Macau was the venue for yet another great event, televised around the world and sanctioned by the Macau & Hong Kong Muaythai Association under the umbrella of the World Muaythai Council (WMC), International Federation of Muaythai Amateur (IFMA) and Federation of Amateur Muaythai Asia (FAMA, under IFMA).

The Macau Games Dome was the appropriate venue for this event and the capacity crowd was included many VIPs from Hong Kong and Macau.

The opening fight was To Hang Lam, IFMA Gold Medalist 2006, vs Suchart Sukead of Thailand, which was the right fight for the opening – five rounds of world class Muaythai, the Thai taking the fight on a very close decision.

Next up was Kuy Donald from Australia vs Li Bao Ming of China, which was another spectacular fight, and showed that China is definitely ready for the challenge of the Indoor Asian Games and upcoming IFMA World Championships. The boys went toe to toe for four rounds, and in round number 4, Li Bao Ming exploded with a powerful punch combination, stopping the Australian fighter.

Next on the card was the female Asian Title – Joey Lee from Hong Kong taking on Jamyuthing Keat Nor Vor from Thailand, which was a fantastic fight – four rounds of nonstop action, with Joey Lee taking the points decision, putting her into the WMC World Rankings.

Heung Pak Wing, the Hong Kong superstar, took on Stephane Celeste of France, in what was another crowd pleaser. Both boys showed world class technique, the bomber showing his trade mark leg kicks which took their toll in the fifth round, ending in a TKO – a big win for Hong Kong.

In the rematch of the WMC S1 Final from 2006, Ramazan Ramazanov fought Malek Dimitriov from Belarus in the battle of the heavy hitters – both boys showing how quickly and powerfully heavyweights can move. Three rounds of toe to toe action had the crowd on their feet, until in round number 3 Ramazan exploded with a 5 punch combination, putting Malek down, who could not recover before the 10 count finished.

Next up, the Australian Superstar Bruce “the Preacher” Macfie took on Somdet Mawang-lat from Thailand in a fight that was highly publicized. The first round was very even, as was the second, but in round 3 Macfie opened up and out of nowhere stepped in with an elbow, finishing the Thai’s dream. A big win for Macfie, securing his place in the WMC Top 10.

The main fight of the evening saw WMC Heavyweight World Champion Paul Slowinski challenged by the current World Sanda Champion from Iran, Abbas Asaraki. This was a highly anticipated fight which had huge press coverage in China, and Slowinski showed why he is the WMC Heavyweight World Champion. In the first round, Asaraki came out all guns blazing, with Slowinski going for the legs and the body with powerful kicks. This continued throughout the first two rounds, but in round three the legs of the Sanda champion could not take any more punishment and the referee had to stop the fight.

A great night of Muaythai – thanks must go to the promoter Pierre M Ingrassia , co-coordinators Jeremy Chan and Nigel Harper and certainly the Macau and Hong Kong Muaythai Association for all the technical work. Another great promotion for Muaythai, and there’ll be more events to come in Macau shortly, building up to future events. Our special thanks to MAIGOC for supplying the dome, which is with no doubt the premier venue in Macau. With events like this and the work of the Macau Muaythai Association, IFMA, FAMA (under IFMA) and the WMC, Muaythai will no doubt be one of the most spectacular events in the upcoming Indoor Asian Games.