first of which began as early as 2pm. A maximum of 80 people were allowed for each wave, with spectators making up about three-quarters of that, and available tickets were all snapped up.
Said Lalwani: "We didn't even market the event that much. It was mainly from the support of the fighters' teammates and members of gyms (the fighters hail from)."
He and Ho hope to stage four other boxing events like 'A New Beginning' this year, in addition to other multi-disciplinary combat sport and muay thai events, and were buoyed by the response they saw.
Said Ho: "The crowd today is what motivates us. Everybody followed protocol and was very encouraging throughout."
Kittipong Ho Jian Hao, a half-Thai, half-Singaporean boxer, picked up the first professional win of his career with a second-round technical knockout of Briton Kris Leverton, who stepped in as a late replacement for Malaysian fighter Nidal Mahmoud who tested positive after entering Singapore.
While the 24-year-old said he was "quite nervous" before the start of his bout - his first since Jan 2020 - the vocal local support helped him overcome it.
"They gave me a bit of a boost, especially in the second round when I heard them chanting my name," said Ho, adding that he hoped to compete in up to another three bouts before the year is up.
